Piru Blues

"**Piru Blues**" is a song by Lupe Fiasco, released on December 25, 2013, as an early "Kwanzaa Gift" for fans to his SoundCloud account. Created for his 2012 album, *Food & Liquor II: The Great American Rap Album Pt. 1*, it didn't make the final cut. It was produced by DJ Simon Sayz.

In 2014, he was asked if he would ever collaborate with Jhené Aiko, and responded, "We did...I lost the record to Jcole. "Piru Blues" was "Sparks"."

## Lyrics

**Lyrics**
[Hook]

Show me how to breathe again

Give me a reason to end

This pain and all this suffering

Is there something, can I win?

It's hard to believe again

Is it something?

Or maybe nothing, nothing

[Verse 1]

Blood stains on the camouflage jacket

And love pain hands on the fully automatic

She looks into the eyes of her comrade/lover

Comcast, C-SPAN cover warfare rages on the other

Side of the wall where the revolution utters

In the language besides brotherly love for the sufferers

It's the sacrifice that touches her

He brushes her cheek, smeared with black smudges

Of oil and dirt he picked up from falling to the earth

When did things fall so far to love and so into berserk?

Supplies in the church but nothing of worth

That can repair the hurt, so out comes the tears and

In come the visions, gargoyles and gryphons

The tensions, the strength, and the stiff and release

On his way to God, guarded by the beast

She picks up his rifle and rushes to the street

[Hook]

Show me how to breathe again

Give me a reason to end

This pain and all this suffering

Is there something, can I win?

It's hard to believe again

Is it something?

Or maybe nothing, nothing

[Verse 2]

With blood stains on the chinchilla fur

And a hundred bullet holes in the Rolls Royce Spur

Through designer sunglasses the world is a blur

Diamonds are being ripped from the neck of the third

Second and first seems so unneeded

But this one she feels that he got what he deserved

The money floats, the liquor spills

She dances on macabre; a n\*\*\*a is being killed

Skeletons dance with her an elegant prance amidst the

Whores and the drunks, the sinners and the punks

A parliament of fools baptized in the funk

Cologne won't stop bullets no matter where you put it

But they spray it in the trunk

It mixes with the blood and the residue of drugs

It hits her all at once

Stings the nostrils, as our Rihanna as Madonna

And Nirvana bewitches another hostile

[Hook]

Show me how to breathe again

Give me a reason to end

This pain and all this suffering

Is there something, can I win?

It's hard to believe again

Is it something?

Or maybe nothing, nothing

Show me how to breathe again

Give me a reason to end

This pain and all this suffering

Is there something, can I win?

It's hard to believe again

Is it something?

Or maybe nothing, nothing

[Verse 3]

With blood stains on the maxi pad missing

We welcome another soul into the land of the living

Something about the mirror so different, it smiles

Now how could glass smile?

So she runs into the kitchen

The microwave, the spoons and the plates

Everywhere where there's a reflection of her face

The turned off TV, the cell phone and laptop screen be

Looking jubilant as Jeezy

In the trap or Gucci in the chain shop

A fan getting name dropped, this wasn't in the plans

But the pain stopped, and held the daffodils

Pleasant surprise not in the newspaper horoscope

A scene in the leaves of the chamomile

She musta missed it

Probably fell outta the bag but she dipped it

Nonetheless, she feels terrific

[Hook]

Show me how to breathe again

Give me a reason to end

This pain and all this suffering

Is there something, can I win?

It's hard to believe again

Is it something?

Or maybe nothing, nothing

Show me how to breathe again

Give me a reason to end

This pain and all this suffering

Is there something, can I win?

It's hard to believe again

Is it something?

Or maybe nothing, nothing

## References

1. ↑ "Lupe Fiasco (@LupeFiasco)". *Twitter*. December 24, 2013.
2. ↑ Goddard, Kevin (December 25, 2013). "Piru Blues". *HotNewHipHop*.
3. ↑ "Lupe Fiasco (@LupeFiasco)". *Twitter*. July 3, 2014.