I stand firm for our soil (a source)
Lick a rock on foil (nigga I'll come forth)
Say reduce me, seduce me, (They juice me, seduce me)
Dress me up in Stussy.
Hell is round the corner where I shelter.
Ism's and schisms, we're living helter skelter (been livin' on a study)
If you believe and (or) deceive common sense says shouldn't receive
Let me take you down the corridors of my life.
And when you walk, do you walk to your preference?
No need to answer till I take further evidence.
I seem to need a reference to get residence.
A reference to your preference to say,
I'm a good neighbor, I trudge, (shrug)
So judge me for labor,
Live version of the song. The bond on me ensures (lobotomy) my good behavior
The constant struggle (strum) ensures my insanity.
Passing the ignorance ensures the struggle for my family
We're hungry beware of our appetite.
Distant drums bring the news of a kill tonight.
The kill which I share with my passengers.
We take our fill, take our fill, take our fill.

I stand firm for our soil (a source)
Lick a rock on foil (nigga I'll come forth)
Say reduce me, seduce me, (They juice me, seduce me)
Dress me up in Stussy.

Confused by different memories,
Details of Asian remedies
Conversations, of what's become of enemies.
My brain thinks bomb-like,
So I listen he's a calm type.
And as I grow, I grow collective.
Before the move sit on the perspective.
Mr. Quaye (Mr. Kray) lay in the crevice. (Distant cradle in the crevice)
And watches from the precipice.
Imperial passage.
Heat from the sun some days slowly passes,
Until then, you have to live with yourself
Until then, you have to live with yourself



Lyrics submitted by nicole

Track duration: 03:47

"Hell is Round the Corner" as written by Isaac Hayes, Adrian Nicholas Matthew Thaws

Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group

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Hell Is Round the Corner song meanings
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24 Comments

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  • 0
    My Interpretation:What makes the song so powerful is the seemingly non sequitur-like nature of the lyrics. I don't think there's one single "meaning" to discern from the text, but the imagery of Tricky's lyrics stimulates the formulation of one's own interpretation.

    Personally, it speaks to me because of the melancholia of a traumatic past. Everyone with a traumatic past (and let's face it, we're all scarred) will know that "Hell" always remains "just around the corner" of where ever you are. No matter whether you got better.

    To me, that's the core of the song. You can move beyond the shadows of your past, but they'll always be there. Perhaps there's some point when it's gone, but until then: you have to live with yourself.
    Flag LeviNunon March 06, 2013   Link
  • +1
    Song Meaning:The lyrics of this track are pure genius... my interpretation of it has evolved over the years and its meaning has just grown more and more sinister! Tricky may be simply artfully describing his personal struggles... but at a broader scope I feel he is hitting on an underlying common experience for many of us. I believe the song starts off suggesting a need to escape through drugs, fantasy, or ideology. This need comes from a chaotic life where heavy manipulation, pressure, and disadvantage is being laid upon us. He questions how much of what we do is of our independent will when we must conform to insure less punishment. The insanity resulting from this way of life renders us desperate and very capable of violence. We then are consumed with thoughts of destruction of ourselves or others... and in the end we have to accept this life and all the things we were influenced to do. Sheer genius!
    Flag mAdViBeZon January 13, 2011   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:It sounds like a comment on how black people (young black men especially, I imagine; and possibly also immigrants) are reduced to stereotypes, and the impact that social marginalizing has on them.

    And yeah, it's exactly the same bass line as in "Glory Box." All of the trip-hoppers worked together in some permutation or other, and you'll find lyrics and music overlapping among many of the artists' outputs.
    Flag persimmonon November 14, 2010   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:this song is fucking sexy
    Flag cheerscatboyon September 05, 2010   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:He said in an interview that it was about growing up in Knowle West.
    Flag muphdovianon August 13, 2009   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:Yep, it's the same bassline as glory box by portishead, except tricky put out this song a couple of months before portishead.

    any way the beat is actually a sample of Issac Hayes' (RIP) song Ike's Rap (part II I think)

    long live triphop
    Flag p4rano1d4ndro1don August 14, 2008   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:Does anyone else think that the bassline of this song sounds MIGHTY close to the bassline in Glory Box by Portishead..?
    Flag fossilhunteron July 28, 2008   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:The background noise is obviously a vinyl crackle. This is not at all unusual giving that the song is based on Ike's Rap.
    Flag Wallamanageon June 06, 2008   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:I don't think it's something burning. It sounds more like the empty noise from a pickup.

    "So reduce me, seduce me,
    Dress me up in Stüssy." This I think talks about selling out yourself on the dome of money and fashion.
    Flag Pithikoson March 24, 2008   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:// sorry about doublepost
    Also, I've noticed that you can hear a burning noise in the background the whole time. This could be fire, which could mean loads of stuff, but to me it sounds more like the crackling noise crack makes when you smoke it. Just a thought.
    Flag kthxbion December 07, 2007   Link

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