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Right Where It Belongs - Nine Inch Nails [With Teeth] - 2005

See the animal in his cage that you built,
Are you sure what side you’re on?
Better not look him too closely in the eye,
Are you sure what side of the glass you are on?
See the safety of the life you have built
Everything where it belongs
Feel the hollowness inside of your heart
And it’s all, right where it belongs

What if everything around you,
Isn’t quite as it seems?
What if all the world you think you know,
Is an elaborate dream?
And if you look at your reflection,
Is that all you want to be?
What if you could look right through the cracks,
Would you find yourself, find yourself afraid to see?

What if all the worlds inside of your head,
Just creations of your own?
Your devils and your Gods, all the living and the dead
And you’re really all alone?
You could live in this illusion
You can choose to believe
You keep looking but you can’t find the woods
While you’re hiding in the trees

What if everything around you,
Isn’t quite as it seems?
What if all the world you used to know,
Is an elaborate dream?
And if you look at your reflection,
Is that all you want to be?
What if you could look right through the cracks,
Would you find yourself, find yourself afraid to see? 

Here is one from the genius that is Trent Reznor. For those that don’t really know about Trent and NIN, you should take a look because he and his band are quite a unique occurrence. Trent is the only member of the band. He writes and generally records all the parts of NIN recordings. When he goes on tour he does being a band with him. 

He is quite an outspoken critic of the music industry which tends to get him into hot water. But over the past twenty years he has fought and won his freedom to be an artist totally independent from a record label. In fact, his latest record was given away freely on his website without any promotion.

This song, taken from his 2005 release With Teeth, came out while Trent was recovering from alcoholism and substance abuse. It always makes an interesting story to tell! I love the lo-fi ambience in this album, but especially in this song. 

Turn the lights down and the volume up. Yes, it’s one of those songs.

Ed-Ucation - 2001 - Dr. Dre

[Eddie Griffin]
Aww they say uhh..
.. a black man is a pimp
Well let me tell you the biggest pimp
on planet motherfuckin Earth, is her momma
It’s her MOMMA that told her,
“Get a man that got a good job gurl!
Make sure he got a good car gurl!
Make sure he can take you out and buy you somethin gurl!”
What happened to just fallin in love with a nigga with a bus pass —
— just cause you love the nigga?
But +I’m+ the pimp motherfucker!
I gotta be the player!

Biggest hoes, on planet Earth..
.. are walkin through the motherfuckin neighborhood
You KNEW when you got with the nigga he already had a woman
You knew he already had a family
but you fucked him anyway!!!
And then when you thought you gon’ lose the nigga
you went and got pregant - didn’t you bitch, DIDN’T YOU!!
THE OL’ KEEP-A-NIGGA-BABY
And then when the nigga ain’t around, what do you tell the child?
“Aww that nigga ain’t shit, that’s why yo’ daddy ain’t here;
cause that nigga ain’t shit.”
How bout bein a woman, and tellin the kid the truth
that yo’ momma, you was a hoe!
TELL THE KID!
Momma was a hoe, I was weekend pussy
I had you to keep the nigga, it didn’t work out
that’s why he ain’t here - but he a good nigga
cause he take care of his REAL family
I was just a dumb bitch, tryin to keep, a nigga that I wanted.

I love how believable Eddie is on this track. But I also can’t stop laughing when I hear this song.

enjoy

Well it’s 9th and Hennepin 
And all the donuts have 
Names that sound like prostitutes 
And the moon’s teeth marks are 
On the sky like a tarp thrown over all this 
And the broken umbrellas like 
Dead birds and the steam 
Comes out of the grill like 
The whole goddamned town is ready to blow. 
And the bricks are all scarred with jailhouse tattoos 
And everyone is behaving like dogs. 
And the horses are coming down Violin Road 
And Dutch is dead on his feet 
And the rooms all smell like diesel 
And you take on the 
Dreams of the ones who have slept here. 
And I’m lost in the window 
I hide on the stairway 
I hang in the curtain 
I sleep in your hat 
And no one brings anything 
Small into a bar around here. 
They all started out with bad directions 
And the girls behind the counter has a tattooed tear, 
One for every year he’s away she said, such 
A crumbling beauty, but there’s 
Nothing wrong with her that 
$100 won’t fix, she has that razor sadness 
That only gets worse 
With the clang and the thunder of the 
Southern Pacific going by 
As the clock ticks out like a dripping faucet 
Till you’re full of rag water and bitters and blue ruin 
And you spill out 
Over the side to anyone who’ll listen 
And I’ve seen it 
All through the yellow windows 
Of the evening train.