what does your soul like
DJ Shadow Lyrics


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We are standing here at the edge of time...
Cold...
Our road was paved to the edge of time...
Steel... Sparks...
Come with me now to the edge of time...
Does anyone remember who I am?

In a few moments you will have an experience which will seem completely real...
It will be the result of your subconscious fears, transformed to your conscious awareness...
You have 5 seconds to terminate this tape...
5, 4, 3, 2, 1.

Has everybody got a place to hide?
...is everybody inside?
Has everybody got a place to hide?
...is everybody inside?

There's a game out there, and the stakes are high.
And the guy who runs it figures the averages all day long, and all night...
Once in a while he let's you steal a pot,
But if you stay in the game long enough, you've got to lose,
And once you've lost, there's no way back...
No way at all...

The time has come

Darkness!
Darkness! darkness! darkness!
Da-da-da-da-darkness!

The time has come
The time has come

Can you feel this?




What is that buzzing?
Are you now, or have you ever, moved slowly?

Overall Meaning

The lyrics to DJ Shadow's song "What Does Your Soul Look Like" are open to interpretation but there seems to be a focus on time, fear, and loss. The opening lines "We are standing here at the edge of time... Cold... Our road was paved to the edge of time... Steel... Sparks... Come with me now to the edge of time... Does anyone remember who I am?" set the scene of some kind of existential or spiritual reckoning. The imagery of steel and sparks creates a sense of industrialism and hardness, which can be juxtaposed against the idea of time as something fluid and intangible.


The lines "Has everybody got a place to hide?... is everybody inside?" add an eerie and ominous tone to the song, suggesting that something threatening or dangerous may be looming. The subsequent lines refer to a "game" with high stakes in which losing means there is "no way back." This can be interpreted as a metaphor for life and the fear and anxiety that can come with it. The repeated phrase "The time has come" builds a sense of urgency and importance, as if something significant is about to happen.


Line by Line Meaning

We are standing here at the edge of time...
Here we are, at the brink of history, where everything is about to change--unsure and apprehensive.


Cold...
There's an emptiness or chill in the air that speaks more of the present state of affairs than the temperature.


Our road was paved to the edge of time...
The future was inevitable, as if we walked upon a preordained path, and there was nothing we could have done to change where we landed.


Steel... Sparks...
The hard, steely reality of what we'd accomplished at the brink of the unknown--looking for a flash of light or hope in the terror.


Come with me now to the edge of time...
I implore you, please take a chance and come with me--we can brave this moment together.


Does anyone remember who I am?
In this climate of unease, it's possible that I no longer recall my own identity. Is there anyone out there who can help me remember who I am?


In a few moments you will have an experience which will seem completely real...
I'm warning you, things might take a sudden and unpredictable turn in the next few moments. Be prepared for a jolt.


It will be the result of your subconscious fears, transformed to your conscious awareness...
Be ready for whatever may come--it could be your own subconscious coming to light, in a way that will be jarring but cleansing.


You have 5 seconds to terminate this tape...
You are in control of this situation. You have the power to stop this tape from playing.


5, 4, 3, 2, 1.
Time is running out. Be decisive and act fast.


Has everybody got a place to hide?...
Is everyone prepared for what's coming? Do they have a spot to retreat to in the event of trouble?


...is everybody inside?
Are we all in this together and fully present in the moment?


There's a game out there, and the stakes are high...
Life is a game--a contest with valuable rewards or painful penalties. The risk is high and the pressure can be immense, and you're not in charge of the rules.


And the guy who runs it figures the averages all day long, and all night...
The person overseeing this game is someone who can calculate the potential outcomes--win or lose--day in and day out, perhaps at great personal cost.


Once in a while he let's you steal a pot...
Sometimes you manage to get ahead in the game, take a calculated risk and come out on top--but this is rare.


But if you stay in the game long enough, you've got to lose...
You cannot sustain success forever, no matter how shrewd you are. Eventually, everyone falls short and takes a hit.


And once you've lost, there's no way back...
The consequences of losing can be so severe that you may not be able to recover--financially, emotionally, or socially.


No way at all...
There's no easy route out--you're utterly trapped in your circumstances.


The time has come
Now is the moment. There is no time left for indecisiveness or hesitation.


Darkness!
A mood-setting declaration that everything is about to take a turn for the worse.


Darkness! darkness! darkness!
The darkness is so total that it needs to be invoked three times for emphasis.


Da-da-da-da-darkness!
A rhythmic variation on the previous invocation of darkness--for punctuation and effect.


The time has come
The moment has arrived; no more procrastination or delay is permitted.


The time has come
It bears repeating: the moment is now.


Can you feel this?
Is the weight and terror of the moment fully sinking in? Are you aware of how much danger is present?


What is that buzzing?
Something--perhaps a warning signal--is disrupting the stillness and signaling that there's danger afoot.


Are you now, or have you ever, moved slowly?
Have you ever been so unsure and afraid that you couldn't move quickly? Are you feeling that way now?




Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group
Written by: Josh Paul Davis, Ray Smith

Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
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Comments from YouTube:

Stew

cannot imagine what it was like hearing this in '95. like some monolith dropped from space onto the hiphop community. really brilliant music, even the album cover exudes it.

Kathryn Dogoloff

It was the best memory making music for me back then wonderful memories dancing at the club's in D.C. until 2am then after hours with the boyfriend and a few others smoking a blunt and drinking a little beer relaxing in the hot tub on the roof of my apartment building

Dayton Sander

First time I ever listened was on Pandora around 08-09 and even then I felt like I was elevated to a new level of music. To only realize it was dated and a Dedue album. Crazy shit

patochan

I was listening to this back in 95. I was living in MO, USA. Like every weekend, we would put this record on a turntable. Very strange things happened while listening to this. We were 18 or 19 at the time.

Stew

@patochan it has that ominous post-cold war heaviness to it, similar to god speed's F#. what happened?

thewirah1

"like some monolith dropped from space". Perfect metaphor for discovering Mo Wax back in the mid-90s. El-P did the same thing to me later.

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ADC

some people will never understand the power this music possesses

Orgon Solo

This is totally the best stuff he ever put out! Overlooked classic in the Endtroducing canon

Orgon Solo

Just had a moment again to this while I was out choppin wood... Just so freaking good!.

eric strickland

This dropped like a bomb in college back in 96. We all knew how special it was. The last part is the best. Masterpiece in hip hop production.

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