THOUGHT I WAS DEAD – English Lyrics

• By: Tyler, The Creator
• Album: CHROMAKOPIA

Lyrics & Translation

[English]

You know don't wanna go to war with a soldier

You know don't wanna go to war with a soldier (you niggas thought I was dead, you niggas thought I was dead)

You know don't wanna go to war with a soldier (you niggas thought I was dead, you niggas thought I was dead)

You know don't wanna go to war with a soldier (you niggas thought I was dead, you niggas thought I was dead. There's more to life than just fuckin' workin', bro)

Okay, bitch I've been trapped in the zoo (they thought I was dead)

Nigga got packs like a cracks of a tooth

I need some space like the back of a coupe

I'm tryna magic wand, I'm tryna poof, so

Grab the blammer, fuck all the glitz and the glamour

I want a crib in Atlanta, holdin' me and my bitch in your Pampers

Them niggas thought I was dead

Them niggas thought I was dead (you ain't gon' see me)

You niggas thought I was dead (no, no way)

You niggas thought I was dead (turn to a ghost)

Them niggas thought I was dead (I'm over this shit)

You niggas thought I was dead (I'm over this shit)

(They thought I was dead, dead)

You niggas thought I was dead

You niggas thought I was dead

You niggas thought I was dead

You niggas thought I was dead

You niggas thought I was dead

You niggas thought I was dead

You niggas thought I was dead

You niggas thought I was dead

Get love in the hood, but I must leave

Born way in the Hills where they can't see

Swear I burn twenty M's, 2018

Like I play for the Bills, goin' O-D (they thought I was dead)

Niggas tend to get rich and they act weird

How you walkin' up the party with your butt pierced?

Shit, I'd rather play golf 'til the check clear (yeah)

Niggas turn 35 and they out here (they thought I was dead)

Nigga, Rolls or the Royce, tryna program

I was really outside with the dopeman

Now I really got M's, nigga, no chance

I don't wanna be seen in your bromance, hmm

Packed in, god damn, that dream

Never seen a nigga with a fuckin'

Cat game, if a nigga think he gon' get

Blatt, blatt, blatt, blatt

You niggas thought I was dead (yeah)

You niggas thought I was dead (so)

You niggas thought I was dead (oh)

You niggas thought I was dead

Niggas thought I was dead

Thought I was dead (woah, woah)

You niggas thought I was dead (dead)

You niggas thought I was dead (they thought I was dead)

I don't wanna be found

I don't wanna be down

I don't wanna be found

I don't wanna be down

I don't wanna be found

I don't wanna be down (oh, you know Tyler, his talk)

I don't wanna be found (I'm so sick of these niggas)

I don't wanna be down (they don't know you, ooh, ah)

White boys mockin' this shit and y'all mad at me?

Y'all can suck my dick

Pull up old tweets, pull up old t-shirts

All that, I moonwalk over that bitch

T-T changed like the fit got dirty

I was young man, then a nigga hit thirty

I was one mill', then a nigga hit thirty

Bitch, you ain't Coco Gauff, you can't serve me

You anti-war? Hm, yeah, right

Niggas runnin' they mouth, keep it airtight

I'ma crash shit out 'til my hair white

I got too much drive, I'm a terabyte

I got a big ol' head, I ain't like these niggas

Nuh uh, don't put me with these niggas

I'on "Haha, keke" with these niggas

Loiter Squad, baby, I don't be with these niggas

Same boys with me since back-back then

Everything I said I do, I did (true story)

Talk my shit? I sure damn will

You ain't like that shit? I's do it again

Five in the morning, I be hatin' on shit

Ten in the evening, I be hatin' on shit

Ten years later, mighta changed my mind

I'm a fake-ass bitch, don't kill me

I'm a hypocrite, ain't real, ain't really

I'm a big troll, haha, I'm silly (I'm silly)

Fuck you know about being better than them niggas that you hate?

You ain't good at shit, you can't feel me

Take your one-trick goat, I'm Billy

Shoutout papa, he for real

Don't test V, he pop for real

Had to call him like, "Stop and chill", look

I tries to be out the way

I like the farm with the lake, I like some truth in my space

Y'all niggas friendly and fake

"That's big bro," how? When y'all met yesterday?

