Who Will Survive in America – English Lyrics

• By: Kanye West
• Album: My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy

Lyrics & Translation

Dive into the profound closing statement of Kanye West's masterpiece, 'Who Will Survive in America.' By experiencing the raw, sampled poetry of Gil Scott-Heron, you gain insight into the album's ultimate reflection on the American Dream and social critique, a powerful lesson in discerning the deeper, often uncomfortable, truths beneath the surface of celebrity and success.

[English]

Us living as we do upside down

And the new word to have is revolution

People don't even want to hear the preacher

Spill or spiel because God's whole card has been thoroughly piqued

And America is now blood and tears instead of milk and honey

The youngsters who were programmed to continue

Fucking up, woke up one night digging

Paul Revere and Nat Turner as the good guys

America stripped for bed and we had not all yet closed our eyes

The signs of Truth were tattooed across our open ended vagina

We learned to our amazement the untold tale of scandal

Two long centuries buried in the musty vault

Hosed down daily with a gagging perfume

America was a bastard, the illegitimate daughter of the mother country

Whose legs were then spread around the world

And a rapist known as freedom, free doom

Democracy, liberty, and justice were revolutionary code names

That preceded the bubbling, bubbling, bubbling, bubbling, bubbling

In the mother country's crotch

What does Webster say about soul?

All I want is a good home and a wife

And a children and some food to feed them every night

After all is said and done, build a new route to China if they'll have you

Who will survive in America?

Who will survive in America?

Who will survive in America?

Who will survive in America?

...

Key Vocabulary

Vocabulary	Meanings
revolution /ˌrevəˈluːʃən/ B2	noun - a forcible overthrow of a government or social order, in favor of a new system.
preacher /ˈpriːtʃər/ B1	noun - a person who delivers sermons or religious addresses.
piqued /piːk/ C1	verb - stimulated or excited (interest or curiosity).
programmed /ˈproʊɡræmd/ B1	verb - to cause (a computer) to perform according to a set of instructions.
stripped /strɪpt/ B1	verb - remove clothing, covering, or contents from.
scandal /ˈskændəl/ B2	noun - an action or event regarded as morally or legally wrong and causing public outrage.
bastard /ˈbæstərd/ C1	noun - an illegitimate child.
illegitimate /ɪlɪˈdʒɪtɪmət/ C1	adjective - not legally recognized as a child of the parents.
revolutionary /ˌrevəˈluːʃənəri/ B2	adjective - involving or causing a complete or dramatic change.
bubble /ˈbʌbəl/ A2	verb - to form or be covered with bubbles.
soul /soʊl/ B1	noun - the spiritual or immaterial part of a human being or animal.
route /ruːt/ A2	noun - a way or course taken to get from a starting point to a destination.
survive /sərˈvaɪv/ B1	verb - continue to live.
youth /juːθ/ A2	noun - the period between childhood and adult age.
digging /ˈdɪɡɪŋ/ A2	verb - to break up and move earth with a tool or machinery.

Key Grammar Structures

• Us living as we do upside down

  ➔ Present participle phrase as subject

  ➔ The phrase 'living as we do' acts as the subject of the sentence, using the present participle form.

• And the new word to have is revolution

  ➔ Subject-verb inversion with 'to have'

  ➔ The sentence uses inversion with 'to have' for emphasis, placing 'revolution' at the end.

• Because God's whole card has been thoroughly piqued

  ➔ Perfect passive voice

  ➔ The phrase 'has been thoroughly piqued' uses the perfect passive voice to indicate a completed action.

• America is now blood and tears instead of milk and honey

  ➔ Contrast using 'instead of'

  ➔ The phrase 'instead of' is used to contrast 'blood and tears' with 'milk and honey'.

• We learned to our amazement the untold tale of scandal

  ➔ Infinitive of purpose

  ➔ The infinitive 'to our amazement' indicates the purpose or result of learning the tale.

• Two long centuries buried in the musty vault

  ➔ Past participle as adjective

  ➔ The past participle 'buried' functions as an adjective to describe 'centuries'.

• Who will survive in America?

  ➔ Interrogative sentence with auxiliary verb

  ➔ The question uses the auxiliary verb 'will' to form an interrogative sentence.