Kyle Flick
The next song I am going to analyze from Kendrick Lamar’s discography is the track “Swimming Pools (Drank)” off his album good kid, m.A.A.d city. Alcoholism and peer pressure are major themes in this song hence the name and it is evident through analysis of the lyrics.
[Intro]
Pour up (Drank), head shot (Drank)
Sit down (Drank), stand up (Drank)
Pass out (Drank), wake up (Drank)
Faded (Drank), faded (Drank)
[Verse 1]
Now I done grew up ’round some people livin’ their life in bottles
Granddaddy had the golden flask
Backstroke every day in Chicago
Some people like the way it feels
Some people wanna kill their sorrows
Some people wanna fit in with the popular, that was my problem
I was in a dark room, loud tunes
Lookin’ to make a vow soon
That I’ma get fucked up, fillin’ up my cup I see the crowd mood
Changin’ by the minute and the record on repeat
Took a sip, then another sip, then somebody said to me
In the intro, Kendrick describes how parties progress from taking lots of shots, to being very drunk, and eventually to passing out. The first verse concerns itself with Kendrick’s upbringing and how everyone around him was engulfed in the evils of alcoholism. He describes how his grandfather was an alcoholic and why people drink. They do it to either fit in, because they like the buzz, to dull their pain, or to conform to peer pressure. Kendrick points out that peer pressure and the desire to be cool in a loud party is what caused him to drink even though he didn’t necessarily want to.
[Chorus]
Nigga, why you babysittin’ only two or three shots?
I’ma show you how to turn it up a notch
First you get a swimming pool full of liquor, then you dive in it
Pool full of liquor, then you dive in it
I wave a few bottles, then I watch ’em all flock
All the girls wanna play Baywatch
I got a swimming pool full of liquor and they dive in it
Pool full of liquor, I’ma dive in it
[Refrain]
Pour up (Drank), head shot (Drank)
Sit down (Drank), stand up (Drank)
Pass out (Drank), wake up (Drank)
Faded (Drank), faded (Drank)
In the chorus, Kendrick elaborates on the peer pressure he experienced at that party. People came up to him and called him out for not drinking and told him to take a few more shots. They were trying to help him have a good time but to Kendrick he was not about it. Lamar views all the liquor he sees around him as enough to fill a swimming pool which concerns him. The analogy of diving in is meant to be becoming drunk off the liquor and he compares it to all the girls diving in like the characters in the TV show Baywatch. Eventually Kendrick relents and he dives in and the intro lines repeat where he drinks in excess and becomes very drunk.
[Verse 2]
Okay, now open your mind up and listen me, Kendrick
I am your conscience, if you do not hear me
Then you will be history, Kendrick
I know that you’re nauseous right now
And I’m hopin’ to lead you to victory, Kendrick
If I take another one down
I’ma drown in some poison, abusin’ my limit
I think that I’m feelin’ the vibe, I see the love in her eyes
I see the feelin’, the freedom is granted
As soon as the damage of vodka arrived
This how you capitalize, this is parental advice
Then apparently, I’m over-influenced by what you are doin’
I thought I was doin’ the most ’til someone said to me
[Chorus]
Nigga, why you babysittin’ only two or three shots?
I’ma show you how to turn it up a notch
First you get a swimming pool full of liquor, then you dive in it
Pool full of liquor, then you dive in it
I wave a few bottles, then I watch ’em all flock
All the girls wanna play Baywatch
I got a swimming pool full of liquor and they dive in it
Pool full of liquor, I’ma dive in it
[Refrain]
Pour up (Drank), head shot (Drank)
Sit down (Drank), stand up (Drank)
Pass out (Drank), wake up (Drank)
Faded (Drank), faded (Drank)
In the next verse, Kendrick raps from the perspective of his inner conscience trying to lead him to safety. His conscience realizes that Kendrick has put himself in a bad situation and it is trying to remind him that if he drinks too much he will die/become history. It lets him know that he is nauseous from all the alcohol he has drank and he is past his personal intake limit, but Kendrick doesn’t care. He gets liquor courage and sees a girl and decides to drink more and then go talk to her thinking he is now more suave because of the alcohol which is not a good mindset. Kendrick and the girl are assumed to have sex at this point as they are free from the restraints of anxiety due to alcohol and it can be said that they may be taking advantage of each other. They both don’t realize the damage the vodka is doing to them, but they don’t care anyway. As the party goes on Kendrick is once again pressured into drinking more because some people think he is barely partying enough. This leads into the chorus again further emphasizing how far Kendrick is diving in and the intro is repeated too to move along the chronology of the party.
