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Credits
PERFORMING ARTISTS
JAY-Z
Vocals
Half Dead
Vocals
Wais P
Vocals
COMPOSITION & LYRICS
Kasseem Dean
Songwriter
Malcolm Selwyn Byer
Songwriter
Nigel Leguerre
Songwriter
Shawn Carter
Songwriter
PRODUCTION & ENGINEERING
Joe Quinde
Mixing Engineer
Swizz Beatz
Producer
Lyrics
[Verse 1]
Life
Death
Here
Gone
Yo
[Verse 2]
If I should die, don't cry, my ****
Just ride my, ****
Bust bullets in the sky, my ****
And when I'm gone, don't mourn, my ****
Get on, my ****
When it's real, say word to Shawn, my ****
If I should die
[Verse 3]
Don't cry, my ****
It's been one hell of a ride, my ****
In the middle of the trail I flip pies, my ****
I did joints with Mary J. Blige, my ****
I've eluded the coppers
Got booted with Big Poppa
Skated through with the Caesar Picadas
At high school, got head by the lockers
Gassed the baddest girl in the class to show me her knockers
Rocked jewels
Dropped school, still didn't fail
Rhymes still written well
Hold court in the street
Never sit in the cell for a second, then I'm getting my bail
Shoot it out with the bounty hunters
Fuck sitting in the county for summers
If they should down me
Everybody around us become one
For that day to live life, get your shit right and play
Don't get it twisted like race
If I miss, that's okay
But life's short, don't miss a day
[Verse 4]
If I should die, don't cry, my ****
Just ride, my ****
Bust bullets in the sky, my ****
And when I'm gone, don't mourn, my ****
Get on, my ****
When it's real, say word to Shawn, my ****
If I should die
[Verse 5]
Don't cry my ****
It's been one hell of a ride, my ****
Say word to Wise, my ****
When I'm gone, don't mourn, my ****
Just keep getting it on, my ****
Say word is bond, my ****
[Verse 6]
I got a lot to look back on in '88
Got my crack on
Ten years later getting my rap on
Game shorties like a thespian
Had an episode with two lesbians
Got a fetish for that
Drunk ginseng with Japanese chicks and pulled the root out
Squeeze my whole clip to survive shootouts
Been on both coasts, fired all kinds of heat
Probably be kinda glad to leave these mean streets
I got dead mans to meet and questions to fulfill
Like is that mystery God real?
And how was Kennedy killed?
I ain't mad
I must've smoked a ton of reefer
Sipped Coronas with Latifah
Broke the code of Geneva
I know when I reach the other side
I'ma see the cat I had beef with
Who blood remains on my sneaker
Then it's on again
If I could be born again
I live my life through my son
And tell him, never have a friend
Just family reincarnated
I'll show him the time that I waited to get paid
Tell him, never be afraid
**** hearts pump Kool Aid
And your blood run thicker
Never shed tears, cry liquor, my ****
[Verse 7]
If I die, don't cry, my ****
It's been one hell of a ride, my ****
Say word to Wise, my ****
When I'm gone, don't mourn, my ****
Just keep banging these songs, my ****
Say word is bond, my ****
If i die
[Verse 8]
Don't cry, my ****
Just stay getting high, my ****
Don't wonder why, my ****
When I'm gone, live on, my ****
Just follow my path, my ****
Say word to Half, my ****
[Verse 9]
I'm the aftermath of pleasure, never die alone
Born to live forever
Through life's struggles, I cut corners and took drastic measures
See you **** life expire right in front of me
Time could never mend what these cold streets
Mentally done to me
Too often I close my eyes and see my own coffin
Feeling haunted, ready to leave this world that I'm lost in
My only chance to see the seeds I lost through abortion
When I'm gone, y'all **** better not mourn
Keep flossing as long as my name lives on
What's most important
I'll be down in Hell, scorching, preparing for life
Afterlife still torching and blazing these mic's
It'll rain for forty days and forty nights
And I'll return on the third like Christ
Without my physical portion
My spirit a poltergeist for sure
I'll be back through the heist tomorrow
Blood over y'all fake **** door
What you thought, huh?
What you thought, ****?
[Verse 10]
If I should die, don't cry, my ****
Just stay getting high, my ****
Don't wonder why, my ****
When I'm gone, live on, my ****
Just follow my path, my ****
Say word to Half, my ****
When I die
[Verse 11]
Don't cry my ****
It's been one hell of a ride, my ****
Say word to Wise, my ****
When I'm gone, don't mourn, my ****
Just keep getting it on, my ****
Say word is bond, my ****
If I die
[Verse 12]
Don't cry, my ****
Just ride, my ****
Bust bullets in the sky, my ****
And when I'm gone, don't mourn, my ****
Get on, my ****
When it's real, say word to Shawn, my ****
If I should die
[Verse 13]
I'd tell Big they're still hearing his songs
Run into Pac, ask him where we went wrong
Tell him life is miserable when your dealing in the physical form
Is everything that's invisible gone?
I need to know
Will I still feel pain, or will it be ironic?
Will I chill in the flames for all the ills of my brain
Can I reveal the game to all the hustlers
Trapped in the race and if so can I leave this place?
Can I puff cigars and drink Crystal?
If this is Heaven to me, is this considered heavenly?
Can I still touch lives
Answer they what's and why's?
Make sure everybody in my fam clutch five?
If I should die
Don't cry, my ****
Written by: JAY-Z, Kasseem Dean, Malcolm Selwyn Byer, Nigel Leguerre