Streets
Alborosie ky-Mani Marley Lyrics

Lala, lalala (ha)
The song starts with an exclamation of the sound 'Lala' to draw attention to the impending narrative.

Lala (no time for rampin', no)
The repetition of 'Lala' indicates a serious tone and that there is no time for playing around.

Streets of loneliness, empty streets full a stories
The streets are vacant and desolate, but they are still full of tales of pain, hardship, and grievances.

Silent, concrete, dust and glory
The streets are lifeless, made of concrete, and represent both failure and success.

Glory and tears, bullet shells, mothers' fears
The streets harbor reminiscences of both honor and sadness, with artifacts of firepower and the apprehension of mothers.

Cries and cross prayers and angels disappear
The streets are home to tears, supplication, and the flight of angels.

Streets like quicksand, is not African Kalahari
The streets are like quicksand, but not in the African Kalahari; instead, they are paved and a result of our making.

JA/KN weh dem shout Rastafari
People in Jamaica and Kingston shout Rastafari as a way to cope with their problems and find hope.

Many knows, but nobody never worry
Many people know about the issues in the streets, but no one cares enough to do something meaningful about them.

Many felt it, but nobody never sorry
Many people have experienced the pain, but none of them feels sorry enough to change the current dire situation.

It's a judgement national embarrassment
It's a reproachable situation that reflects on Jamaica and is a national disgrace.

Over punishment as so proper government
The excessive punishment of the people is the result of a government that acts righteously and just.

On the street we gonna shout all freewill
People on the streets will cry for freedom and demand their rights.

On the street made a promise, is me standing up still
The singer promises to stand up amidst the struggles found on the streets.

In this jungle, oh (inna this yah jungle, hey)
The streets are depicted as a jungle, a place of danger and peril.

We fight to survive, whoa (we fight to survive, every day)
The struggle for survival is constant and relentless, requiring daily effort to stay alive.

There's no time for rampin', no, no, no, no (no time fi ramp, no way)
There is no time for playing games, 'rampin' or wasting time on the streets.

You make one wrong move and you're die (listen what the thugs them say)
A single misstep can lead to death threats from the streets' criminals.

Streets of faces, strangers, gambling and dimes
The streets are full of people, especially unknown visitors, who gamble their money away in tiny sums.

Streets of colours, sounds, words and rhymes
The streets offer a variety of experiences full of colors, sounds, and animated expressions represented by conversing and rhyming.

Dirty streets smell like crane fields, like pain
The streets have a dirty, pungent odor reminiscent of construction sites and pain.

That strikes slowly into your skull and brain
The smell of the streets resides and sticks with you well after your time on the streets is over, and it impacts you deeply.

Street remind me of myself, of my soul
The streets are an extension of the singer, bearing similarities to his state of mind and being.

Street remind me of yourself and your world
The streets are similarly an allegory for society and the world at large.

There's a street in the back of my mind
The singer has a specific street memory that deeply sticks with him.

That I walk every time I run away from my crimes, hey
This memory is associated with guilt and represents the times when he ran from his mistakes.

There's a street, where the poor man sleep
The streets are also home to a place where underprivileged individuals sleep.

Smart man cheat, pon his sleepy chick
Some take advantage of those homeless individuals, through stealing or cheating them out of their money.

You get robbed on trick, if you no know fi split a tip
People take advantage of those who don't know better through fooling them and stealing their belongings, if they fail to pay for 'protection.'

Glock-matic, shot a lick dem bones like a rabbit
The singer paints a vivid image of the violence of the streets with the aid of gunshots that rip the bones from their bodies.

There's a street that never exist
A place where people go to when they're lost: an illusion of safety and security that does not truly exist.

It's a gangster thing, gangster swing
The lawlessness on the streets is endemic and exemplified by the swagger of criminals.

A soundtrack of a gangster film
The streets serve as the background score for real-life gangster movies filled with drama, danger, and uncertainty.

There's a street, one way in, no way out
The streets can be like a trap, with individuals unable to escape once they are in.

Once you're in, there's no doubt
Once on these streets, there is no question of the danger and hardship one will face.

You're never out, hey
Even if you leave the streets physically, the impact will stay with you forever, rendering you a different person than you once were.