Aesop Rock – The Gates (Audio, Lyrics)

Aesop Rock unveils a new song titled “The Gates”. Listen, stream, buy, mp3 download and read the lyrics to the song self-produced by Aesop Rock.

Aesop Rock The Gates

With a name drawing inspiration from fables said to have been penned between the years of 620 and 564 BCE, it’s not exactly hard to understand why Aesop Rock is one of hip-hop’s most distinctive lyricists. Much like the tales on which his moniker is based, understanding the true meaning of Rock’s lyrics requires further examination than the typical hip-hop track.

Preferring to deal in the abstract and metaphorical, many of his lines serve to evoke feelings and images, leaving listeners to draw their own conclusions from there. And that’s exactly what makes songs like his latest, “The Gate,” such enjoyable journeys. Especially when Rock goes the distance and flexes an uncommon new flow, up-tempo though not at the cost of his typically-dense lyricism. Be sure to consider the following section, and leave your interpretation in the comment section.

Aesop Rock – The Gates (prod. Aesop Rock)

Lyrics

[Verse 1]
I was at the gates
Ram’s legs, my pizza black, my plants dead
My planet X, I might bleed green
I’m what’s under the uncut chia seed
I’m what, what, what, what from the guillotine
A little flea and tick, a little fever dream
A little plead the fifth
Roadkill, I’m off leash
I don’t heel and I’m hung from an unkind mobile
It turn one misstep into bonemeal
Look, daybreak, I’m lights out
My kind sleeps upside down
It’s sci-fi, red tide, my hi and bye make record time
I go three, two, one, desensitize
No lie, tell death he could get in line
K, hellspawn, I’m no joke
I eat brains, I throw bolts
I know easy prey, I seen broken oaths
I go marching in, I’m all, “Oh-ee-oh”
I know a rodeo from these pony shows
I don’t stay for tea, I can’t slow the code, I go
Coyote, alone and ghost
I’m in the goddamn smoke, ear, nose, and throat
Ayy, yo, fresh pot, my favorite mug
Aes Rock, my day sucked
Agent of all things deep-sixed
I feel like I was put here to keep the crypt
I get tired of bread, I might eat the rich
I ain’t seen a leader, just feeder fish
You want free weed, you want free shit
I mean, dude

[Chorus]
I was at the gates
Wolf’s head, my boots on, no bullshit
I know both sides of that tough love
They’re both mud, that’s what’s up
That’s what’s up, that’s what’s up
Straight up and, straight up and down, don’t even bother
I was at the gates
Snakeskin, my hood low, don’t say shit
I know both sides of that bloodlust
They’re both mud, that’s what’s up
That’s what’s up, that’s what’s up
Straight up and, straight up and down, don’t even bother

[Verse 2]
Rat tail, my backdrop’s all black sails
Dog bite and my bird curse
Cross-eyed, world’s worst
Troglodyte, I might split the blinds
I’m like Vincent Van with that instant rice
I write cryptograms at all waking hours
I tattoo the mail and all paper towels
I’m on the kitchen walls, I may paint the house
It could breach the yard, it’s omega-bound
Game face on dour days, y’all gang-gang’s like, “How quaint”
Gangway for that false start vs. freight trains through stalled cars
Shame, shame, shit’s so wack, show you back to this moth jar
Death wish from day one, I wake up and it rain blood
Raincheck these fuck shows, I’m donezo, my brain’s mush
Drumroll, I might piss straight, loose tooth in my spit shake
Every possible Futurama come trooping out of his pill case
And I ricochet in my steel cage, one still heart and two hill’s eyes
A few meal bars, a good field knife, I feel good, no field guide
Just deicide by tea at five
Once ate a whole gluestick in like two bites
I do this, I mean, yo

[Chorus]
I was at the gates
Wolf’s head, my boots on, no bullshit
I know both sides of that tough love
They’re both mud, that’s what’s up
That’s what’s up, that’s what’s up
Straight up and, straight up and down, don’t even bother
I was at the gates
Snakeskin, my hood low, don’t say shit
I know both sides of that bloodlust
They’re both mud, that’s what’s up
That’s what’s up, that’s what’s up
Straight up and, straight up and down, don’t even bother

[Verse 3]
Bear paw, my handshake, oh dear God
Bare bones, a few air holes
Barefoot, my square glows
Scarecrows, who goes there?
And like who’s where when that snare close?
Bare hands on this bear trap
For what’s staring back in his periscope
A little care package out of Where’s Waldo in a rare beige
No fair at all, dyed hair and all
Push foot, I go mach 1, I’m all, “Woosh, woosh”
I don’t pussyfoot, I make potholes, my path home is all drop zones
Flash bulbs and strobe lights, road signs with crossbones
Touché from our killjoys who know humanoids are just hit points
Ain’t cop that new heat, that newspeak’s all pink noise
I’m more mood piece around street food
In my PJs and my snowshoes
About dog fights in those dungeons
And lil’ dust-ups in y’all’s throne room
It’s fun stuff, low moon and my tombstone say, “Hell no”
Hell yeah to more hail storms aboard ships on St. Elmo’s
My dream home has like ten thousand deadbolts and less than no windows
I mean, shit

[Chorus]
I was at the gates
Wolf’s head, my boots on, no bullshit
I know both sides of that tough love
They’re both mud, that’s what’s up
That’s what’s up, that’s what’s up
Straight up and, straight up and down, don’t even bother
I was at the gates
Snakeskin, my hood low, don’t say shit
I know both sides of that bloodlust
They’re both mud, that’s what’s up
That’s what’s up, that’s what’s up
Straight up and, straight up and down, don’t even bother