It's not our norm, but a new Kanye West record felt as good an occasion as any to provide you all with a complete transcript of the lyrics, as heard through our ears. As we're seeing quickly, many are praising this Kanye record for both its dark, muddied production as well as its lyrical content. It's definitely served to amp up the excitement for his forthcoming God's Country album, just as much as we want to hear the re-worked Jesus is King album (because Dr. Dre).
With the new record, Kanye is relentless, creating a refrain of phrases that center around cleansing-- "wash us" or "rain down," either way. He keeps his bars short and punchy, saying a lot without really saying that much, until we reach his third and final verse, which is perhaps the most exciting part of the record. Prior to that, though, with lines like: "Wash us in the blood/Whole life being thugs/No choice selling drugs/Genocide what it does/Mass incarce- what it does," he winds up essentially explaining the Black experience in America while keeping the thoughts themselves extremely concise-- I mean, he doesn't even fully say "incarceration," using his poetic license to cut the word off, yet, we all understand what he means.
He also quickly gets to the heart of the matter in his third verse, when he dissects our current cancel culture and preference for short, splices of news stories and soundbites.
Check out the full lyrics for "Wash Us in the Blood" below and let us know what you think of the song. Equally, if you think we've made any errors in the lyrics, feel free to shout it out. We are human.
WASH US IN THE BLOOD LYRICS
INTRO
A roarin' lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may DEVOUR
Ronny J, please turn me up
VERSE 1 KANYE
Back soon...
Text some...rain don't want more
Rain come, rain come
Come shine, come rain, good month
South side let it bang
Outside let it rain
Rain down on the pain
Rain down on the slain
Rain down for my mom
Rain down on the farm
Shower us with your love
Wash us in the blood
Drop this for the thugs
Know I grew up in the mud
The top is not enough
Wash us in the blood
BRIDGE
Is there anybody here
Is there anybody here
That can say, no matter how much you playa hate
It was the blood, that, ouh
It was the blood, that, ouh
It was the blood that cleansed me
It was the, ouh
Shower down on us
Wash us in the blood
Wash us in the blood
Whole life being thugs
No choice selling drugs
South side what it does
Rain down on us
Genocide what it does
Slavery what it does
Rain down on us
Whole life selling drugs
HOOK
Wash us in the blood
Wash us in your blood
Wash us in the blood
Wash us in the blood
Wash us in the blood
BRIDGE 2 KANYE & TRAVIS
Holy spirit come down
Holy spirit come down
Holy spirit help now
Holy spirit help now
Holy spirit come down
Holy spirit come down
Holy spirit help now
Holy spirit help now
VERSE 2 KANYE
Wash us in the blood
Whole life being thugs
No choice selling drugs
Genocide what it does
Mass incarce- what it does
Cause incarce- what it does
Another life being lost
TRAVIS
Let it off, set it off
Execution thirty states
Thirty states still execute
Tho shall not kill
I shall not spill
Next Timbs at the rendez vous
We got the time in the federal
Square box you in like a sectional
We walk through the glass and the residue
Now look what we headin' to
HOOK
Rain down on us
Rain down on us
Wash us in the blood
Wash us in the blood
Holy spirit come down
Holy spirit come down
VERSE 3 KANYE
They tryna control Kanye
They want me to calm down
They don't want me to Kanye
They don't want Kanye to be Kanye
They wanna sign a fake Kanye
They tryna sign a calmye
That's right I called him CALMye
But don't take me the wrong way
But don't take me the wrong way
Cause God took me a long way
They wanna edit the interviews
They wanna take it to interludes
Cut a whole sentence to interlude
You know that it's fake if it's in the news
So I let it fly when I'm in the booth
The devil is a lie and I been the truth
Living cause nobody living
And nobody getting it
Doing it different
HOOK
Rain down on us
Holy spirit come down
Holy spirit come down
We need you now
Wash us in the blood
Whole life being thugs
No choice selling drugs
Genocide what it does
Slavery what it does
