Lyrics for Bullet And A Target as interpreted by furiousbob

Bullet And A Target Lyrics
Mr.Dali Lamas
Another sister's shootin' heroin tomarrow
Amputees in Freetown
Sierra Leone's
The church wasnt honest
The state put the youth in a harness
Creatin' hostility among us
Teacher said no college
Still the kid's gotta get a check with a couple commas
People wanna bomb us
More people gotta scatter and run rom us
You can blame it on Zeus and Apollo and Adonis

But what you've done here
Is put yourself between a bullet and a target
And it won't be long before
You're pulling yourself away

But what you've done here
Is put yourself between a bullet and a target
And it won't be long before
You're pulling yourself away

I've been knowing her for years
I've been seeing her foor years she got dark, dark wavy hair
With a voice like she just don't care
She got a skirt with a halter top
She's got a dad who nevr gave enough
She drink a beer with a proper shot
She got knocked up in a pickup truck
But she got engaged when she was nineteen
To this dude who was acting insane
Has a .45 that he always cleaned
Said one day one day one too many days
Now she ducked and she ran away
Never to be heard from, never to be seen
I check the cover of a magazine
I'm just wondering how, just wondering how

But what you've done here
Is put yourself between a bullet and a target
And it won't be long before
You're pulling yourself away



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Dazzex40
01-14-2005

 Rated  +1 
It's hard to say what this song means, the lyrics are all over the place, but damn good. His voice is by no means 'good' at least in the classical sense, but it's pretty sick. I like it anyway. Damn good song. Reminds me of a cross between Jack Johnson and Everlast. Might just be me though.

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1 Reply  · 
itsalwaysyou_48
01-26-2005

 Rated  0 
yeah i'm not to sure either. maybe when you give up you're putting yourself in a bad position ("between a bullet and a target") i take it back, i have no clue. i like the song and the clapping sound. very cool.

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Netszrl
02-19-2005

 Rated  0 
I really don't see a connection between the 2 verses and the chorus..at all. So I'll just agree that this song kicks ass.

Plus Dazzex..he reminds me a lot of Everlast too.

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AppleRose
04-03-2005

 Rated  +2 
talking aabout a wide range of world topics, peace, shooting up, apmutee survivors of landmines,the civilwar issues of Sierra Leone , the catholic chirch scandals, issues for todays youth with the authorities,being told ur nhot good enough fpr college, making money to survive if ur poor,the terrorism, modern technology like pcs, how the workd is changing
, the greek gods , the end of the world....how u on a daily babis put ur self between a bullet and a target just to get thru the day....and how a young girl got into young prenmartial sex to escape her home problems, And she got knocked up having sex in a truck, and has a crazy boyfrined, or whatever, its deep, but basucally i think u guys are right , the song rocks! no matter what it means, lol

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1 Reply  · 
pnkseashel
04-04-2005

 Rated  +2 
Citizen Cope says "Bullet and a target has a lot of different meanings. Well, let me first say the songs kinda create themselves, they feed off themselves and they happen. Anything I say about a song is in retrospect more so than I planned it to be like that; I'm looking at it listening to it now.

Part of what "Bullet and a Target" is about is people that put themselves in situations that are dangerous that have a self-destructive quality. Part of it is where society is putting them in that situation. There's people that were born into it, people that choose to do it, and there's people who are thrown into it. "Bullet and a Target" deals with a lot of things."

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KNanthrup
06-02-2005

 Rated  0 
Great song, can't believe more people don't know about it. The lyrics put a lot of things in my mind, basically a real broad thought process. Love it!

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gotohellolemiss
07-09-2005

 Rated  0 
pnk pretty much nailed the lyrics, atleast in my opinion. Basically, this song means that every thing we do brings out a consequence. Whether be good or bad, in this case and song, bad, then a target is then placed on our back. Taking a look at some of his lines, its pretty easy to understand.

Also, i agree with the rest of yall. Citizen Cope is a great upcoming band that will make some noise before all is done.

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m/rockthecasbahm/
07-17-2005

 Rated  0 
i think this song means.. we r always inbetween the bullet and target life is full of putdowns and you can choose to put yourself inbetween the bullet and target and get shot down or you can choose to be on the other side and be the bullet and hit the target and make something of yourself .. thats the way i look at it its prolli completely wrong but thats just my perspective and the lyrics r just everyday examples of how we r placed inbetween the bullet and target...~claire~

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Sarahluvsu182
01-11-2006

 Rated  0 
I always thought it was about the oppression of black people. I guess Sierra Leone and the sister doing heroin threw me off.

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markmath
01-20-2006

 Rated  +1 
So, I'm thinking that this song is definitely about betrayal. Any song can mean whatever you want, or make it mean, but I think this best fits. So first verse is about the betrayal that we see all through society -- mrs. dali llamas -- betrayal of religion to have a female dali llama. heroine addicts of the future -- condemning people to drugs by not dealing with the problems they are facing in the now. sierra leon - obvious. church wasnt honest - duh. teacher said no college-- giving up too soon on the youth, another form of betrayal. look for it, and its clear.

next he brings us to a specific instance - this girl gets involved with a crazy, gun-brandishing psycho. and he talks about how she got there -- father who didnt care / wasnt there, getting knocked up, just an all around bad situation. BUT. he does leave us with a quasi-happy ending, in that, "check the cover of a magazine, i'm just wondering how, just wondering how." its either a. everything turns out all right for this girl (she's a model) or b. looking at a headline of a magazine like time or forbes to see more corruption and problems in the world...

