Bullet And A Target by Citizen Cope Lyrics Meaning – An Anthology of Struggle and Survival
Lyrics
Another sister’s shootin’ heroin tomorrow
Amputees in Freetown
Sierra Leone’s
The church wasn’t honest
The state put the youth in a harness
Creatin’ hostility among us
Teacher said no college
Still the kid’s gotta get a check with a couple commas
People wanna bomb us
More people gotta scatter and run from us
You can blame it on Zeus and Apollo and Adonis
But what you’ve done here
Is put yourself between a bullet and a target
And it won’t be long before
You’re pulling yourself away
But what you’ve done here
Is put yourself between a bullet and a target
And it won’t be long before
You’re pulling yourself away
I’ve been knowing her for years
I’ve been seeing her for years
She got dark, dark wavy hair
With a voice like she just don’t care
She got a skirt with a halter top
She’s got a dad who never gave a fuck
She drinks a beer with a malted top
She got knocked up in a pickup truck
But she got engaged when she was nineteen
To this dude who was acting insane
Had a .45 that he always cleaned
Said one day one day one too many days
Now she ducked and she ran away
Never to be heard from, never to be seen
I check the cover of a magazine
I’m just wondering how, just wondering how
But what you’ve done here
Is put yourself between a bullet and a target
And it won’t be long before
You’re pulling yourself away
You’re pulling yourself away
You’re pulling yourself away
You’re pulling yourself away
A bullet and a target
A bullet and a target
A bullet and a target
A bullet and a target
Between a bullet and a target
Unraveling the complex layers of Citizen Cope’s ‘Bullet And A Target’ is akin to peeling back the veneer of societal issues to reveal a raw, emotional core. More than just a vocal narrative set to a compelling blend of soul, blues, and rock, the song is a poetic testament to adversity and the human condition. Its themes are as resonant today as they were upon its release, its lyrics holding up a mirror to the world’s less picturesque facades.
Painting a vivid tapestry of life’s darker corners, Citizen Cope, also known as Clarence Greenwood, tells a story that navigates between personal tribulations and broader societal woes—speaking to a collective sense of injustice and the innate desire for liberation. This musical chronicle catapults listeners through a labyrinth of emotion and experience, leaving them to ponder the weighty concepts of destiny, agency, and survival.
Harnessing the Youth: Societal Struggles in Verse
When Citizen Cope alludes to a ‘state’ that ‘put the youth in a harness,’ one cannot help but contemplate the restrictive and often destructive systems that govern modern life. From educational institutions failing to provide for every child’s future to the insidious effects of war and poverty, Greenwood lays bare the ways in which societies may impede the potential of their younger generations.
In weaving together imagery from disparate yet connected worlds – from the war-torn streets of Sierra Leone to the drug-stricken domestics of the West – the song crafts a narrative of shared hardship. This creates an empathetic link between the listener and the universality of struggle, with the ‘harness’ acting as both a literal and symbolic restraint on the human spirit.
Diving into the Dire: The Personal Becomes Universal
The microcosmic tale of a young woman mentioned in the song’s second stanza serves as a poignant snapshot of individual pain that echoes the collective. Her life, marred by neglect and a precipitous slide into violence and despair, is a singular story that speaks to the wider issue of abandoned potential and the search for purpose.
By juxtaposing personal anecdotes with larger social issues, ‘Bullet And A Target’ delves deep into the dichotomy between the individual’s battle and the shared experience. It hints at the silhouetted lives that make up the statistical backdrop of social discourse, thereby humanizing the often faceless victims of societal neglect.
Between a Bullet and a Target: Deciphering the Chorus’s Core
The recurrent chorus of the song, where one finds oneself ‘between a bullet and a target’, encapsulates the essence of being caught in a perilous circumstance beyond one’s control. This moment, hanging suspended between action and outcome, life and death, serves as a potent metaphor for the unpredictability and uncontrollable nature of life’s trajectories.
It isn’t just a reflection on being caught in the crossfire of life’s adversities; it’s about the recognition and acceptance of this position. The latter part of the chorus, ‘it won’t be long before you’re pulling yourself away’, suggests an impending, if not immediate, need for escape, change, or transformation, underscoring the inherent human drive to overcome and adapt.
Hidden in Plain Sight: The Song’s Deep-Seated Message
The genius of ‘Bullet And A Target’ lies not just in its catchy melody or smooth delivery, but in its ability to serve as a reflective surface for societal introspection. The lyrics do not shy away from laying out the causes of despair, yet they leave enough ambiguity for listeners to insert their own experiences and understandings of personal and collective battles.
The ‘bullet and a target’ could represent any number of challenges faced by people across the globe, making the song a universal rallying cry for those who feel besieged by the circumstances of their existence. But it’s in this shared vulnerability that Citizen Cope finds a thread of hope – that in understanding our struggles, we may find the means to rise above them.
Unforgettable Phrases Painting Visceral Images
Greenwood’s capacity for imagery is perfectly encapsulated in lines like ‘She’s got a skirt with a halter top / She’s got a dad who never gave a fuck’. These lyrics portray a stark snapshot of a young woman’s life, filled with nuanced details that suggest both her vulnerability and her defiance, leaving an indelible imprint on the listener’s mind.
Similarly, the blending of mundanity and the profound in ‘Teacher said no college / Still the kid’s gotta get a check with a couple commas’ is a poignant encapsulation of the pursuit of survival and success within a system that seems stacked against the underprivileged. Each line serves as a memorable vignette, opening the door to in-depth discussions about societal structure and individual perseverance.
