Betta Listen
De La Soul Lyrics

Listen all you fellas, here's what good love is
Pay attention guys, I'm about to school you on what real love is

Listen all you fellas, the kind she understands
Take note fellas, learn the type of love she actually appreciates

Listen all you fellas, then you won't have to worry no no more
If you listen fellas, you'll never have to worry again

Listen all you fellas, you betta listen
If you don't listen fellas, you're going to have problems

Mummy I saw one day
One day, I saw a girl

She was on some fume vapors
She was high on some type of drug

Givin' me lip so I continued with the caper
She was talking too much, so I kept doing what I was doing

Cat litter had me sniffin
I was sniffing cat litter, which was probably also a drug reference

Since outside the palace
It happened outside of some high-class place, perhaps a reference to a club or party

Eyes sicker than aids
Her eyes were really messed up

Game harder than a callous
She was playing hard to get

Tried to enter in her shit
He tried to get with her

She had locks on the session
She was blocking him from getting with her

Tellin me how her last man
She was talking about her ex

Taught her ass a lesson damn
Her ex taught her a lesson, apparently

Well, I'm not the mayor
He's not important or in charge

I take care of my dimes
He is selective with the girls he dates/gets with

But I excluded I had nickels
He thought he was dating/interested in the higher class women, but he had settled for lower class women

Addin' up to her kind
He was interested in the same 'kind' of girls as her

Short stacks with a wristful of jewels
She was short, but had a lot of jewelry on her wrist

Sayin she didn't need a man
She claimed she didn't need a man in her life

To make her out for a fool
She didn't want a man to make a fool out of her

Dig it, miss, my love is credited in cupid account
He thinks he's got love figured out

And if you need that extra help
He's offering to help her with love, if she needs it

Gigglin, figurin' I had jokes for her humor
He thought he was funny and was cracking jokes to make her laugh

Then she broke out with the words
Then she started talking

About knowin all the rumors
She started talking about all the rumors she's heard about guys like him

See, all you niggas rappin be like pedigree dogs
She's saying all guys who rap are like purebred dogs, bred for a certain type of behavior

Thinkin you can have me leashed
She thinks he thinks he can control her

Around your microphone cords
She is saying that he thinks he can control her through his music

Somethin 'bout her lit me up like july
He was really attracted to her

And with them onions in the pants
This line is unclear, but could mean that he got turned on by her and had an erection

I couldn't help but cry
He was feeling emotional about the situation

Seemed lost in the essence
He was really caught up in the moment

But i had to find my way to take
But he had to get himself together and think of a plan

Action for the digits just to set up a date
He had to get her phone number so he could ask her out

Thought my shinin was on
He thought he was doing well

I had the skirts in the bag
He thought he was going to be successful with girls

Until i took a bit of time
Until he realized something

To peep the price on the tag
He realized that he was paying too high of a cost for the girls he was getting with

She said I'm that salt and pepa
She was saying she's tough and independent, like the duo Salt-N-Pepa

Who like pushin it to sisters
She likes challenging other women

You need to get to walkin with it mister
You need to leave me alone

We was at some outside jam one saturday night
He met someone else at an outdoor event on a Saturday night

When this pretty ass girl got locked in my sight
He saw a really attractive girl

She was a ghetto philosopher
She was someone who thinks she knows a lot, but is from the streets

Yeah you know the type
You know the type of person I'm talking about

Thinkin' Mary J. and sade understood her strife
She thinks Mary J. Blige and Sade understand her struggles

Caught me lookin', 'Yo what's cookin?'
She noticed him looking at her and asked what he wanted

Nothin' from around here
He told her he wasn't from around here

So don't approach or hope
He was telling her not to get her hopes up

To be the man of the year
He wasn't interested in dating her

I said listen deer or rabbit or whatever the hell you be
He was being sarcastic and calling her a small animal, but meant to say something along the lines of 'listen girl'

I'm not the one to embarrass
He wasn't going to try and embarrass her

But the one to emcee
He's the master of ceremonies (MC)

I traveled the world quarters on my relationships
He's had many relationships all around the world

Used and abused by hoes
He's been used and mistreated by many women

So my royalty stubs
His royalty checks from his music helped pay the bills

But above all
But most importantly

I brought my daughter into this earth
He has a daughter

So I understand the need
So he understands the importance

Of women feeling of worth
Of women feeling valuable

She glanced deep in my eyes
She looked deep into his eyes

And said 'oh shit, you're ill
She thought he was really cool

I like the way your mind
She was impressed with his way of thinking

Moves around at will
She likes how his mind works

Still, let me apologize for soundin so sassy
She's apologizing for coming off as rude

But you niggas act as if my ass
But guys like him make it seem like her body is all she has to offer

Has a sign that says harass me
They act as if they can harass her because of her body

Her name was gail from the union of dale
The new girl's name is Gail, from the neighborhood called the Union of Dale

I made her remove the shades
He asked her to take off her sunglasses so he could see her eyes

So her eyes could tell me the plan
He wanted to look into her eyes to understand her intentions

Yo where's your man?
He's asking if she has a boyfriend

Oh that nigga's past tense
She's saying she's not with him anymore

Painted bruises on my face
He's physically abused her before

Haven't seen him ever since
She hasn't seen him since he hit her

Gave a pinch to my bottom
She pinched his butt

And started rubbing my back
She began rubbing his back

She said 'i bet your ass is darker
She's teasing him by saying his butt is darker since he's been sitting down

Than a mobb deep track
She's saying his butt is really dark

Only one way to know it
The only way to know for sure

And i was down to show it
He was willing to show her

So we jetted back to my crib to set it
They went back to his house to hook up

She made it known
She made it clear

'I've owned thoughts of you
She's been thinking about him

Since that song 'meeny-meeny'
She's been attracted to him since she heard his song 'meeny-meeny'

Can't believe you're about
She can't believe she's actually going

To be all up in between me
To hook up with her

Man, the flag was lowered
He got an erection

So my wood was raised
He was aroused

Followed a shielding of my building
They went back to his apartment

To protect me from the blaze
They went inside to have sex

This granted access to
This gave him permission to

Southern parts of her borders
Have sex with her

Did you have her comin'?
Did you make her orgasm?

Like the new world order
He made her orgasm like it was some kind of revolution

I caught her with the right combination
He was able to please her in the right way

A good combination
The right way to do things

Keepin' it in her hard, man
He's keeping the relationship strong

You betta listen
Listen to me or else