In regards to the meaning of this song:
Before a live performance on the EP Five Stories Falling, Geoff states “It’s about the last time I went to visit my grandmother in Columbus, and I saw that she was dying and it was the last time I was going to see her. It is about realizing how young you are, but how quickly you can go.”
That’s the thing about Geoff and his sublime poetry, you think it’s about one thing, but really it’s about something entirely different. But the lyrics are still universal and omnipresent, ubiquitous, even. So relatable. That’s one thing I love about this band. I also love their live performances, raw energy and Geoff’s beautiful, imperfectly perfect vocals. His voice soothes my aching soul.
Regulators
We regulate any stealin' of his property
We're damn good too, but you can't be any geek off the street
You gotta be handy with the steel, if you know what I mean
Earn your keep
Regulators, mount up
It was a clear black night, a clear white moon
Warren G was on the streets, tryin' to consume
Some skirts for the eve, so I can get some phones
Rollin' in my ride, chillin' all alone
Just hit the eastside of the L-B-C
On a mission tryna find Mr. Warren G
Seen a car full of girls, ain't no need to tweak
All you skirts know what's up with 2-1-3
So I hooks a left on 2-1 and Lewis
Some brothers shootin' dice, so I said, "Let's do this"
I jumped out the ride and said, "What's up?"
Some brothers pulled some gats, so I said, "I'm stuck"
Since these girls peepin' me I'ma glide and swerve
These hookers lookin' so hard they straight hit the curb
Onto bigger, better things than some horny tricks
I see my homie and some suckas all in his mix
I'm gettin' jacked, I'm breakin' myself
I can't believe they takin' Warren's wealth
They took my rings, they took my Rolex
I looked at the brother said, "Damn, what's next?"
They got my homie hemmed up and they all around
Can't none of them see him if they goin' straight pound for pound
They wanna come up real quick before they start to clown
I best pull out my strap and lay them busters down
They got guns to my head
I think I'm goin' down
I can't believe it's happenin' in my own town
If I had wings I would fly, let me contemplate
I glanced in the cut and I see my homie Nate
Sixteen in the clip and one in the hole
Nate Dogg is about to make some bodies turn cold
Now they droppin' and yellin', it's a tad bit late
Nate Dogg and Warren G had to regulate
I laid all them busters down, I let my gat explode
Now I'm switchin' my mind back into freak mode
If you want skirts, sit back and observe
I just left a gang of hoes over there on the curb
Now Nate got the freaks and that's a known fact
Before I got jacked I was on the same track
Back up, back up, 'cause it's on
N-A-T-E and me, the Warren to the G
Just like I thought, they were in the same spot
In need of some desperate help
But Nate Dogg and the G child
Were in need of somethin' else
One of them dames was sexy as hell
I said, "Ooh, I like your size"
She said, "My car's broke down and you seem real nice, would you let me ride?"
I got a car full of girls and it's goin' real swell
The next stop is the Eastside Motel
I'm tweakin' into a whole new era
G-funk, step to this, I dare ya
Funk on a whole new level
The rhythm is the bass and the bass is the treble (woo)
Chords, strings, we brings melody
G-funk, where rhythm is life and life is rhythm
If you know like I know
You don't wanna step to this
It's the G-funk era, funked out with a gangster twist
If you smoke like I smoke
Then you're high like everyday
And if your ass is a buster
2-1-3 will regulate
We regulate any stealin' of his property
We're damn good too, but you can't be any geek off the street
You gotta be handy with the steel, if you know what I mean
Earn your keep
Regulators, mount up
It was a clear black night, a clear white moon
Warren G was on the streets, tryin' to consume
Some skirts for the eve, so I can get some phones
Rollin' in my ride, chillin' all alone
Just hit the eastside of the L-B-C
On a mission tryna find Mr. Warren G
Seen a car full of girls, ain't no need to tweak
All you skirts know what's up with 2-1-3
So I hooks a left on 2-1 and Lewis
Some brothers shootin' dice, so I said, "Let's do this"
I jumped out the ride and said, "What's up?"
Some brothers pulled some gats, so I said, "I'm stuck"
Since these girls peepin' me I'ma glide and swerve
These hookers lookin' so hard they straight hit the curb
Onto bigger, better things than some horny tricks
I see my homie and some suckas all in his mix
I'm gettin' jacked, I'm breakin' myself
I can't believe they takin' Warren's wealth
They took my rings, they took my Rolex
I looked at the brother said, "Damn, what's next?"
