Sunday Song Lyric:

I’ve been listening to Everlast‘s “Whitey Ford Sings the Blues” a fair amount of late. This album was Everlast’s reemergence as a solo artist after his tour with the hard-edged Irish rap group, House of Pain. (In his first incarnation he was an ’80s b-boy, and part of Ice-T’s Rhyme Syndicate.) Although I hadn’t listened to it in a while before this summer, “. . . Sings the Blues” has not gotten old in the least. Best described as blues-influenced and acoustic guitar-laden hip-hop, I think it has a unique and affecting sound — perhaps, in part, due to the life-threatening heart attack and subsequent open-heart surgery he went through while recording it. Powered by singles like “Ends” and (this week’s lyric) “What It’s Like,” the album went double-platinum and prompted a collaboration with Santana that won a grammy. (Think about it — a former Ice-T sidekick and House of Pain frontman winning a Grammy with Santana.) I haven’t heard Everlast’s new album yet, but if it has tracks as affecting as this one, it will be worth a listen.

We’ve all seen a man at the liquor store beggin’ for your change

The hair on his face is dirty, dread-locked, and full of mange

He asks a man for what he could spare, with shame in his eyes

“Get a job you fucking slob,” is all he replies

God forbid you ever had to walk a mile in his shoes

‘Cause then you really might know what it’s like to sing the blues



Then you really might know what it’s like… (4x)



Mary got pregnant from a kid named Tom that said he was in love

He said, “Don’t worry about a thing, baby doll

I’m the man you’ve been dreaming of.”

But 3 months later he say he won’t date her or return her calls

And she swear, “God damn, if I find that man I’m cuttin’ off his balls.”

And then she heads for the clinic and

she gets some static walking through the door

They call her a killer, and they call her a sinner

and they call her a whore

God forbid you ever had to walk a mile in her shoes

’cause then you really might know what it’s like to have to choose



Then you might know what its like(4x)



I’ve seen a rich man beg

I’ve seen a good man sin

I’ve seen a tough man cry

I’ve seen a loser win

And a sad man grin

I heard an honest man lie

I’ve seen the good side of bad

And the downside of up

And everything between

I licked the silver spoon

Drank from the golden cup

And smoked the finest green

I stroked the fattest dimes at least a couple of times

before I broke their heart

You know where it ends, yo, it usually depends on where you start



I knew this kid named Max

He used to get fat stacks out on the corner with drugs

He liked to hang out late

he liked to get shit-faced and keep the pace with thugs

Until late one night there was a big gun fight and Max lost his head

He pulled out his chrome .45, talked some shit, and wound up dead

Now his wife and his kids are caught in the midst of all of this pain

You know it crumbles that way

at least that’s what they say when you play the game

God forbid you ever had to wake up to hear the news

‘Cause then you really might know what it’s like to have to lose



Then you really might know what it’s like…

Then you really might know what it’s like…

Then you really might know what it’s like…to have to lose