'DON'T PUSH ME 'CAUSE I'M CLOSE TO THE EDGE ...."

 Sometimes songs, poems, films and literature resonate strongly with us depending on our moods and life situation at the time.

National Radio played Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five's 'The Message' this morning.

THE MESSAGE

I first listened to this back in 1982, shortly after I moved from Wellington to Auckland. I was a bit edgy and - "It made me wonder how I keep from going under".

I survived, as privileged white guys do and didn't go under. Unfortunately a lot of people did and still do. The message is just as relevant today I guess.

           The Message.

… It's like a jungle sometimes
It makes me wonder how I keep from going under
It's like a jungle sometimes
It makes me wonder how I keep from going under
… Broken glass everywhere
People pissing on the stage, you know they just don't care
I can't take the smell, can't take the noise
Got no money to move out, I guess I got no choice
Rats in the front room, broke dudes in the back
Junkies in the alley with the baseball bat
I tried to get away but I couldn't get far
'Cause the man with the judge repossessed my car
… Don't push me 'cause I'm close to the edge
I'm tryin' not to lose my head
It's like a jungle sometimes
It makes me wonder how I keep from going under
… Standing on the front stool, hanging out the window
Watching all the cars go by, roaring as the breezes blow
A crazy lady, livin' in the bag, eating out of garbage pales, used to be a fag
Searchin' has to tangle, skip the life and dangle
'Cause you're gon' print to sing they lost us so soon
Down at the peep show, watching all the creeps
So she can tell the stories to the girls back home
She went to the city and got so, so, so dizzy
She had to get a pimp, she couldn't make it on her own
… Don't push me 'cause I'm close to the edge
I'm tryin' not to lose my head
It's like a jungle sometimes
It makes me wonder how I keep from going under
It's like a jungle sometimes
It makes me wonder how I keep from going under
… My brother's doin' best on my mother's TV
Says she watches too much, it's just not healthy
All my children in the daytime, Dallas at night
Can't even see the game or the Sugar Ray Fight
The bill collectors that ring my phone
And scare my wife when I'm not home
Got a flunk education, double-digit inflation
Can't take the train to the job, there's a strike at the station
… Neon King Kong standing on my back
Can't stop to turn around, broke my sacroiliac
Mid-range migraine, cancered membranes
Sometimes I think I'm goin' insane, I swear I might hijack a plane
… Don't push me 'cause I'm close to the edge
I'm tryin' not to lose my head
It's like a jungle sometimes
It makes me wonder how I keep from going under
It's like a jungle sometimes
It makes me wonder how I keep from going under
… My son said, "Daddy, I don't wanna go to school"
'Cause the teacher's a jerk, he must think I'm a fool
And all the kids smoke reefer, I think it'd be cheaper
If I just got a job, learned to be a street sweeper
Dance to the beat, shuffle my feet
Wear a shirt and tie and run with the creeps
'Cause it's all about money, ain't a damn thing funny
You've got to have a car in this land of milk and honey
… They pushed that girl in front of the train
Took her to the doctor, sewed her arm on again
Stabbed that man right in his heart
Gave him a transplant for a brand new start
I can't walk through the park 'cause it's crazy after dark
Keep my hand on my gun 'cause they got me on the run
I feel like an outlaw, broke my last last jaw
Hear them say: "You want some more?" Living on a see-saw
… Don't push me 'cause I'm close to the edge
I'm tryin' not to lose my head
Say what?
It's like a jungle sometimes
It makes me wonder how I keep from going under
It's like a jungle sometimes
It makes me wonder how I keep from going under
… It's like a jungle sometimes
It makes me wonder how I keep from going under
It's like a jungle sometimes
It makes me wonder how I keep from going under
… A child is born with no state of mind
Blind to the ways of mankind
God is smiling on you, but he's frowning too
Because only God knows what you gon' do
You'll grow in the ghetto, living second rate
And your eyes will sing a song of deep hate
The places you play and where you stay
Looks like one great big alleyway
… You'll admire all the number booktakers
Those pencil pushers and the big moneymakers
Driving big cars, spending twenties and tens
And you wanna grow up to be just like them
Smugglers, scramblers, burglars, gamblers
Pickpocket peddlers, even panhandlers
You say I'm cool, I'm no fool
But then you wind up dropping out of high school
… Now you're unemployed, all null and void
Walking 'round like you're pretty boy Floyd
Turned stick-up kid, but look what you done did
God sent up for an eight year bid
Now your man who mistook in you, and make time
Spend the next two years as an undercover fag
Being used and abused to serve like hell
'Til one day you will find him dead in a cell
… It was plain to see that your life was lost
'Cause you was cold and your body swung back and forth
But now yeah, I sing the sad, sad song
Of how you live so fast and die so young
… So don't push me 'cause I'm close to the edge
I'm tryin' not to lose my head
It's like a jungle sometimes
It makes me wonder how I keep from going under
It's like a jungle sometimes
It makes me wonder how I keep from going under
… Yo Mel, you see that girl there? (Yeah man)
Yo, that sound like cowboy man, that's not cool
Yo, wassup money? (Yo)
Where's fieldin' and right here, man
They upstairs coolin' out
So what's up for the night, y'all?
Yo, we could go down the field
Let's go check out Juniper, man
… Hey yo, do you know that girl Betty? (Yeah man)
Her mom's got robbed, man (what, not again?)
I heard (when did this happen, when did this happen?)
Alright freeze, don't nobody move nothin', y'all know what this is
Get 'em up man (we're Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five, man)
… Shut up, I don't wanna hear y'all now
Officer, officer, what's the problem?
You the problem
Yo, you ain't gotta push him, man
Get in the car, get in the- guys, I said get in the car

I've mentioned Grandmaster Flash in the past. See: DA FUCK?