Southwest Song

"Good people sometimes think bad things
Good people dream bad things, don't you
Good people even do bad things
Once in a while, we do"

[Violent J]
Factory smoke and choke in pain
'cause Del Ray funk is in my brain
So I break the law but I'm not to blame
You only know my place, you don't know my name

[Shaggy 2 Dope]
Well, I grip the fence and bent the steal
And I steal a car and I grip the wheel
And I park the car then I steal it again
'cause I really don't know what's happening

[Violent J]
I wait for night to fall then I walk outside
And then I run back in 'cause I don't want to die
You see, the air alone, it can corrupt your brain
As smoke fills the sky enough to block the rain

[Shaggy 2 Dope]
And I pray to God to help me justify
Look over me 'cause my brain is fried
And I don't have a name, I don't have a home
I just lay alone on my bed of stone

[Violent J]
You see, death awaits me on my narrow path
And when I stop to think I can only laugh
Because I'm not alone, it didn't take me long
To see everybody singing that southwest song

[Chorus (2x)]
Wooooooo Oh We-oh
Everybody singing that southwest song

[Violent J]
Some say I'm real and some say I'm fake
But I really don't care 'cause it's all too late
You see, my mind is weak and I'm losing breath
As I crawl along I can feel the death

[Shaggy 2 Dope]
Everywhere I go I bring with me pride
And then I pay the carny and I take a ride
But see, the wheel is wicked and it spins me death
So I try it again with what pride is left

[Violent J]
If we have to go then you can take me fast
You see, I started under and I'm sinking fast
And when the joker's card is missing from your deck
Then you know the road has finally caught my neck

[Shaggy 2 Dope]
Eh, yo, don't look, now, there we go again
It's me and the grim reaper, best of friends
He's always hanging round waitin for me to die
We shot a game of pool, he's not a bad guy

[Violent J]
I feel him in the corner of a circled room
At about thirteen in the afternoon
And then I see the strain as I walk along
I notice everybody singing that southwest song

[Chorus (2x)]

What does seem bad to you?
I'm angry...
What does seem bad to you?
I'm angry...
Everybody singing that southwest song

[Violent J]
If my time has come, then I'm ready to go
Shoot me in the face with your forty-four
And when I'm falling down to my soury death
I'll laugh with my very last breath (hahaha)

[Shaggy 2 Dope]
Lose some, win some, that's how it goes
I've been down and out, I took many blows
And there ain't nothing here I ain't seen before
I'm just a jugglin juggla jugglin more

[Violent J]
You want to see the world, you want to run the town
You want to meet a girl and want to settle down
You want to start a family and ya own a home
I want to run with a set from the ghetto zone

[Shaggy 2 Dope]
You see the forks up, I see the forks down
But I'm a wicked clown, so don't fuck around
'cause my brain is gone and it's on it's way
I'm exploding, so get off me, dog!!!

[Violent J]
And I could be right and I could be wrong
And if I ain't dead now then it won't be long
But it does not matter what set you on
Tonight everybody sings that southwest song

[Chorus (6x)]

"What seems bad to you?
Is hitting other kids?"


Lyrics submitted by SongMeanings

Southwest Song Lyrics as written by Joseph Bruce

Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group

Lyrics powered by LyricFind

Southwest Song song meanings
Add Your Thoughts

4 Comments

sort form View by:
  • 0
    My Interpretation

    They paint a pretty vivid and poor state of conditions in south west Detroit. I have no personal experience with Detroit but given the recent bankruptcy and issues in Detroit I can imagine that the situation has been on a slow decline for a few decades (which provides a reference for this song that was released in 1997).

    I personally enjoy the beat on this track, and the lyrical themes are overly juvenile ... so nearly 20 years after first hearing this song I still don't mind giving it a spin every now and then.

    sokornyon March 04, 2016   Link

Add your thoughts

Log in now to tell us what you think this song means.

Don’t have an account? Create an account with SongMeanings to post comments, submit lyrics, and more. It’s super easy, we promise!

More Featured Meanings

Album art
Techno Ted
Audioslave
Techno Ted may be a person who caused Chris incredible emotional pain & trepidation as well as moments of peace & happiness but now is removed and awaiting his fate. Darling may be a different person who is also free of him and can live her life free of Ted's tyranny. "In between all the laughing, and daydreams ... lies: a desert of truth" Lies are like a desert or the omission of Truth: Where there were Lies then Truth was absent. The song, "Techno Ted", may be a cathartic celebration of the downfall of this person.
Album art
Light Up The Sky
Van Halen
The song lyrics were written by the band Van Halen, as they were asked to write a song for the 1979 movie "Over the Edge" starring Matt Dillon. The movie (and the lyrics, although more obliquely) are about bored, rebellious youth with nothing better to do than get into trouble. If you see the movie, these lyrics will make more sense. It's a great movie if you grew up in the 70s/80s you'll definitely remember some of these characters from your own life. Fun fact, after writing the song, Van Halen decided not to let the movie use it.
Album art
Mental Istid
Ebba Grön
This is one of my favorite songs. https://fnfgo.io
Album art
No Surprises
Radiohead
Same ideas expressed in Fitter, Happier are expressed in this song. We're told to strive for some sort of ideal life, which includes getting a good job, being kind to everyone, finding a partner, getting married, having a couple kids, living in a quiet neighborhood in a nice big house, etc. But in Fitter, Happier the narrator(?) realizes that it's incredibly robotic to live this life. People are being used by those in power "like a pig in a cage on antibiotics"--being pacified with things like new phones and cool gadgets and houses while being sucked dry. On No Surprises, the narrator is realizing how this life is killing him slowly. In the video, his helmet is slowly filling up with water, drowning him. But he's so complacent with it. This is a good summary of the song. This boring, "perfect" life foisted upon us by some higher powers (not spiritual, but political, economic, etc. politicians and businessmen, perhaps) is not the way to live. But there is seemingly no way out but death. He'd rather die peacefully right now than live in this cage. While our lives are often shielded, we're in our own protective bubbles, or protective helmets like the one Thom wears, if we look a little harder we can see all the corruption, lies, manipulation, etc. that is going on in the world, often run by huge yet nearly invisible organizations, corporations, and 'leaders'. It's a very hopeless song because it reflects real life.
Album art
Magical
Ed Sheeran
How would you describe the feeling of being in love? For Ed Sheeran, the word is “Magical.” in HIS three-minute album opener, he makes an attempt to capture the beauty and delicacy of true love with words. He describes the magic of it all over a bright Pop song produced by Aaron Dessner.