Long Way – English Lyrics

• By: Joyner Lucas
• Album: Along Came Joyner

Lyrics & Translation

Explore the gritty realities of struggle and desperation in Joyner Lucas's "Long Way." This powerful track offers vivid storytelling and complex emotions, making it a compelling entry point into the artist's unique lyrical world and a means to understand the challenges of overcoming adversity.

[English]

Aw yea, ask em what they call me

I'm the one that paid it for ya hoes ain't get shit all day

Fuck wit me the long way, fuck wit me the long way

And this a one way street bitch you going down the wrong way

Hold up hold up hold up damn, fuck wit me the long way

Ain't nobody wanna get robbed today betta get me a goddam job today

I need food, bread, bitches, head, watch, rent, cars today

I need bullets, clips, guns, shit somebody gon' meet god today

Cause I never had money

Aw yea

Can't take nothin from me

Aw yea

People take me to jail I do time, she said choose ya man with two sides

Fuck yo coup de ville, I want a drop top, they wanna shoot to kill with two 9's

Niggas wanna fold me up like futons, tryna make a bed to sleep, I'm too kind

Ain't no wanna Pistol Pete, I beat pistols pieces, paint pictures piece two times

Fucked up and missed the beat she like hold up

Niggas betta bow down

Plenty bitches and I never get tied down

Either fuck wit me either long or ya die now

Man this is for all my niggas locked down

On that young shit but don't trip

I swear to god I never forget, how much colder is it gon get?

Fuck my nose is bloody, aw yea

Can't take nothing from me, aw yea

Aw yea, ask em what they call me

I'm the one that paid it for ya hoes ain't get shit all day

Fuck wit me the long way, fuck wit me the long way

And this a one way street bitch you going down the wrong way

Hold up hold up hold up damn, fuck wit me the long way

Ain't nobody wanna get robbed today betta get me a goddam job today

I need food, bread, bitches, head, watch, rent, cars today

I need bullets, clips, guns, shit somebody gon' meet god today

I'm so paranoid, I don't even go out no mo

Tried so hard to enjoy myself, you don't put in work I do it myself

I proved to myself, so crazy I be annoying myself, true to myself

Feeling so goddamn sick I should sample my own shit and then sue myself

Cause I never had money

So maybe I should rob a couple bank sell a fuckin cigarette break into yo mother place and take like fucking everything and leave you there to suffer man

I swear these niggas done made me mad, all this talking shit oughta made me laugh

Ain't got a work betta pay me back, aw yea

Aw yea, ask em what they call me

I'm the one that paid it for ya hoes ain't get shit all day

Fuck wit me the long way, fuck wit me the long way

And this a one way street bitch you going down the wrong way

Hold up hold up hold up damn, fuck wit me the long way

Ain't nobody wanna get robbed today betta get me a goddam job today

I need food, bread, bitches, head, watch, rent, cars today

I need bullets, clips, guns, shit somebody gon' meet god today.

Aw yea, ask em what they call me

I'm the one that paid it for ya hoes ain't get shit all day

Fuck wit me the long way, fuck wit me the long way

And this a one way street bitch you going down the wrong way

Hold up hold up hold up damn

...

Key Vocabulary

Vocabulary	Meanings
rob /rɒb/ A2	verb - to steal from someone
jail /dʒeɪl/ B1	noun - a place where people are kept as a punishment
shoot /ʃuːt/ B1	verb - to fire a gun
kill /kɪl/ B1	verb - to cause someone to die
money /ˈmʌni/ A2	noun - a medium of exchange
street /striːt/ A2	noun - a public road in a town or city
work /wɜːrk/ A2	noun - activity involving mental or physical effort verb - to exert effort
cold /koʊld/ A2	adjective - of a low temperature
sick /sɪk/ A2	adjective - ill
bank /bæŋk/ B1	noun - a financial institution
suffer /ˈsʌfər/ B2	verb - to experience something bad
paranoid /ˌpærəˈnɔɪd/ B2	adjective - thinking that others are trying to harm you
prove /pruːv/ B2	verb - to demonstrate the truth of something
locked /lɒkt/ A2	adjective - secured with a lock
betta /ˈbɛtə/ A2	adjective - better
clip /klɪp/ B1	noun - a magazine for holding bullets

Key Grammar Structures

• I'm the one that paid it for ya hoes ain't get shit all day

  ➔ Present Perfect Tense

  ➔ The phrase 'paid it' uses the Present Perfect Tense to indicate an action that occurred in the past but has relevance to the present.

• And this a one way street bitch you going down the wrong way

  ➔ Present Continuous Tense

  ➔ 'You going down' uses the Present Continuous Tense to describe an action happening now or in the near future.

• Cause I never had money

  ➔ Present Perfect Tense with 'never'

  ➔ The phrase 'I never had money' uses the Present Perfect Tense with 'never' to emphasize a continuous state up to the present.

• Niggas wanna fold me up like futons

  ➔ Present Simple with 'wanna'

  ➔ 'Wanna' is a colloquial contraction of 'want to,' used here in the Present Simple to express a general desire.

• I'm so paranoid, I don't even go out no mo

  ➔ Present Simple with 'don't' and slang 'no mo'

  ➔ 'Don't' is used in the Present Simple to indicate a habitual action, and 'no mo' is slang for 'no more.'

• So maybe I should rob a couple bank

  ➔ Modal Verb 'should' for suggestion

  ➔ The modal verb 'should' is used to make a suggestion or recommendation.

• I swear these niggas done made me mad

  ➔ Present Perfect with 'done'

  ➔ 'Done' is used as an emphasis marker in the Present Perfect to highlight the completion of an action.

• Either fuck wit me either long or ya die now

  ➔ Conditional Sentence Type 1

  ➔ This sentence uses a conditional structure to express a possible outcome based on a condition.