"Blood On The Leaves" is the seventh track from Kanye West's sixth studio album, Yeezus (2013).[1]
In the song, Ye sings about recalling a relationship with a girl who took their relationship public, causing it to die out. He also talks about lynching in south of America and makes comparison to South African apartheid.
Production[]
The song uses samples and is named after Nina Simone's 1965 song, "Strange Fruit". The song is based on the poem of the same name written by Abel Meeropol, which is about the lynching of black men on trees. Ye used this sample to show that black people still face racism in America even today, which is why he referenced the song in "New Slaves".[2] The trumpets are also sampled from TNGHT's 2012 song, "R U Ready".[3]
Background[]
The earliest version of "Blood On The Leaves" was created on March 11, 2013.[4] Producer Hudson Mohawke revealed that Ye wanted to use the sample for a while, but Hudson wasn't sure that it would fit in the song.[5] It was originally set to be the opening track on the album, but it was changed last-minute in favor of "On Sight".[6]
Live performances[]
The song was performed during The Yeezus Tour as the sixteenth track on the setlist.[7] It was also performed at the 2013 MTV Video Music Awards, although Ye initially planned to perform "Black Skinhead". In September 2013, Ye performed the song at Later... with Jools Holland; Bruce Springsteen later called his performance "fantastic".[6] He also performed it at the Made In America Festival and London Wireless Festival in 2014, the Glastonbury Festival in 2015, and the Saint Pablo Tour in 2016.[8] During his 2014 performance at the X Games Austin Music Festival, Ye omitted Jay-Z's name.
Lyrics[]
[Intro]
Strange fruit hangin' from the poplar trees
Blood on the leaves
[Verse 1]
I just need to clear my mind now
It's been racin' since the summertime
Now I'm holdin' down the summer now
And all I want is what I can't buy now
'Cause I ain't got the money on me right now
And I told you to wait
Yeah, I told you to wait
So I'ma need a little more time now
'Cause I ain't got the money on me right now
And I thought you could wait
Yeah, I thought you could wait
These bitches surroundin' me (Black bodies)
All want something out me
Then they talk about me
Would be lost without me
We could've been somebody
Thought you'd be different 'bout it
Now I know you naughty
So let's get on with it
[Chorus]
We could've been somebody
'Stead, you had to tell somebody
Let's take it back to the first party
When you tried your first molly
And came out of your body
And came out of your body
Running naked down the lobby
And you were screamin' that you love me
Before the limelight tore ya
Before the limelight stole ya
Remember we were so young
When I would hold you
Before the blood on the leaves
I know there ain't wrong with me
Something strange is happenin'
[Chorus]
You could've been somebody
We could've, ugh, we could've been somebody
Or was it on the first party
When we tried our first molly
And came out of our body
And came out of our body
Before they call lawyers
Before you tried to destroy us
How you gon' lie to the lawyer?
It's like I don't even know ya
I gotta bring it back to the 'nolia
[Bridge]
Fuck them other n***as 'cause I'm down with my n***as
Fuck them other n***as 'cause I'm down with my n***as
Fuck them other n***as 'cause I'm down with my n***as
I ride with my n***as, I'd die for my...
[Verse 2]
To all my second-string bitches, tryin' get a baby
Tryin' get a baby, now you talkin' crazy
I don't give a damn if you used to talk to JAY-Z
He ain't with you, he with Beyoncé, you need to stop actin' lazy
She Instagram herself like #BadBitchAlert
He Instagram his watch like #MadRichAlert
He only wanna see that ass in reverse
Two-thousand-dollar bag with no cash in your purse
Now you sittin' courtside, wifey on the other side
Gotta keep 'em separated, I call that apartheid
Then she said she pregnant-ated, that's the night your heart died
Then you gotta go into your girl and report that
Main reason 'cause your pastor said you can't abort that
Now your driver say that new Benz, you can't afford that
All that cocaine on the table, you can't snort that
That go into that, all that money that the court got
All in on that alimony, uh
Yeah-yeah, she got you, homie, yeah
'Til death, but do your part, uh
Unholy matrimony
[Outro]
That summer night holdin' long and long, 'din long
No waiting for the summer rose and (Breeze)
And breathe and breathe
And breathe and breathe
And breathe and breathe
And live and learn
And live and learn
And livin' and livin' like I’m lonely
Lonely, lonely
And livin' all I have
And livin' all
And live
And live
Trivia[]
- Ye previously sampled "Strange Fruit" in an unreleased song by Common that was produced by Ye, also titled "Strange Fruit".[9]
- David Lynch wanted to direct a music video for "Blood On The Leaves", but couldn't get ideas for it, so he scrapped it.[10]
- The line, "Fuck them other n***as 'cause I'm down for my n***as" is a direct reference to C-Murder's iconic song, "Down for My N's".[3]
References[]
- ↑ https://open.spotify.com/track/42GcjriRK6srwHkfbkBqVl?si=b2b225d19dc54894
- ↑ https://genius.com/1857814/Kanye-west-blood-on-the-leaves/Intro-nina-simone-strange-fruit-hangin-from-the-poplar-trees-blood-on-the-leaves
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 https://www.whosampled.com/Kanye-West/Blood-on-the-Leaves/
- ↑ https://krakenfiles.com/view/6dk9kW9gPJ/file.html
- ↑ https://genius.com/Kanye-west-blood-on-the-leaves-lyrics
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blood_on_the_Leaves
- ↑ https://www.kanyetothe.com/threads/setlist-of-the-yeezus-tour.566321/
- ↑ https://www.setlist.fm/?wicket:interface=:2:border:_body:leftColumn:boxBorder:statsPanel:songsPanel:listContainer:songList:16:songRow:songLinkPanel:songLink::ILinkListener::
- ↑ https://genius.com/Common-strange-fruit-lyrics
- ↑ https://www.rollingstone.com/movies/movie-news/david-lynch-explains-how-he-disappointed-kanye-west-74359/
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