New Major Lazer – ‘Get Free’ feat. Amber of Dirty Projectors Produced by Major Lazer Mixed by Rich Costey Written by: A. Coffman, D. Longstreth, T. Pentz, D. Taylor Recorded at Geejam in Port Antonio, JA & Mad Decent in Los Angeles, CA Guitar by D. Lonstreth Additional Engineering Donato Paternostro
Review/Understanding:
This is a very sad song about the cycle of poverty and distribution of welfare.
Never got love from a government man
Love in this case is money in the form of welfare dispersed by the government.
Heading downstream till the levee gives in
The speaker is too poor to move to a different region, so they can only move slightly farther away from an inevitable problem.
What can I do to get the money
We ain’t got the money, we ain’t gettin’ out
The speaker sees no hope due to their poor financial situation.
Heading downstream till the levee gives in
And my dreams are wearin’ thin
All I need’s relief
I need, I need some sympathy
The speaker looks to a third party for support and compassion to pursue their dying dreams.
Look at me
I just can’t believe
What they’ve done to me
We could never get free
I just wanna be, I just wanna be
Look at me
I just can’t believe
What they’ve done to me
We could never get free
I just wanna be,
I just wanna dream
The speaker laments about their situation and how they have been put into a situation that is out of their control.
All of my life been wadin’ in
Water so deep now we got to swim
Wonder will it ever end
How long, how long till we have a friend
The speaker says that they have always had to deal with the “rising waters” of poverty. Now it is so bad they have to “swim or drown”. They wonder how long it has been since someone has helped them.
Comin’ down, feelin’ like a battery hen
Comin’ down could refer to a drug induced high. A battery cage is a way that mass produced chicken farms hold their stock. Therefore the speaker feels trapped and possibly lives in inhumane conditions.
Waves won’t break till the tide comes in
What will I do in the sunrise
What will I do without my dreams
The problem will occur continually because of the lack of support. (Even though the tide is out today, it will come back tomorrow if something is not done to stop it such as building a dam.) The speaker wonders what they will do at the end of the night without their dreams. This is more imagery of cyclic situations that will only resolve by action. (Cycle of poverty – Wikipedia )
Look at me
I just can’t believe
What they’ve done to me
We could never get free
I just wanna be, I just wanna be
Look at me
I just can’t believe
What they’ve done to me
We could never get free
I just wanna be
I just wanna dream
The speaker laments about their situation and how they have been put into a situation that is out of their control.
We’re all together in the same boat
I know you, you know me
Baby, you know me
We’re all together in the same boat
I know you, you know me
Baby, you know me
We’re all together in the same boat
I know you, you know me
Baby, you know me
I just wanna dream…
Baby, you know me
This section has two meanings. One could be the speaker talking to a loved one saying that they are all in the same boat. Or the speaker could be talking to us as the audience saying that as a society we are all in the same boat.