“Sing About Me, I’m Dying of Thirst” by Kendrick Lamar

Kendrick Lamar’s “Sing About Me, I’m Dying of Thirst” reflects on two different stories while sharing different perspectives about real events that affect people, particularly living in violence-filled neighborhoods such as Compton.

You can view the lyrics, alternate interprations and sheet music for Kendrick Lamar's Sing About Me, I'm Dying of Thirst at Lyrics.org.

The first part details the story of a friend of Kendrick’s (Dave) who dies through gun violence, while his brother is only concerned about getting revenge. The second part details the challenges of a young girl who turns to prostitution to fend for herself. The rapper uses both instances as examples while suggesting that they, as well as the thousands of people who share the same stories are the reason why he raps. When accused of trying to judge or shame them by the second girl, Kendrick insists that he is not concerned about pleasing or offending anyone, but about giving a voice to stories that may never be heard in the media.

Meaning of “Dying of Thirst”

In the second part of the song, the rapper uses the term dying of thirst which signifies their thirst for revenge or their unknown need for redemption.

As he describes how the cycle of revenge occurs and the dying moments of the said narrator, they are stopped by an old woman who leads them through the sinner’s prayer. This is a suggestion that God can salvage the lives of the people struggling in these situations.

Summary

“Sing About Me, I’m Dying of Thirst” talks about life in Compton, using two perspectives of real life stories to exemplify the life events and cycles pertinent in this area.

Facts about “Sing About Me, I’m Dying of Thirst”

In October 2012, Kendrick Lamar released this song from his second studio album which he titled “Good Kid, M.A.A.D City”.

The artist and the following are the official writers of this song:

  • Alan Bergman
  • Gabriel Stevenson
  • Marilyn Bergman
  • Quincy Jones
  • Derrick Hutchins
  • Maya Angelou

Technically, this track is divided into two sections with Gabriel “Like” Stevenson producing the first titled “Sing About Me”. Skhye Hutch and Sounwave, on the other hand, produced the second part called “I’m Dying of Thirst”.

The song contains a portion of “Maybe Tomorrow” which was released by Grant Green in the early 1970s.

Due to the popularity and message in the song, it has been sampled by a number of artiste such as the following:

  • Hodgy Beats in his song named “Moneyball” which was included in his 2015 mixtape titled “Dena Tape 2”
  • XV’s song titled “The Learning Tree” on his mixtape known as “March Madness Vol. 2: Sweet Sixteen”.

Furthermore, this masterpiece has also been covered by some renowned artists like Armen Nalbandian and Robert Glasper.

The song was also used in an episode of the popular American television series titled “Grey’s Anatomy”.

Throughout the years, the song has received praises from lots of pundits. Many have described it as one of the best storytelling hip hop track.

3 Responses

  1. Anonymous says:

    This whole website helped me a lot for my school project I’m doing on this album so shoutout to whoever runs this website

  2. mm says:

    very sad song

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