The Slow Flow-Ugly Duckling Song’s Lyric and The Analysis of The Glossary
Verse 1
It’s half past 8 and you’re late for work
Your stopped in gridlock and you’re berserk
Put in overtime 5 days a week
Pullin’ out your hair for stress relief
But you gotta compete so you get no sleep,
You want the good life but it don’t come cheap
Climbin to the top of the totem pole,
You’ll fall and break your neck man slow the flow
Glossary
Gridlock – A traffic jam in which no vehicular movement is possible
Berserk- Mentally or emotionally upset
Overtime- When you have to work extra hours at work
Pulling out your hair- An expression used to show frustration
It don’t come cheap- To say that you have to work hard and pay a lot for a life of luxary
Climbing to the top of the totem pole- A Totem pole is a native American mythological
symbol.
Verse 2
Now I’m from southern California
home of the laid back
we don’t go lookin’ for a needle in a haystack
and I say that
in a subdued mood
kick it on the beach, eat a little mexican food
but you, I understand,
what’s the rush?
Mad like you missed the bus
Another one’s comin’ in about ten minutes
Man you don’t gotta push yourself to the limit
Glossary
Laid back- Having a relaxed or casual atmosphere or character
Looking for a needle in a haystack- An expression that means something is really hard,
nearly impossible.
Mood- The state you are in, “he’s always in such a bad mood.”
Kick it- Relaxing and hanging out at a place. “Let’s kick it at the party tonight.
What’s the rush- Hurry.
Missed the bus- When you don’t get to the bus stop in time you miss the bus.
Chorus
Slow the flow, relax your mind
Gain control, take your time
Slow the flow, relax your mind,
Gain control, take your time
Verse 3
Forget about the weekdays,
ready for the weekend
bring your swim trunks and jump into the deep end
Stop
For a minute or two
and take a look at the view
I guarantee you’ll see something new
We only have two seasons; summer and spring
So rock your flip flops and your cutoff jeans
If you live in Long Beach then you know that I mean
California dreamin’ where it’s all routine
Glossary
Swim trunks- Shorts used for swimming
To rock – To wear the clothes in a very cool way
Flip flops- Rubber sandals, also known as jandals, chinelo, thongs (Australia)
Cutoff jeans- When you cut you jeans to make them shorts
A situation comes that so soon is past
and you’ll catch whiplash movin so
quick fast
You’re looking for satisfaction; mistaken again
King Solomon said it like chasin the wind,
you need to slow down start takin’ it in.
Whiplash- An injury in your neck or spine from moving your head to quickly. Very common
in car accidents.
Chasing the wind- To chase something you will never catch
Taking it in- To absorb something
THE PRONUNCIATION OF ING
You will notice in this song that when a verb is in the continuous “ING,” they don’t
pronounce the “G” sound. This is not just common in Rap music, but in spoken English in
general.
The common rule for the “ing” pronunciation is that it usually takes on the sound of the last
consonant of the verb. For example.
WALKING – WAL/KING STAND- STAN/DING
But as you English improves, and you start to work on the flow of your pronunciation, you’ll
see that instead of pronouncing the full “ING” sound, you can just use a single “N” sound.
For example.
WALKING- WALK“N” STAND- STAND“N”
EXPRESSIONS FOR RELAXATION AND STRESS
With this song we have just learnt 2 new and cool ways to express relaxation, “laid back” and
“to kick it.” Now I’m going to expand on that topic and teach you some more ways of
expression not just relaxation, but some cool expressions for those stressful work related
situations too.
RELAXATION
Chill out- To be in a relaxed state, usually after doing something that has consumed your
energy. “I’ve worked so hard today. I can’t wait to go home and chill out.”
Take it easy- To relax, be less tense. “Why are you always pulling your hair out, you should
take it easy!!”
Go with the flow- To agree with others or do what they are doing because it’s easier and
stress free.
STRESS
Up to my neck in it- This expression is used to express that you have so much work to do
you don’t know where to start. “I’d love to grab a beer tonight but I’m up to my neck in it.”
An alternative expression could be ‘up to my eyeballs.’
Up shit creek without a a paddle– A Scottish slang term meaning to be stuck in a bad
situation without anyway of fixing it. The bad situation being ‘shit creek’ and the ‘paddle’
being the solution.
Burnt out- Exhausted as a result of longtime stress. “I’m so burnt out that I don’t have any
energy to go out on the weekends.”
CALL TO ACTION
How do you feel after listening, and learning, with this cool song? Relaxed? Laid back? Up to
your neck in new words.
I hope this song has shown you how much you can learn with music, especially rap.
Diversifying you English with a little bit of creativity might be just what you need to
motivate your learning experience, and I’m sure it’s a lot more fun that the boring old
grammar book.
