No matter where you go whether it's a party, club, bar, or even in a store. Rihanna's song "Work" ft Drake is blasting through the speakers. We all love signing along to it, but after the second time we start singing the line "work, work, work, work, work, work". The side eyes start coming and the confusion starts to arise. What in the world is Rih Rih saying? Well no fear avid music listener, let's get to work and break down these lyrics!
Before we start we are going to have a little history lesson. People believe that Ms, Rihanna went inside the booth got lazy and didn't want to write lyrics. So she just stared speaking gibberish. Not true at all. It is actually a language called Jamaican patios. It was developed in West and Central Africa in the 17th century, and is now mostly spoken in Jamaica. It is an English based creole language, and patios is a French word meaning "rough speech".
Now that we dot that out of the way, let's take a look at the whole song:
Work, work, work, work, work, work
He said me haffi
Work, work, work, work, work, work!
He see me do mi
Dirt, dirt, dirt, dirt, dirt, dirt!
So me put in
Work, work, work, work, work, work
When you ah guh
Learn, learn, learn, learn, learn
Meh nuh cyar if him
Hurt, hurt, hurt, hurt, hurting
Dry! …Me a desert him
Nuh time to have you lurking
Him ah go act like he nuh like it
You know I dealt with you the nicest
Nuh body touch me you nuh righteous
Nuh badda, text me in a crisis
I believed all of your dreams, adoration
You took my heart and my keys and my patience
You took my heart on my sleeve for decoration
You mistaken my love I brought for you for foundation
All that I wanted from you was to give me
Something that I never had
Something that you’ve never seen
Something that you’ve never been!
Mmmmm!
But I wake up and act like nothing’s wrong
Just get ready fi...
Work, work, work, work, work, work
He said me haffi
Work, work, work, work, work, work!
He see me do mi
Dirt, dirt, dirt, dirt, dirt, dirt!
So me put in
Work, work, work, work, work, work
Ner ner ner ner ner ner!
When yuh ago learn learn learn learn learn learn!
Before the tables turn turn turn turn turn turn!
Mmmmm, mmmmm
Mmmmm, mmmmm
Work, work, work, work, work, work
Mmmmm, mmmmm
First lets pick out the words that we don't know and begin to translate them. Words like haffi, seh, si, mi, suh, duh, betta, nuh, yuh, cyar, and ah guh. Are very much used throughout the song so what do they mean you ask?
Haffi translates to have to
Seh translates to said
Si translates to see
Mi translates to me
Suh translates to so
Duh translates to do
Betta translates to better
Nuh translates to don't
Yuh translates to you
Cyar translates to care
Ah guh translates to ago
Now that we know these important words we can plug the English translations in. In English "Work" would sound like this:
Work, work, work, work, work, work
He said I have to
Work, work, work, work, work, work!
He saw me do my
Dirt, dirt, dirt, dirt, dirt, dirt!
So I put in
Work, work, work, work, work, work
When are you going to
Learn, learn, learn, learn, learn
I don’t care if he’s
Hurt, hurt, hurt, hurt, hurting
Dry, I’m going to desert (or leave) him
No time to have you lurking
He will act like he doesn’t like it
I dealt with you nicely
Don’t touch me, you’re not righteous
Don’t bother to text me in a crisis
I believed all of your dreams, adoration
You took my heart and my keys and my patience
You took my heart on my sleeve for decoration
You mistaken my love I brought for you for foundation
All that I wanted from you was to give me
Something that I never had
Something that you’ve never seen
Something that you’ve never been!
Mmmmm!
But I wake up and act like nothing’s wrong
Just get ready fi…
Work, work, work, work, work, work
He said i have to
Work, work, work, work, work, work!
He saw me do my
Dirt, dirt, dirt, dirt, dirt, dirt!
So I put on
Work, work, work, work, work, work
Learn, learn, learn, learn, learn, learn
When will you learn
Before the tables turn turn turn turn turn turn!
Mmmmm, mmmmm
Mmmmm, mmmmm
Work, work, work, work, work, work
Mmmmm, mmmmm
These pop hit has a very deep story line. It sounds as though it is about somebody falling in love with someone, not letting that person really getting to know you. Wanting to let that person in but you are to afraid to. The moral is to have some form of communication with the love interest, so things will be able to work.
I hoped this helped, so next time your in a car listening to the radio and "Work" comes on, turn up the volume and sing every single verse perfectly at the top of your lungs!