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cjbenton1988
02-24-2006

 Rated  0 
awesome song. awesome artist.

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chaoticone
04-02-2006

 Rated  0 
song is about making mistakes and sticking yourself in places either solo or as a nation or a people that is bad like between a bullett and a target

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zerosandones
04-30-2006

 Rated  0 
i think it all shows people who have put themselves "between a bullet and a target". the girl who married the insane guy with a gun, the heroin user, the dishonest church. similar to between a rock and a hard place, but kind of different. i dont know how to explain it.

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HappyChillmore
06-16-2006

 Rated  0 
This song is definately one of the best rock-rap songs i have ever hjeard, amazing stuff. Although I dont like the rest of Citizen Cope's songs that much, this one is pure class.

anyone who enjoys this should also check out "Trik Turner", its a similar style of music, especially the songs "Friends and Family" and "Sacrifice"

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SomePurpleGuy
07-04-2006

 Rated  0 
Its "shes got a dad who never gave her FUCK" not enough

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poffey21
12-13-2006

 Rated  0 
Citizen Cope has a very similar style to a guy named Josh Garrels, especially this one. If you like this song, definitely check out Josh. I got to see him in concert and was blown away. One of the best concerts I've ever been to.

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mnttwins00
02-11-2007

 Rated  0 
has anyone heard Rhymefest ft. Citizen Cope- Bullet.. uses Cope's chorus with new lyrics rapped... amazing..

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HappyChillmore
04-01-2007

 Rated  0 
if you like songs like this then check out 2 songs by Trik Turner: "Friends and Family" and "Sacrifice".

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mekamouse
04-17-2007

 Rated  +1 
I think this is a call to action
The Dali lama vs. woman shooting heroine is the conflict between ideal and reality. like longing for peace but that what we're doing isnt enough
In the first verse he refers to the diamond minds of sierra leone and how the workers are exploited and often times injuired or killed. the government rapes the land, forces workers to exist in degrading conditions and then chop their hands off if they refuse to work or attempt to steal. How someone could "steal" something that is from the earth thus a gift to EVERYONE (especially the indigenous people of that land) is beyond me.
Next, cope discusses consumerism and the destruction of the education system. The US limits education to the wealthy and privilledged and then exploit the oppressed by advertising products and lifestyles that they could not achieve without a) amazing stamina, good support systems and resilliance that most could never achieve or b) resorting to a life of violence
the people want to bomb us : speaks next about 911
Zeus- ruler of the gods... bush
Apollo- "bringer of a death dealing plague" per wikipedia ... I think this may just be a general statement about HIV/AIDS.
Adonis- life-birth-death
all the greek god stuff was from wikipedia
I feel that the chorus is saying we've (as a society) put ourselves in a very dangerous place... we have become self-destructive.. as it would be to put yourself between an actual bullet and a target. we have placed our future generations and our fellow man in a place where... if we don't rise up... we will fall apart.
I think the next part is about someone that he lost or knew... or maybe just someone who was shot
but i think he's talking about a woman who had amazing potential but never had the opportunity to reach it. she had an amazing voice but a hard family life. She got married to an abusive man who shot her when she tried to leave him.
I feel that he's saying... he looks at magazines and thinks about how she should have been on it. that feeling that it never should have happened ... that she so much to offer
I think he's connecting the literal bullet that killed the woman that he knew to the "bullet" of social destruction.

a call to action for us to come together before it destroys us all

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whytalktostephe
05-04-2007

 Rated  0 
love this song..
its very realist..but alot of their songs are. its great though, its just showing how fucked up life is
and i love his voice.
its very rap/reggae mixed with rock, and this is one of the only bands that can pull it off.

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ManInTheHall
05-17-2007

 Rated  0 
As many people said; this song has many meanings. It's a very powerful song indeed, and his voice really compliments the great lyrics.

Awesome song. 'Nuff said.

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OpinionHead
06-29-2007

 Rated  0 
I just think this song is about how somebody feels when they are caught in a shitty situation. Somebody else tells their ideas and they aren't kind to the victim, because the victim always bears some responsibility. I think that what this song is trying to say, trying to see it from a different perspective I guess.

First song I've heard by this group, and it rules.

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leland22
07-22-2007

 Rated  0 
to me this song is mainly talking about the war in Iraq and that the government put itself in a bad position overseas and it won't be long before they send all the troops back.

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different_13
09-14-2007

 Rated  0 
Jesus christ this is good!

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musiciz4ever
12-07-2007

 Rated  0 
I think it's about how people are really screwing themselves over, whether on a personal or worldly level. I think in the first verse, he's talking about how no matter how much people say that things are changing, they're getting better, they're improving...they're really not. There's so much crap happening behind the scenes that most people don't know about.
As for the verse about the girl. I think it's pretty obvious that she got herself into an abusive relationship and ran away to become famous. (The reference to the cover of the magazine.)
Also, I think he's saying we can't blame God or the gods or anything else for what WE do. It's our own fault, and we need to turn around and go the other way before we do some serious damage to oursevles.

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