[Bridge]
I ride, you ride, bang
One chopper, 100 shots, bang
Hop out, do you bang?
Two chopper, 200 shots, bang
I ride, you ride, bang
One chopper, 100 shots, bang
Hop out, do you bang?
Two chopper, 200 shots, bang
[Chorus]
Nigga, why you babysittin’ only two or three shots?
I’ma show you how to turn it up a notch
First you get a swimming pool full of liquor, then you dive in it
Pool full of liquor, then you dive in it
I wave a few bottles, then I watch ’em all flock
All the girls wanna play Baywatch
I got a swimming pool full of liquor and they dive in it
Pool full of liquor, I’ma dive in it
[Refrain]
Pour up (Drank), head shot (Drank)
Sit down (Drank), stand up (Drank)
Pass out (Drank), wake up (Drank)
Faded (Drank), faded (Drank)
[Interlude: Sherane]
Aw man… where is she takin’ me?
Where is she takin’ me?
The bridge before the final verse is very important in the context of the song and the album. In it, Kendrick describes the lifestyle of Compton in a broad sense. He compares riding to drinking and making bad choices together, the chopper to someone drinking in excess and taking 100 shots, and hopping out to pressuring someone into drinking and doing questionable things. All together the bridge paints a picture alcohol abuse and the power peer pressure has in social situations not just related to drinking. Kendrick allows it to be generalized to other things too like jumping someone or committing a robbery. The chorus and intro are once again repeated to drive home the point about peer pressure Kendrick is making. The very brief interlude introduces to the girl Kendrick was talking to earlier. Her name was Sherane and she is a common character throughout the album and represents Kendrick’s desires and most troubled moments as she leads him into uncertainty.
[Verse 3]
All I have in life is my new appetite for failure
And I got hunger pain that grow insane
Tell me, do that sound familiar?
If it do, then you’re like me
Makin’ excuse that your relief
Is in the bottom of the bottle and the greenest indo leaf
As the window open I release
Everything that corrode inside of me
I see you jokin’, why you laugh?
Don’t you feel bad? I probably sleep
And never ever wake up, never ever wake up, never ever wake up
In God I trust, but just when I thought I had enough
In the final verse of the song, Kendrick comes to realize that alcohol is not a healthy way to cope at all and it only fuels his downward spiral. He then proceeds to say how if any listener can relate to how he is feeling then they are also dependent on alcohol. He urges all alcoholics and drug addicts to stop finding their relief in drugs and liquor and instead to break the cycle of substance abuse that destroys so many lives, families, and communities. Kendrick is angry that people think their addiction is an excuse most likely because of how negatively it has affected his life. The verse then turns to Kendrick asking why people are laughing at his excessive drunkenness as he throws up then passes out due to his intake. He ponders if anyone will care if he wakes up.
[Outro]
They stomped the homie out over a bitch?
K-dot, you good, blood?
Now we can drop, ye we can drop you back off
That nigga’s straight, man, that nigga ain’t trippin’
We gon’ do the same ol’ shit
I’ma pop a few shots, they gon’ run, they gon’ run opposite ways
Fall right in ****’s lap
And he gon’ tear they ass up, simple as that
And I hope that bitch that set him up out there
We gon’ pop that bitch too
Wait hold up, ayy, I see somebody
[Car door opens and gunshots are fired]
Aha! Got them niggas, K-Dot, you good?
L****, you good?
Yeah, blood, I’m good – Dave, you good?
Dave? Dave, say somethin’ – Dave?
These bitch-ass niggas killed my brother!
The outro is a skit that paints a bleak picture of life in Compton and what surrounds Kendrick. Here we learn that Kendrick got jumped by people Sherane knew which angers his friends. They plot to get back at the guys and go shooting at them. They do and are successful but at the cost of Dave’s life, who is Kendrick’s friend. The short skit is representative of the cycle of violence in Compton and how hard it is to escape it forever.