Millennium – English Lyrics

• By: Outkast

Lyrics & Translation

Explore the complex themes of uncertainty and societal shift in Outkast's "Millennium." This track offers a unique blend of introspective lyrics and spacey production, providing a rich opportunity to understand the language of hip-hop and the cultural anxieties surrounding the turn of the millennium.

[English]

Me and everything around me, is unstable like Chernobyl

Ready to go at any moment, jumpin' like a pogo stick

I never lived up to my expectations, so I accept the patience

Expect the worse but now I'm pacin'

Back and forth, inside

I'm melting, like water on wicked witches

A monster truck done came and ran over my picket fences

I had the best of life in my clinches but monkey wrenches was thrown

Like chairs kings sit on, my prayers seem too long

I fall asleep before the endin', don't even get to say Amen

I hope He understand I be on bended knees

At times, I think I'm crazy, then I say "Forget it"

Or maybe it's the devil infiltrating and like Riddick Bowe

I've been fighting this since them fetus days

I count from one to twenty, when I'm through, repeat the phrase

It's just a phase, it's gon' all pass, but that gets old too

I'm weakening like a deacon doin' dirt

What am I supposed to do?

Uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh uh, uh uh uh uh uh (planets, stars)

Uh uh uh uh uh, uh uh uh uh uh uh (Earth, Jupiter, Mars)

Uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh uh, uh uh uh uh uh (hoes, clothes, cars)

Uh uh uh uh uh, uh uh uh uh uh uh (it's who you are)

See, from bedknobs to broomsticks, we lookin' to start some new shit

I'm writin' this rhyme in faith, so when you hear it, hope you true it

My nigga, you do it like swooshes, the lyrical cleanse and new zits

Wipin' away your germs up under your cranium with juices

See Mo goes on, my slick flow flows on

Straight from west Savannah, Georgia, but the S.W.A.T.S. is my home

Never go wrong 'cause the click is tighter than gnat ass and that bad

Mosquito, now we goes, I'm proud of you peoples

For sellin' your cracker sacks, I'm glad I'm white not black

Shit, on the real, that's how them whiteys really act

When your back was turned

Them slackers learned and now we fallin' apart

You lookin' me in my eye, but you ain't feelin' me in your heart

Yes, yes Lord, give me the power within the final hour

These niggas, they leavin' me stranded like Rapunzel in the tower

Now or never, let's stick together and overcome

But they don't feel like marchin', 'cause they shoes is overrun

Ain't that a bitch

Uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh uh, uh uh uh uh uh (planets, stars)

Uh uh uh uh uh, uh uh uh uh uh uh (Earth, Jupiter, Mars)

Uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh uh, uh uh uh uh uh (hoes, clothes, cars)

Uh uh uh uh uh, uh uh uh uh uh uh (it's who you are)

Planets, stars

Earth, Jupiter, Mars

Hoes, clothes, cars

It's who you are

Uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh uh, uh uh uh uh uh (Planets, stars)

Uh uh uh uh uh, uh uh uh uh uh uh (Earth, Jupiter, Mars)

Uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh uh, uh uh uh uh uh (Hoes, clothes, cars)

Uh uh uh uh uh, uh uh uh uh uh uh (It's who you are)

Planets, stars

Earth, Jupiter, Mars

Hoes, clothes, cars

It's who you are

...

Key Vocabulary

Vocabulary	Meanings
unstable /ʌnˈsteɪbəl/ B1	adjective - not stable; subject to change or fluctuation
expectations /ˌɛkspɛkˈteɪʃənz/ B1	noun - beliefs about what will happen or is desired
pacin /ˈpeɪsɪŋ/ B2	verb - walking back and forth nervously
melting /ˈmɛltɪŋ/ A2	verb - changing from a solid to a liquid state
wicked /ˈwɪkɪd/ A2	adjective - evil or morally wrong
infiltrating /ɪnˈfɪltreɪtɪŋ/ B2	verb - entering or spreading into something gradually
weakening /ˈwiːkənɪŋ/ A2	verb - losing strength or power
deacon /ˈdiːkən/ B2	noun - a clergy member in some Christian churches
cranium /ˈkreɪniəm/ C1	noun - the skull or the part of the skull enclosing the brain
slick /slɪk/ B1	adjective - smooth and shiny
stranded /ˈstrændɪd/ B1	adjective - left in a difficult or helpless position
overcome /ˌoʊvərˈkʌm/ B1	verb - to succeed in dealing with a problem
infiltrate /ɪnˈfɪltreɪt/ B2	verb - to enter or gain access to gradually
cleanse /klɛnz/ B1	verb - to make something clean or pure
SWAT /swɒt/ C1	noun - Special Weapons And Tactics (police unit)
Rapunzel /rəˈpʌnzəl/ B2	noun - a character from a fairy tale with long hair

Key Grammar Structures

• Me and everything around me, is unstable like Chernobyl

  ➔ Simile

  ➔ The phrase "like Chernobyl" is a "simile", directly comparing the instability of the speaker's situation to the Chernobyl disaster, using 'like' or 'as'.

• I never lived up to my expectations, so I accept the patience

  ➔ Phrasal Verb

  ➔ "lived up to" is a "phrasal verb" meaning to fulfill, meet, or correspond to expectations or standards.

• A monster truck done came and ran over my picket fences

  ➔ Non-standard Auxiliary "done" + Past Participle

  ➔ In "done came", "done" is used as a "non-standard auxiliary verb" before a past participle ('came') to emphasize the completion of the action, common in colloquial and AAVE (African American Vernacular English).

• Like chairs kings sit on, my prayers seem too long

  ➔ Implied Relative Pronoun

  ➔ In "chairs kings sit on", there is an "implied relative pronoun" (e.g., 'that' or 'which') before 'kings', meaning "chairs [that/which] kings sit on". This is common in informal English.

• I hope He understand I be on bended knees

  ➔ Subjunctive Mood (or informal subject-verb agreement)

  ➔ The verb "understand" without an '-s' after 'He' (which would be 'He understands' in standard English) is an example of the "subjunctive mood", expressing a wish or desire, or an informal subject-verb agreement.

• I've been fighting this since them fetus days

  ➔ Present Perfect Continuous

  ➔ "I've been fighting" is in the "present perfect continuous" tense, indicating an action that started in the past ("since them fetus days") and has continued up to the present moment, possibly still ongoing.

• It's just a phase, it's gon' all pass, but that gets old too

  ➔ Colloquial Future ("gon'")

  ➔ "gon'" is a "colloquial contraction" of "going to", commonly used in informal speech to express future actions or intentions.

• You lookin' me in my eye, but you ain't feelin' me in your heart

  ➔ Colloquial Negative Auxiliary ("ain't")

  ➔ "ain't" is a "colloquial negative auxiliary verb" used informally as a contraction for 'am not', 'is not', 'are not', 'has not', or 'have not'. Here, it means 'are not'.

• Never go wrong 'cause the click is tighter than gnat ass and that bad

  ➔ Comparative Adjective

  ➔ "tighter than" is a "comparative adjective" structure used to compare the degree of an adjective (tight) between two or more things, indicating one possesses the quality to a greater extent than the other.

• These niggas, they leavin' me stranded like Rapunzel in the tower

  ➔ Verb + Object + Past Participle

  ➔ In "leavin' me stranded", "stranded" is a "past participle" acting as an adjective, describing the state of the object "me" after the action of "leavin'". This structure describes the result of an action on an object.