The Cool

[Produced by Kanye West]

[Intro]
Yeah
Yeah
"The Cool"
Turn me up, uh-huh, yeah

[Verse 1]
He came back in the same suit that he was buried in
Similar to the one his grandfather was married in
Yes, he was still fresh-to-death
Bling, two earrings, a chain layin' on his chest
He still had it 'cause they couldn't find it
And the bullets from his enemies sat, like, two inches behind it
Smelled the Hennessy from when his niggas got reminded
And poured out liquor in his memory; he didn't mind it, but—
He couldn't sip it fast enough
So, the liquor was just fillin' the casket up
Floatin' down by his feet was the letter from his sister
Second-grade handwriting simply read, "I miss ya"
Suit jacket pocket held his baby daughter's picture
Right next to it, one of his mans stuck a Swisher
He had a notion as he laid there soakin'
He saw that the latch was broken, he kicked his casket open
And he...

[Hook]
This life goes passing you by
It might go fast if you lie
You born, you live, then you die
Oh-oh-oh-oh
If life goes passing you by
Don't cry
If you're breaking the rules, making your moves (Yeah)
Paying your dues (Uh-huh), chasing the cool

[Verse 2]
Not at all nervous as he dug to the surface
Tarnished gold chain is what he loosened up the earth with
He used his mouth as a shovel to try and hollow it
And when he couldn't dirt-spit, he swallowed it
Working like a... hmm... reverse archaeologist
Except his buried treasure was sunshine
So when some shined through a hole that he had drove
It reflected off the gold and almost made son blind
He grabbed onto some grass and climbed
Pulled hisself up out of his own grave and looked at the time
On the watch that had stopped six months after the shots
That'd got him in the box; wringing Henny out his socks
Figured it was hours because he wasn't older
Used some flowers to brush the dirt up off his shoulder
So, with a right hand that was all bones
And no reason to stay, he decided to walk home
So he...

[Hook]
This life goes passing you by
It might go fast if you lie (Yeah)
You born, you live, then you die
Oh-oh-oh-oh
If life goes passing you by
Don't cry (Ugh)
If you're breaking the rules (Yeah), making your moves (Ugh)
Paying your dues (Ugh), chasing the cool

[Verse 3]
He begged for some change to get him on the train
"Damn, that nigga stank" is what they complained
Tried to light the blunt, but it burst into flames
Caught the reflection in the window of what he became
A long look; wasn't shook, wasn't ashamed
Matter-fact, only thing on his brain was brains
Yeah, and gettin' back in his lane
Doin' his thing—first, he had to find somethin' to sling
Next stop was his block; it had the same cops
Walked right past the same spot where he was shot
Shocked that some lil' niggas tried to sell him rocks
It just felt weird, being on the opposite
They figured that he wasn't from there, so they pulled out
And robbed him with the same gun they shot him with
Put it to his head and said, "You're scared, ain't you?"
He said, "Hustler for death, no heaven for a gangster"
And...

[Hook]
This life goes passing you by
It might go fast if you lie (Ugh)
You born, you live, then you die (Ugh)
Oh-oh-oh-oh
If life goes passing you by
Don't cry
If you're breaking the rules, making your moves
Paying your dues, chasing the cool

[Outro]
Yeah
Ugh
The Cool!