Raging and swirling,
Getting inside,
I feel like I'm going to break!

Bright sun sinking low,
I never feel afraid to let emotions show.
Well I did.
Now take a look at me,
I had a close brush before your destiny.

Before I end, and you'll be victims of
My stories, tales, lies, and exaggerations.
I'm gonna
When your living life like a show
You gotta
Take a bow to the people you know

I said lie, for me
Lying under a process tree
Oh engrossing in my brain
Feeling like I'm going a little insane.

A little close inside
Feels like I'm going insane!

Red lights
Are sinking low

I grab another beer cuz it's time to go

I feel my head burst, I head out to your car
And I pray to Jesus Christ, but you won't get too far

I say uh, headlights and uh second gear
I run the road of like and skip the things you fear
I said that you might, that you might find a better way
To justify the evil things that you say

Ah, help me please, ah help me please
Because I'm going upon my knees

I said, I said
Going down to my knees
I pray to the Lord up above!

Help me,
I'm falling down
Feeling now the cold, cold, cold, hard ground

Haunting faces, and moving lines
Slumber party for tonight

Pound it hard, your gonna pound it again
But please just do not pump up my friend
Cuz it seems all right, gonna push him around
But I can't be taken for no clown.

Because,
When I am on the ground I cry!

Wowowowowowo, dub style!

Oh, cool and easy
Oh no
Cool and easy
To the sweet reggae music
Oh no
Feels all right to sweet reggae music
Feels all right
Sweet reggae music


Lyrics submitted by skennedy97

Had a Dat Lyrics as written by Eric John Wilson Bradley James Nowell

Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group

Lyrics powered by LyricFind

Had A Dat song meanings
Add Your Thoughts

34 Comments

sort form View by:
  • +2
    General Comment

    i dont know what the fuck is wrong with you a true sublime fan would love every sublime song personally this is one of my favourite sublime songs i dont think it gets much better than had a dat

    johnny button October 19, 2005   Link
  • +2
    General Comment

    I truely think its about his addiction problem.

    "Ah, help me please, ah help me please because I'm going upon my knees

    I said, I said going down to my knees I pray to the Lord up above!

    Help me, I'm falling down feeling now the cold, cold, cold, hard ground "

    also ebcause when he says lies adns tuff hes sayign about his addiction. when you have an addiction , youd do anything to get what you need to feel okay.

    majicklick19on September 18, 2006   Link
  • +1
    General Comment

    zps2, get stoned and listen to it. i'm sure you will be able to stand it then. ;)

    er1nyaon June 30, 2003   Link
  • +1
    General Comment

    I would like to also had that i think that this song is truely mad up of emotions, and you dissing this song seem like your dissing his problems, i think hes tryin to give you a hint like when he gets all loud hes like im GOING TO BREAK, IM GOING TO GO CRAZY IM GUNNA FREAK OUT ya know and i think its tryin to really explain something and let his emtions out.

    majicklick19on September 18, 2006   Link
  • +1
    General Comment

    This song is so powerful to me, I love it, I don't understand how anyone couldn't like it. To me this isn't even a song its like audio art, Bradley is truely letting out his demons in this.

    MusicTurkeyon October 01, 2006   Link
  • +1
    General Comment

    you people suck for critizing this jam...if you dont like this song then you dont like sublime which means you suck..every sublime song is so kickass

    jtuckon June 01, 2008   Link
  • +1
    General Comment

    Everyone is entitles to their own opinions,mine just happens to be that you are morons for not feeling the passion that Brad put into this song.

    PurpleFreak7410on July 10, 2008   Link
  • +1
    General Comment

    its very poetic if you ask me.

    mindieselon June 16, 2010   Link
  • +1
    General Comment

    Lemme clear the confusion. Had A DAT- Digital Audio Tape.

    Now for the lyrics, "raging, swirling getting inside, feeling like i'm going insane" -He's watching the flame as he hits a pipe.

    "Never felt afraid to let emotions show, but i did Now take a look at me, I had a close brush before your destiny." -He's beginning to have a bad trip.

    All the rest of the song is like him leaving a party all wrecked and tripping/drunk as he drives around and stop and he falls out of the car and has a breakdown.

    Then at the end of his bad trip the cool and easy, sweet reggae music calms him out of his trip. All he ever needed was his music.