They got my homie hemmed up and they all around
Can't none of them see him if they goin' straight pound for pound
They wanna come up real quick before they start to clown
I best pull out my strap and lay them busters down
They got guns to my head
I think I'm goin' down
I can't believe it's happenin' in my own town
If I had wings I would fly, let me contemplate
I glanced in the cut and I see my homie Nate
Sixteen in the clip and one in the hole
Nate Dogg is about to make some bodies turn cold
Now they droppin' and yellin', it's a tad bit late
Nate Dogg and Warren G had to regulate
I laid all them busters down, I let my gat explode
Now I'm switchin' my mind back into freak mode
If you want skirts, sit back and observe
I just left a gang of hoes over there on the curb
Now Nate got the freaks and that's a known fact
Before I got jacked I was on the same track
Back up, back up, 'cause it's on
N-A-T-E and me, the Warren to the G
Just like I thought, they were in the same spot
In need of some desperate help
But Nate Dogg and the G child
Were in need of somethin' else
One of them dames was sexy as hell
I said, "Ooh, I like your size"
She said, "My car's broke down and you seem real nice, would you let me ride?"
I got a car full of girls and it's goin' real swell
The next stop is the Eastside Motel
I'm tweakin' into a whole new era
G-funk, step to this, I dare ya
Funk on a whole new level
The rhythm is the bass and the bass is the treble (woo)
Chords, strings, we brings melody
G-funk, where rhythm is life and life is rhythm
If you know like I know
You don't wanna step to this
It's the G-funk era, funked out with a gangster twist
If you smoke like I smoke
Then you're high like everyday
And if your ass is a buster
2-1-3 will regulate
Lyrics submitted by defubuskorn
Regulate Lyrics as written by Mike Stoller Jerry Leiber
Lyrics © Royalty Network, Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, REACH MUSIC PUBLISHING, Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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This is a rap song from the early 90’s that I just came across a few months ago while I was at my friend’s house burning a CD. He told me we should put this song on a CD because it was a cool song, especially for rap. Ever since then it has been one of my favourite rap songs. The way that Nate Dogg and Warren G put the song together like a story is great, because most rap songs don’t have much for content. This one tells a story about getting jumped and then bustin’ some caps on the punks who jumped you and then finding some ho’s and heading to a motel for some fun. This song also has no harsh swearing which is irregular for a rap song and I admire any rapper who can have a popular song without too much if not any foul language. This is me and my friend’s favourite song to listen to on a Saturday night before we go out partying!
Can you hear the beat of my heart? Bump-ba-bump-ba-bump-ba-bump-ba-bump-ba-bump-ba-bump-a-bump!
This is pretty much an old-fashioned outlaw ballad, reimagined for the hip-hope age. Warren G goes looking for a good time and gets in over his head. Nate Dogg comes to help him out, and they ride on. In another age they'd be cowboys and this would be a country song.
best rap song ever, i don't think it will ever get old or outdated. Everybody knows this song, if you put it on, everybody starts rapping it.
The other night, I crashed in a motel on the east side of Elk Grove Village, Illinois. On the way there, with my girlfriend and her friends, I couldn't help but sing to my self, "I got a car full of girls and it's going real swell. Next stop is the East Side Motel."
For once, this overly-white nerdy 20 year old felt like a true-blooded 1994 regulator.
MOUNT UP!
Why hasn't anybody given Michael McDonald any credit here? Where exactly do you think Warren G. got the groove from for this song? Go and listen to "I Keep Forgetting" and you'll hear some smooth shit!
i was wondering for a long time where i heard that beat before then a while back i heard michael mcdonald's i keep forgetting and it hit me. that's where it was sampled from and i had to listen to both songs back to back. 2 classic. regulate is on the sdtk of above the rim. i liked this song even when i didn't appreciate the rap music of the early '90's. but unlike most of the rap today the rap songs of yesterday had more substance and told stories. and were not about how much money they had or the cars the drove.
This song is about how Warren G is a loser who can't go anywhere without getting jacked by some punks, while Nate Dogg is the mack. At the end of the song, Warren has to make do with Nate's leftovers - note how only one of the girls is "sexy as hell".
True homie. He ain’t gonna leave his homie stuck in a bad situation, he’s gonna regulate. He’s got 16 in the clip, and one in the hole, and he ain’t afraid of murdering a few bodies and leaving them to turn cold; man he got real really fast! I mean it’s cool that you’d ride for me like that, but damn, could you just scare them away instead of killing them dead? They are our brothers after all…
@movietango but I guess when you live in a place like that you have to be tough or you won’t survive. Didn’t take that into consideration, my bad. And if they’re jacking his friend and taking ALL of his bling and shit then it’s gonna piss me off too.
I remember listening to this song when I was younger. It brings back a lot of fun memories