Airplanes
B.o.B. feat. Eminem & Hayley Williams Lyrics

Can we pretend that airplanes
The singer requests that the listener imagine pretend

In the night sky
Speaker sets the scene for the imagination exercise

Are like shooting stars
The planes, in the imagination, become akin to shooting stars

I could really use a wish right now (wish right now, wish right now)
The artist is expressing a desire for help or luck

In the night skies
The scene is set again to emphasize the imagined setting

Like shooting stars
The planes continue to represent something unattainable, much like a shooting star

I can really use a wish right now (wish right now, wish right now)
The chorus repeats as the singer continues to hope for luck or change

(Dreamin', I'm fallin, dreamin', I'm fallin')
The artist becomes caught up in their own daydream

Lets pretend like its 98, like I'm eating lunch off of Styrofoam trays
The artist turns to a nostalgic hypothetical - like they're back in school

Trying to be the next rapper coming out the A
The artist shares their ambition to become a rapper

Hoping for a record deal, to re-know my pain
The singer wants to be recognized for their struggles through their music

Now lets pretend like I'm on the stage
The hypothetical becomes more specific as the artist imagines performing

And when my beat drops everybody goes insane (OK)
The singer imagines a wildly positive reaction from the audience

And everybody know my name (B.o.B)
The singer has achieved the fame they desire

And everywhere I go people wanna hear me sang
People seek out the singer's music

Oh yea and I just dropped my new album
Further success for the artist

On the first week I did 500 thousand
The artist has reached a massive sales milestone

Gold in the spring and diamond in the fall
The singer has received awards for their album's success

And then a world tour just to top it all off
The singer's success continues to grow, with a world tour

And let's pretend like they call me the greatest
The artist continues to imagine their success and recognition

Selling out arenas with big ass stages
Success in live performances has followed album sales

And everybody loved me and no one ever hated
Speaker feels universally loved and has no detractors

Lets try to use imagination
Speaker encourages imagining possibilities

[Chorus]
The chorus repeats of needing help and luck

OK, let's pretend like this never happened
The singer changes subject, prompting for further imagination

Like I never had a dream of being a rapper
The hypothetical situation is now in another reality where the singer never became a rapper

Like I didn't write raps in all of my classes
Further evidence that the singer didn't pursue their dream of being a rapper

Like I never used to runaway into the blackness
The artist discourages running away, even in imagination

Now lets pretend like it was all-good
The artist now turns to a hypothetical where their past life is easier

Like I didn't live starring in a notebook
The singer talks of something they may have written fictionally in a notebook

Like I did the things I probably knew I should
Not much has really changed in the hypothetical

But I didn't have neighbors that's why they call it hood
No one around has influenced the artists actions

Now lets pretend like I ain't got a name
Speaker continues with the hypothetical in another reality entirely

Before they ever called me B.o.B or a.k.a Bobby Ray
Speaker continues describing a previous version of themselves

I'm talking back before the mixtapes
The hypothetical is set in the past of the hypothetical previous reality

Before the videos and the deals and the fame
This previous reality hasn't involved fame yet, or any other aspects of the artist's success

Before they ever once compared me to Andre
Speaker is describing an even earlier incarnation of their identity

Before I ever got Myspace
Speaker is referencing a past internet era

Before they ever noticed my face
Further back still in the singer's hypothetical timeline

So let's just pretend and make wishes out of airplanes
The song concludes with a return to imagination

(And it seems like yesterday it was just a dream, but those days are gone they're just memories)
The artist reminisces on the past and acknowledges that it is over

Let's pretend Marshall Mathers never picked up a pen
The hypothetical situation shifts again to involving Eminem

Let's pretend things would've been no different
The question is posed if things would have been different without Eminem

Pretend he procrastinated had no motivation
Speaker describes an alternate reality where Eminem didn't have motivation for writing music

Pretend he just made excuses that
More details of the alternate reality where Eminem didn't pursue music or success

Was so paper thin they could blow away wit the wind
The excuses were easily dismissed

Marshall you never gone make it,
Alternative reality Eminem is faced with criticism and disbelief from others

Makes no sense to play the game it ain't no way that'll you win
Others are discouraging him from pursuing music success

Pretend he just stand out side all day and play with his friends
The hypothetical takes another turn where Eminem stays idle

Pretend he even had a friend to say was his friend
In this new hypothetical, Eminem doesn't even have friends to support him

And it wasn't time to move in school no changing again
Another detail of the hypothetical where Eminem stays idle

He wasn't socially awkward but as strange as a kid
Eminem still struggled with his identity in the hypothetical

He had a father and his mother wasn't crazy as sh-t
Eminem's parents are now different in this hypothetical

And he never dreamed he can ripped stadiums he just lazy as shit
The alternate reality Eminem is lethargic and doesn't pursue music and success

F-ck a talent show in the gymnasium bitch
Alt. reality Eminem dismisses an obviously unlikely opportunity

You won't amount to sh-t quit day dreaming kid
Others in the alternate reality continue to discourage him

You need to get ya cranium check you thinking like an alien
Others are critiquing and calling Eminem's thoughts and dreams crazy

It just ain't realistic
The artist suggests pursuing music success is unrealistic

Now pretend they ain't just make him angry with this sh-t
The song's final hypothetical situation imagines Eminem isn't affected by the criticism he faced

And there was no one he could even aim when he's pissed with
Without others to be mad with, Eminem's anger is pointless

And his alarm went off to wake him but he didn't make it to the rap Olympics
In this new hypothetical, Eminem isn't even able to make an attempt towards success

Slept through his plane and he missed it
Again, this new hypothetical has Eminem miss major opportunities

He's gonna have a hard time explaining to Haley and Laney these food stamps and W-I-C shit
Eminem now faces a difficult situation in this new reality

Cause he never risked sh-t he hoped and he wished it
Eminem never risked inaction and instead relied on hope

But it didn't fall in his lap he ain't even here he pretends that
The song concludes with a reference to the imagination exercise earlier, returning the focus to pretending