    -Just my two cents

    sublime89visionon July 13, 2010   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    This is Brad's life story put in a song. He sings with such conviction an awesome example of Sublime. A Sublime classic.

    Coming Cleanon June 16, 2002   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
Fast Car
Tracy Chapman
"Fast car" is kind of a continuation of Bruce Springsteen's "Born to Run." It has all the clawing your way to a better life, but in this case the protagonist never makes it with her love; in fact she is dragged back down by him. There is still an amazing amount of hope and will in the lyrics; and the lyrics themselve rank and easy five. If only music was stronger it would be one of those great radio songs that you hear once a week 20 years after it was released. The imagery is almost tear-jerking ("City lights lay out before us", "Speeds so fast felt like I was drunk"), and the idea of starting from nothing and just driving and working and denigrating yourself for a chance at being just above poverty, then losing in the end is just painful and inspiring at the same time.
Album art
Son Şansın - Şarkı Sözleri
Hayalperest
This song seemingly tackles the methods of deception those who manipulate others use to get victims to follow their demands, as well as diverting attention away from important issues. They'll also use it as a means to convince people to hate or kill others by pretending acts of terrorism were committed by the enemy when the acts themselves were done by the masters of control to promote discrimination and hate. It also reinforces the idea that these manipulative forces operate in various locations, infiltrating everyday life without detection, and propagate any and everywhere. In general, it highlights the danger of hidden agendas, manipulation, and distraction, serving as a critique of those who exploit chaos and confusion to control and gain power, depicting a cautionary tale against falling into their traps. It encourages us to question the narratives presented to us and remain vigilant against manipulation in various parts of society.
Album art
Dreamwalker
Silent Planet
I think much like another song “Anti-Matter” (that's also on the same album as this song), this one is also is inspired by a horrifying van crash the band experienced on Nov 3, 2022. This, much like the other track, sounds like it's an extension what they shared while huddled in the wreckage, as they helped frontman Garrett Russell stem the bleeding from his head wound while he was under the temporary effects of a concussion. The track speaks of where the mind goes at the most desperate & desolate of times, when it just about slips away to all but disconnect itself, and the aftermath.
Album art
Mountain Song
Jane's Addiction
Jane's Addiction vocalist Perry Farrell gives Adam Reader some heartfelt insight into Jane’s Addiction's hard rock manifesto "Mountain Song", which was the second single from their revolutionary album Nothing's Shocking. Mountain song was first recorded in 1986 and appeared on the soundtrack to the film Dudes starring Jon Cryer. The version on Nothing's Shocking was re-recorded in 1988. "'Mountain Song' was actually about... I hate to say it but... drugs. Climbing this mountain and getting as high as you can, and then coming down that mountain," reveals Farrell. "What it feels to descend from the mountain top... not easy at all. The ascension is tough but exhilarating. Getting down is... it's a real bummer. Drugs is not for everybody obviously. For me, I wanted to experience the heights, and the lows come along with it." "There's a part - 'Cash in now honey, cash in Miss Smith.' Miss Smith is my Mother; our last name was Smith. Cashing in when she cashed in her life. So... she decided that, to her... at that time, she was desperate. Life wasn't worth it for her, that was her opinion. Some people think, never take your life, and some people find that their life isn't worth living. She was in love with my Dad, and my Dad was not faithful to her, and it broke her heart. She was very desperate and she did something that I know she regrets."
Album art
I Can't Go To Sleep
Wu-Tang Clan
This song is written as the perspective of the boys in the street, as a whole, and what path they are going to choose as they get older and grow into men. (This is why the music video takes place in an orphanage.) The seen, and unseen collective suffering is imbedded in the boys’ mind, consciously or subconsciously, and is haunting them. Which path will the boys choose? Issac Hayes is the voice of reason, maybe God, the angel on his shoulder, or the voice of his forefathers from beyond the grave who can see the big picture and are pleading with the boys not to continue the violence and pattern of killing their brothers, but to rise above. The most beautiful song and has so many levels. Racism towards African Americans in America would not exist if everyone sat down and listened to this song and understood the history behind the words. The power, fear, pleading in RZA and Ghostface voices are genuine and powerful. Issac Hayes’ strong voice makes the perfect strong father figure, who is possibly from beyond the grave.