This feel Planet of the Apes

Why am I filled with this hate?

Got freedom in every way

Y'all wanna take what I got, but y'all do not got what it take

I don't wanna be found, ya ho (yeah, yeah)

I don't wanna be down, ya ho (yeah, yeah)

I don't like comin' around, ya ho (yeah, yeah)

I will not, "Knock-knock," at your door

Just me, that's what I said

Trav', these niggas is fed'

Me, I'm overhead

These niggas thought I was dead

...

Key Vocabulary

Vocabulary	Meanings
soldier /ˈsoʊldʒər/ B1	noun - a person who serves in an army
trapped /træpt/ B1	adjective - unable to escape from confinement
space /speɪs/ A2	noun - a continuous area or expanse
magic /ˈmædʒɪk/ B1	noun - the power of apparently influencing events using mysterious forces
glitz /ɡlɪts/ B2	noun - flashy appearance or show
glamour /ˈɡlæmər/ B2	noun - attractive or fascinating power or effect
crib /krɪb/ A2	noun - a house or apartment
burn /bɜːrn/ A2	verb - to produce flames and heat
rich /rɪtʃ/ A2	adjective - having a great deal of money
weird /wɪrd/ A2	adjective - strange or unusual
program /ˈproʊɡræm/ B1	verb - to create a set of instructions for a computer
dopeman /ˈdoʊpmeɪn/ C1	noun - a drug dealer
packed /pækt/ B1	adjective - full of people or things
hate /heɪt/ A2	verb - to feel intense dislike
freedom /ˈfriːdəm/ B2	noun - the power or right to act, speak, or think as one wants
drive /draɪv/ B1	noun - motivation or ambition
terabyte /ˈterəbaɪt/ C1	noun - a unit of information equal to one trillion bytes
loiter /ˈlɔɪtər/ B2	verb - to spend time standing or walking around in a public place without any particular purpose

Key Grammar Structures

• You know don't wanna go to war with a soldier

  ➔ Colloquial contraction "don't wanna" = "do not want to"; the infinitive marker "to" is omitted after "want".

  ➔ The phrase "don"t "wanna"" shows a colloquial negative infinitive: "don't want to" → "don't wanna".

• I'm over this shit

  ➔ Present simple of "be" + adjective "over" indicating a state (no longer affected).

  ➔ "I "am" "over"" means "I am no longer affected by".

• I don't wanna be found

  ➔ Negative infinitive with colloquial "don't wanna" + verb "be" + past participle "found".

  ➔ "don't "wanna"" = "do not want to"; combined with "be found" (passive infinitive).

• I got too much drive, I'm a terabyte

  ➔ Present simple "got" for possession; metaphorical comparison using "I'm a terabyte".

  ➔ "I "got"" means "I have"; "I'm a "terabyte"" likens his drive to a huge data storage.

• I ain't like these niggas

  ➔ Non‑standard negative "ain't" = "am not / is not / are not"; used with "like" to express contrast.

  ➔ "I "ain't"" = "I am not"; the sentence says "I am not like these niggas".

• You niggas thought I was dead

  ➔ Past simple "thought" + past tense "was" for reported thought; subject‑verb‑object order.

  ➔ "You niggas "thought" "I was dead"" means they believed my death in the past.

• I was really outside with the dopeman

  ➔ Past simple "was" + adverb "really" + prepositional phrase "outside with the dopeman"; describes a past state/location.

  ➔ "I was "really" "outside with the dopeman"" emphasizes the speaker's past location and activity.

• I was one mil', then a nigga hit thirty

  ➔ Past simple "was" for a past state; temporal connector "then" to indicate sequence; verb "hit" meaning "reached" an age.

  ➔ "I was "one mil'"" = "I had one million"; "then a nigga "hit" "thirty"" = later he turned thirty.

• Don't kill me

  ➔ Imperative mood; negative command using "don't" + base verb "kill".

  ➔ "Don"t" "kill" me" is a plea: "Do not kill me".