Beats in Translation

Budda-Boom-Boom-Ka
Means truth Will prevail
Boom-Baddam-am-Boom-ta
Means a lie has just been unveiled
Guh-Bom-Guh-Bom-Guh-Bom-Guh-Bom
Means you will no longer think for yourself
Guh-Bom-Guh-Bom-Guh-Bom-Guh-Bom
Means you will no longer think for yourself
Ta-Kuh-Ta-Kuh-Ta-kuh-Tah
Means you are ignorant worthless lifeless a slave
Ta-Kuh-Ta-Kuh-Ta-kuh-Tah
Means you are ignorant worthless ugly and afraid
And your body and bones receive it
And your brain and your bones believe it

The Hindus believe Siva made the universe through rhythm and dance
Holy acts are carried out through the noise of prayers and chants
Probability and chance are merely the absence and presence
Of sound and motion
Every creature responds to the whispers and yawls
Of the wind and ocean
Crashing on the shore like a metronome that revives the dead
Impregnates the head with fresh ideas to overcome old fears
Guitars strummed Skins Drummed
Hymns Hummed into an interplanetary language of love and anguish
Deeper than a symbol on a page
More potent than the teachings of a sage
Dumm-Dumm-Dumm-Crash
Means a life spent earning minimum wage
Beedle-leedle-lee-lah-leet-lah-lah-lah
Means you will sprout wings before you reach old age
Thousands pay hundreds to hear some kids trash a stage
Middle aged gentleman attend private Friday night sax sermons
Seamen sing to the sea to keep storms at bay
Farmers the world over chant prayers in hope their crops
Will rise in May
Every culture has it’s own rhythm and gestures
The perfect beat from a djembe can summon
Next years harvest to rise from the pastures
Brain cells grow faster when watered with cello strings
Your heart rate slows when a tenor sings
Your spirit goes numb when you hear bling-bling

Jingle-lingle-ling means buy what we’re selling
Bop-badda-badda means sell what we’re buying
The right syncopation can alter your conduct
Catchy melodies insure that you’ll remember their product
Mad scientist been trained to program your brain and your veins
To calculate the patterns that will stun your nerve endings
Blending quarter notes and whole notes until you’re replacing
Individuality with the sounds that subtly convert
A personality into commodity
Pastors and politicians are inflection tacticians
With a hep! Hep! Hep! Hep! Hitler and Napoleon conquered nations
Generals punch war dumb drums to keep the soldiers in formation
Their adrenaline kick-kick started by a trumpet blaring
As the enemy falls
A little buhm-buhm-buhm-bah-buhm-boom-boom
Can build new gardens or tumble down walls
A mockingbirds calls are words for an age old spell
That’s why when an MC yells “Throw your hands in the air!”
You raise them to the sky like you just don’t care
But you do-do-doodle Bah-du-du-du
Dull bass lines and drums repetitive
Complemented by angry words laced with expletives
Will edit you into an edifice for your incarceration
Mixing octaves might enslave you or be your liberation
Verse-chorus-verse reverses DNA makes matter of soul
Commerical tune telepathy marks the funeral bell toll
Rat-tat-tat-tat means you’ll never grow old
Rat-tat-tat-tat means you’ll never grow old
Doot-doot-doot-daddha means do what you’re told
Doot-doot-doot-daddha means do what you’re told

Kada-kon-dun-kada-kon-dun-dun
Means you are not alone
Bowr-rowr-rowr-wah-wa-dan
Life is enhanced by a horn blown
A little Tutta-ta-tut-ta-too-ta-too-ta
Complemented with arpeggios plucked by the fingers of Django
Can shepherd atoms into an intergalactic tango
Caetano’s croon or Questlove’s kit
Can harmonize you with your history
Sampling eternity into a bridge to a symphonic future
Pay close attention to what enters your auditory sutures
Major label radio jams will make you forget your origin quick
Flat beats over bikinis on MTV will make your spirits stomach sick
Like a junkie needing to fix on poison that eats more than just skin
Accordians and tablas are antidotes for invisible sins
Cellos and Beatboxes are doors to within

Budda-Boom-Boom-Ka
Means truth Will prevail
Boom-Baddam-am-Boom-ta
Means a lie has just been unveiled
And your body and bones receive it
And your brain and your bones believe it

Da-doo-doo-maddle-dee-doo-do
Means I love you
Means I love you
Ksshh-koo-koodun-keesh-ka-koo-doodon
Means I am you
Means I am you
Teek-atonka-teek-teek-atonka-teen-tonk-ton
Means You