I was at a party this past weekend when a song came on that struck a chord inside of me. As I swung my sweaty arms and head to the beat of this magical tune, I found that not only did the lyrics of, “Get Low” by Lil Jon & The East Side Boyz, resonate deep within the inner fibers of my being, but they also contain an important cultural relevance that most rap/hip-hop songs don’t. When I returned to my room later that night, I couldn’t sit idly by while these beautiful words went unprocessed. So here is my interpretation of what I hear when I listen to this wondrous hymn.
“Get Low” By: Lil Jon & The East Side Boyz
3, 6, 9 damn you're fine move it so you can sock it to me one mo time
Get low, get low [6x]
To the window (to the window), to the wall (to the wall)
To the sweat drop down my balls (my balls)
To all these bitches crawl (crawl)
To all skeet skeet motherfucker (motherfucker!) all skeet skeet god damn (god damn) x2
“3, 6, 9 damn you're fine move it so you can sock it to me one mo time”
Lil Jon starts out by informing us that not only can he count, but he can count by threes. This lets us know that he is educated and that we are dealing with a reliable narrator. He then goes on to pay the subject of the sentence a compliment by telling her (or him. I’m not an expert on Lil Jon’s sexual orientation) that she/he is fine. Which according to Newton’s 2nd law is exactly one level above okay. Then my favorite part of the sentence comes when he asks she/he to engage in the ancient Greek tradition of “socking it to me” which is where two people fill their socks with a substance of their choice and engage in a pillow-fight-like battle. What’s great about this to me is that he is promoting good, clean fun between two lovers and that you don’t need sex and drugs to have a good time. Finally, by saying “mo” instead of “more,” he is implying that sometimes less is more, or as he would say it, “le is mo”
“Get Low, get low (x6)”
This is a shot directed at America’s upper class. The top 10% of our country controls over 75% of our wealth (whoops that fact is actually true). He is basically asking these 10% to be empathetic and imagine themselves in our shoes. He asks them to “get low” so they can understand the economic injustice occurring in what once was the greatest nation in the world.
“To the window, to the wall”
What we have here is an interesting dichotomy. He says, “to the window” which makes us think that he wants us to think about the window. But then he comes out of left field by saying, “to the wall.” The window is a symbol of transparency and openness while the wall is a symbol of sturdiness and opaqueness. I think what he is trying to say is that in a world where we are blatantly divided on so many important issues, it’s crucial to talk about things and recognize that we have to come together as people to resolve our differences.
“To the sweat drop down my balls.”
This sentence is a commentary on people who work manual labor jobs. It kind of goes back to his previous comment about getting low. There are some people out there who work ten hour days in the hot sun and get very little compensation for it. They have sweat dripping all in their eyeballs and it can hurt sometimes. Do these people really deserve to earn less money than the top 10%?
“To all these bitches crawl”
In the words of Sun Tzu “Bitches be crazy. Don’t let them walk.”
“To all skeet skeet motherfucker, all skeet skeet god damn (x2)”
In his 2005 autobiography, Lil Jon alluded to his love of skeet shooting with his mother. Ever since his dad was killed by a clay pigeon when he was little, he has been in love with the art of breaking the pompous bastards with a flurry of tiny bullets that have been ejected from a larger bullet that has been expelled from a shotgun barrel at a high rate of speed. When he talks about his daily motivation in chapters 1, 2, 4-7, 11, 16 and 33, he says repeatedly, “Ya know man, I just think about my dad and how he always wanted be to be a rapper. Growing up I always wanted to star in a professional ballet company’s annual production of the nutcracker, but when he died, I knew that this is what I had to do.”
I’m going to stop here at the end of the chorus. I sincerely hope you have enjoyed my interpretation of the song that I have officially decided will be the first dance at my wedding with my wife. Tune in next week for verses one and two!
