Diamonds are forever
They won't leave in the night
I've no fear that they might
Desert me

[Chorus]
Diamonds are forever (forever, forever)
Throw your diamonds in the sky if you feel the vibe
Diamonds are forever (forever, forever, forever)
The Roc is still alive every time I rhyme.
Forever ever? Forever ever? Ever, ever? Ever, ever? Ever, ever? Ever, ever?

Close your eyes and imagine, feel the magic
Vegas on acid,
Seen through Yves St. Laurent glasses
And I've realized that I've arrived, cuz
It take more than a magazine to kill my Vibe does
He write his own rhymes, so sort of
I think 'em
That mean I forgot better shit than u ever thought up
Damn, is he really that caught up?
I ask if you talkin' bout classics, do my name get brought up?
I remember I couldn't afford a Ford Escort or even a four-track recorder
So its only right that I let the top drop on a drop-top Porsche
Its for yourself that's important
If a stripper named Porscha and u get tips from many men
Then your fat friend her nickname is Minivan
Excuse me,
That's just the Henny, man, I smoke, I drink, I'm supposed to stop I can't because

[Chorus]

I was sick about awards
Couldn't nobody cure me
Only playa that got robbed but kept all his jewelry
Alicia Keys tried to talk some sense to them
30 minutes later seems there's no convincing them
What more can you ask for?
The international assholes nah
Who complains about what he is owed?
And throw a tantrum like he is 3 years old
You gotta love it though somebody still speaks from his soul
And wouldn't change by the change, or the game, or the fame,
When he came, in the game, he made his own lane
Now all I need is y'all to pronounce my name
Its Kanye - But some of my plaques - they still say Kane
Got family in the D, Kin-folk from Motown
Back in the Chi - them folks ain't from Motown
Life movin' too fast I need to slow down
Girl ain't give me no ass, ya need to go down

Diamonds are forever (forever, forever)
My father Ben said I need Jesus
So he took me to church and let the water wash over my Caeser
Diamonds are forever (forever, forever)
The preacher said we need leaders
Right then my body got still like a paraplegic

You know who you can call you gotta best believe it
The Roc stand tall and you would never believe it
Take your diamonds and throw 'em up like you bulimic
Yea the beat cold but the flow is anemic
After debris settles and the dust get swept off
Big K pick up where young Hov left off
Right when magazines wrote Kanye West off
I dropped my new shit sound like the best of
A&R's lookin' like "pssh we messed up"
Grammy night, damn right, we got dressed up
Bottle after bottle till we got messed up
In the studio, where really though, yea he next up
People askin' me if I'm gon' give my chain back
That'll be the same day I give the game back
You know the next question dog "Yo, where Dame at?"
This track the Indian dance to bring our reign back
"What's up with you and Jay, man, are y'all OK man?"
They pray for the death of our dynasty like Amen
R-r-r-right here stands a-man
With the power to make a diamond with his bare hands

[Chorus]

Diamonds are forever (forever, forever)
Diamonds are forever (forever, forever, forever)



Lyrics submitted by fadingthelines

Track duration: 03:34

"Diamonds from Sierra Leone" as written by Don Black, Kanye Omari West, Devon Harris, David A Sheats, John Barry, Antwan Patton, Andre Benjamin

Lyrics © EMI Music Publishing

Lyrics powered by LyricFind


Diamonds from Sierra Leone (Remix feat. Jay-Z) song meanings
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19 Comments

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  • +1
    Song Meaning:I think...
    this song is about how kids and young adults are loosing their lives producing the diamonds and priceless stones we splurge so much on these days. We are desperately wanting to get these diamonds and some of us will even put half our lives in danger for them , just like those children, (But they are chasing after food,water,shelter etc. all the things we have in order to survive. They care less for wanting diamonds or any other crap)

    Kanye and Jay-Z seems to be playing roles here in this song
    like,
    Kanye is trying to be a activist by telling us how people are getting hurt from what we buy and we should be ashamed and guilty on how selfish we are being.

    and Jay-Z
    seems to be playing our "typical" rich man that is well respected by a lot of people. He tries to set us in his point of view in his *luxurious* life so we are able to connect our lives to the people that are dying digging up mines on the other side of the world.
    Flag Hinamomoon November 22, 2010   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:when i was at his concert for glow in the dark, when he sang this song everyone put their hands up in the roc-a-fella symbol which looks like a DIAMOND. basically talking about people on the label hating on him.
    Flag speakersbl0wnon August 05, 2008   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:my favorite lines:

    "the diamonds, the chains, the bracelets, the charms
    i thought my jesus piece was so harmless
    till i seen a picture of a shorty armless and here's the conflict:
    it's in a black person's soul to rock that gold,
    spend ya whole like trying to get that ice,
    on a polo rugby it look so nice,
    how could something so wrong make me feel so right, right?"

    i love his delivery in this song. i think jay-z put the icing on the cake in this one. maybe i am just partial to him, though. gotta love jay.

    when i went to see kanye (graduation tour pretty much) he did this song and the crowd started putting up the rock-a-fella diamond. this song is even better live, it's fire.
    Flag oolongteaon June 11, 2008   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:in response to "cushi"...i happen to be a Jay-Z fan myself...he is a great lyricist, that line just popped out at me, was a real turn-off, anyway, if you'ld like to hear my favorite artist you so adamantly put down, go listen to Big L, then we'll talk
    Flag Squiggson April 04, 2008   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:jay-z is dope on this song. just about any song hes featured in ftw. is shirley saying "hold one up" in the background?
    Flag sergiolealon February 24, 2008   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:Squiggs shut the hell up cuz if u didn't notice jay-z already established himself as the best rapper alive with the preceding lines. As we all no not every poem must rhyme. I cud name 100 jay lines easy that wud top those of ur fav rapper. Why am I still talkin to u? Ur just a dumb hater.

    Jay MURDERS this song!!!! Did someone say kanye was in it as well? Didn't notice lol.
    Flag Cushion January 16, 2008   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:i think the remix wasn't that good.....i can't believe Jay-z's line:

    People lined up to see the Titanic sinkin'
    Instead we rose from the ash like a phoenix


    that was horrible...if you're trying to rhyme, which he was....that wasn't even close
    Flag Squiggson August 30, 2007   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:Yeah, this song is flawless.

    Two small corrections in Jay's verse though:
    1. "Part of me I had to laugh at that" should be "Pardon me, I had to laugh at that"
    2. "This ain't no tour order" should be "This ain't no tall order"
    Flag artformsnowon April 19, 2007   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:I prefer this version to the original one but I think Jay-Z messed it up a little. Like Kanye's part has stuff about the violence and the 'real' stuff and the Jay Z comes in and I don't understand a word he's saying...

    Loads of people probably disagree with me but it's just my opinion.
    Flag x.Rosenrot.xon January 12, 2007   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:This version is way better than the original because of the real lyrics and of course Jay-Z. I love the line "How could you falter, when your the Rock of Gibralter? I had to get of the boat so I could walk on water."
    Flag Hee-Haw19on May 01, 2006   Link

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