The Roots - Now or Never [tekst, tłumaczenie i interpretacja piosenki]

[Hook - Dice Raw]
Everything's changing around me
And I want to change too
It's one thing I know
It ain't cool being no fool
I feel different today
I don't know what else to say
But I'mma get my shit together
It's now or never

[Verse 1- Black Thought]
I'm sick, sick of waiting in vain, tired of playing the game
Thinking of making a change, finally breaking the chains
Every phase, every happening, craze
When it's said and done, my head is right back in a haze
I'm ready for the next chapter and page to start acting my age
And part ways with Black Thought from back in the days
I'm stargazing from the back of the stage
Questioning if who y'all praise is worthy of praise
What's the phrase "bygones is bygones?"
Niggas who used to be the underdogs is icons
People say the light shines once in a lifetime
Is this midlife kind a crisis a little bit like mine
I'm thinking not now, but right now
I need some kinda sign that the future is bright now
I fuck around, do the right thing like Spike now
The quick and the dead, which one is my lookalike now?
I'm moving ahead

[Hook]

[Verse 2 - Phonte]
Opportunities lost because I blew them
On the sunniest days of my life, I cry through them
Mom's out the picture and Pops, I barely knew him
And I would pray to God but I'm tired of lying to him
Tired of trying to run from the things inside of us
Got a lot of fam, and a lot of admirers
Who tell me that I should aspire to be changed
But when I think of changing, it's like why even try this shit?
My mind hazy and my thoughts, they get distorted
I know my good and bad deeds both get recorded
You do right so your soul can last
But my role is cast before I even audition for it
So I don't really see an end to my vice
It's just false reformation, no end of my strife
Feel the evil overpowering, you can go ahead throw the towel in
Cause nigga, that's the end of the fight
When you can only see the tunnel at the end of the light
Lights out, party over, it's the end of your life
And I'm out

[Hook]

[Verse 3 - Dice Raw]
When I look into the mirror and see my own image
It feels like there's something else far in the distance
Something I wanna see, but something that's resistant
And everyday the haunting is growing more persistent
I never noticed it before, but now I can't miss it
And the constant pounding is driving me ballistic
I ran from it for years, but it's still next to me
And it's growing stronger, taking even less of me
I can't fight it now, I know it's just destiny
And I just wonder what's gonna happen when it catches me
Will it leave me face down in the Chesapeake?
Or will it just start bringing out the best in me?
But is the best in me really just the worst in me
And if so, yesterday could be my anniversary
In sinner's court, sip port and have church with me
I'm trying to get rid of these ghosts that's cursing me
I'm feeling change is an absolute certainty
Cause what's going on is a state of emergency