Empty Bottles
Yelawolf Lyrics

Empty bottles on the table
The number of consumed bottles on the table are evident, indicating partying or heavy drinking.

Black roses on the ground
Broken black roses lying around, symbolizing the end of something beautiful.

Silhouettes of people dancing
The party is going on, and due to insufficient light, the dancers are seen as dark shapes moving.

To an unfamiliar sound
The dance music is unfamiliar to the artist or outside of his/her preferred genre.

Hello stranger
The artist addresses someone unknown who is outside of the usual social circle.

Can I call you a friend? My friend, I'm going down
The singer is attempting to create an immediate bond based on the mutual state of inebriation and imminent loss of control.

Ground bottle six with the permanent bliss
The singer is describing the sixth empty bottle on the table, the last one that has been thrown down with a sense of intoxication sadness.

Razor sharp glass lips, give me a kiss
The artist is dedicating himself to the action of drinking, hoping to numb the pain that comes with black roses on the ground.

Eyes fixated with the familiar shape
The artist's eyes are glued to a familiar bottle figure, which has become a friend of sorts.

Black label, white letters, they integrate
The bottle has a black label with white letters, which constitutes an easily recognizable feature.

Cubans in the bar room with harpoons
The presence of powerful Cuban men is felt, perhaps representing the singer's fears and insecurities.

I bloom in the night fog like mushrooms
The artist begins to bring his drunken and drug-addled mind to the forefront, promoting an illusionary state.

See every bullet hole in the window of my past
The singer is experiencing flashbacks to past traumas; the bullet holes are a clear metaphor.

Now that's what I call a shot glass (two, three, four)
The singer is fooling himself with references to shot glasses, countering intense emotions by emphasizing the apparent normality of the situation.

Count the cracks on the sidewalk
The singer is preoccupied with the physical world, retreating from the inner turmoil he is experiencing.

Pack the cigarette box in my left palm
The artist is ready to smoke the day away and forget his pain for a while.

Flame on the tip of a smoke
A visual reference that emphasizes the importance of smoking as a forgotten ritual that brings back a sense of comfort.

I don't know where the light came from
Though the singer is lighting his cigarette, there is a deeper reference here to a lost sense of enlightenment.

Legs like a ghost, I still walk
The singer is disconnected from the physical world, and perhaps as a result, it feels somewhat unfamiliar to him/her.

Whole world mushed concrete, feels soft
The artist's reality is beginning to blur, with everything around seeming both real and unreal at the same time.

Blinded by the cameras pop flash
The artist feels like they're being watched, further emphasizing his disconnection from the world around him.

I'm a big fan, shot glass? (Two, three, four)
The artist is trying to create a sense of normalcy and detachment from the situation, but instead, he's only forcing it.

Oh, what a life it's been
In an introspective moment, the singer reflects on his life and the events that led him to where he is now.

What about my life in there? What about the would and when's?
The artist is trying to find meaning and purpose in his life, frustrated by the apparent lack thereof.

If's, maybe's, could-have-been's? You didn't know shit about me, man
The singer's frustrations come to a head, as he rejects attempts to excuse or explain away his pain by people who don't really know him.

You didn't go to school in the clothes that I had to wear back then
The singer reflects on societal pressures and the uniqueness of his own experiences, recognizing that he's experiencing things differently from everyone else in the room.

Look at you, fucking faggot, what you looking at, punk?
The singer's internal turmoil emerges in the form of aggression, directed outward towards someone who doesn't look or act like him.

What, bitch? Give me another shot, hey, what you want?
Again trying to create a sense of normalcy in a world that is anything but, the artist reaches for another drink.

Make it a double, fuck it, a triple, fuck it, give me the bottle
The artist is allowing his inner demons to take over, seeking to drown out the pain with an ocean of alcohol.

And then it's bottoms-up, what a positive role model
The singer is reflecting on his own actions and choices, but he's doing so in a sarcastic and insincere manner.

Hey Wolf, Wolf! Come on man, it's time to go
Someone is trying to remind the singer that he needs to leave, as it looks like he's about to lose control completely.

Wake up in the morning feeling like I'm not awake at all
The artist acknowledges the dark, hangover-filled future that he's headed towards.

Take a Tylenol, shake it off
The artist is attempting to mitigate the effects of his drinking by suggesting he'll take medicine and sleep it off.

Wanna take another shot of Jack but Jack D shot me with a sawed-off
The artist is recognizing the dangerous feedback loop he's in, with drinking, driving him to depression, and depression driving him to drink even more.