Loyalty Cost Me More – English Lyrics

• By: Butter Knife Shawty

Lyrics & Translation

Due to a lack of verifiable information regarding the song's lyrical depth and stylistic nuances, we cannot currently recommend specific language learning outcomes for this track.

[English]

[music]

[snorts]

[screaming]

[screaming]

[music]

[music]

>> Yeah. Loyalty cost me more than these

diamonds [music] and chains.

More than long nights, more than tears

and pain. I stayed ten toes when the

ground got weak. [music]

HELD FOES DOWN who was plotting on me.

Gave my last [music] dollar.

Gave my last ride.

Gave real love, got faked ON THE OTHER

SIDE. EVERY HAND I SHOOK HAD a blade

tucked in.

Now I look at trust like a place I ain't

[singing] been. I wore my heart like a

name on [music] a shirt. Now I keep it

buried where nobody can work. A MAN

DON'T TURN COLD FOR NO reason [music] at

all. Usually somebody he loved let HIM

FALL. [screaming] LOYALTY COST ME MORE

THAN love ever did.

>> [music]

>> GAVE MY ALL TO FOLKS WHO NEVER GAVE me

...

>> [music]

>> NOW I KEEP MY HEART TUCKED

under [music] my ribs.

CUZ LOYALTY COST ME more than love

ever did. [music]

Had family go missing when the money

[music] got [singing] low. Had friends

turn strange when the dough's got

closed. Had women [music] say forever

with one eye on the exit. That kind of

pain make a real one reckless. I WAS

POURING [music] FROM A cup that was

already cracked. Given second chances I

should have never gave back. Now if I

move different don't [music] take it

wrong. I just learned hard lessons from

holding on too long. I wore my heart

like a name on a shirt.

Now I keep it buried where nobody can

work. A MAN DON'T TURN COLD FOR NO

reason [music] at all. Usually somebody

he LOVED LET HIM FALL. [screaming]

LOYALTY COST ME MORE THAN love ever did.

>> [music]

>> GAVE MY ALL TO FOLKS WHO never gave

[music] me

Now I keep my heart tucked

under my [music] ribs.

CUZ LOYALTY COST ME more than love

ever did. [music]

Ain't no [music] refund for the nights I

lost.

Ain't no discount on that time it cost.

YOU CAN SMILE IN MY face but I already

know the ones [music] cut deepest be the

ones you hold close.

LOYALTY COST ME MORE THAN love ever did.

>> [music]

>> GAVE MY ALL TO FOLKS WHO never gave me

...

>> [music]

>> Now I keep my heart tucked

under my ribs. [music]

Cuz loyalty cost me more than love

ever did.

Key Vocabulary

Vocabulary	Meanings
loyalty /ˈlɔɪəlti/ B2	noun - a strong feeling of support or allegiance
diamonds /ˈdaɪəməndz/ A2	noun - a precious stone consisting of a clear and colorless crystalline form of pure carbon
foes /foʊz/ C1	noun - enemies or opponents
plotting /ˈplɒtɪŋ/ B2	verb - secretly making plans to carry out an illegal or harmful action
blade /bleɪd/ B1	noun - the flat cutting part of a sword, knife, or tool
buried /ˈbɛrid/ B1	verb - put or hide underground
reckless /ˈrɛkləs/ B2	adjective - doing something without thinking or caring about the consequences
cracked /krækt/ B1	adjective - damaged with lines on the surface but not completely broken
refund /ˈriːfʌnd/ B1	noun - a repayment of a sum of money
discount /ˈdɪskaʊnt/ A2	noun - a deduction from the usual cost of something

Key Grammar Structures

• I stayed ten toes when the ground got weak.

  ➔ Past Simple Tense

  ➔ Used to describe completed actions in the past. Here, "stayed" and "got" indicate a finished state in the narrator's history.

• Now I look at trust like a place I ain't been.

  ➔ Present Perfect / Informal Negative ("ain't")

  ➔ The speaker uses "ain't been" as a colloquial substitute for "have not been" to describe an experience never encountered.

• A MAN DON'T TURN COLD FOR NO reason AT ALL.

  ➔ Double Negative / Subject-Verb Agreement

  ➔ Colloquial use of "don't" (instead of doesn't) combined with double negative "don't... no reason" to emphasize the point.

• GAVE MY ALL TO FOLKS WHO NEVER GAVE ME

  ➔ Relative Clause (Reduced)

  ➔ "Who never gave me" is a relative clause modifying "folks", describing people who failed to reciprocate.

• Had family go missing when the money got low.

  ➔ Causative structure (implied) / Past Simple

  ➔ "Had... go missing" expresses an event that occurred to the narrator. "When the money got low" uses a time clause with past simple.

• I was POURING FROM A cup that was already cracked.

  ➔ Past Continuous Tense

  ➔ "Was pouring" indicates a continuous action that was happening in the past, emphasizing the process of giving.

• Given second chances I should have never gave back.

  ➔ Modal Perfect ("should have + past participle")

  ➔ Used to express regret or advice about a past action that did not happen (or should have happened differently).

• THE ONES CUT DEEPEST BE THE ONES YOU HOLD CLOSE.

  ➔ Habitual "be" / Subjunctive-like structure

  ➔ In African American Vernacular English (AAVE), "be" is used here to denote a general truth or habitual state.