|
1st Verse
Uh, my hat is like a shark's fin
Deepest, bluest, my hat is like a shark's fin
The first line
is also the most important of the themes that LL reveals. That his hat is indeed
like a shark’s fin, establishing early the connection he now shares with the shark.
The second line is also the second most important theme. Not simply deep
or blue but deepest and bluest, making it clear from the beginning that the will be nothing that will compare to how deep
or blue, also his hat continues to mimic the shark’s fin. Such an important
theme this is that it is repeated five more times before we continue.
Manmade terror
Hungry jaws of death
The genius
of this song is truly in how it can be so simple and yet so profound. Here LL
discloses that this terror we are about to hear about is no natural threat. In
fact he is soon to explain that he himself is the ravenous and deadly beast he describes.
Y'all
don't cross my depths
I'll pause your breaths
I cause you to sink down forty thousand leagues
Bleeding to death with
no arms and short sleeves
Here is where the fantasy truly begins, as LL relates his tale of terror by casting the listener in the role
of his potential victim. He warns, if you were to invade his territory of the
briny deep sea he would “pause your breaths” and you would soon find yourself dying from dismemberment, no longer
wearing a long sleeve shirt. Even worse you would sink even deeper under the
sea. Though it should be noted here that LL improperly uses the nautical unit
of measurement “leagues”. Using “fathoms”, the nautical
measurement of depth would be the correct choice.
My world's deep blue
He reprises the underlying theme of both deep and blue by using the phrase to describe
his surroundings, nay, his world, implying that more than just his body has been changed to match that of a shark.
Killers gotta eat too
Looking for human flesh to rip my teeth through
He briefly attempts to rationalize
his new murderous persona, justifying his behavior with the need for survival. Shark
LL needs to feed and only fresh warm human meat will suffice.
Other fish in the sea but Barracudas ain't equal
To a half human predator created by
a needle
Not only does he remind the listener that he is in fact not simply a shark but a manmade
LL Cool J/shark hybrid, but that he is now the most dangerous of all life in the sea.
This brings to light an even darker idea; if he is in fact still half human he is now half a cannibal.
Jet black eyes baby they stare while you sleep
When your Titanic sinks I'm the one you
gon' meet
Now also a stalker, he is carefully
watching his prey for the most opportune time to strike. Waiting for perhaps
another great nautical disaster (referencing the Titanic) to make his move.
Hearing terrified screams they surround my team
All you see is trails of blood
The listener is then shocked to learn that he is now stalking and devouring his own team;
men and perhaps women who were once his colleagues and conceivably even his friends.
The question does arise whether the “they” mentioned (most likely the genetically altered sharks from the
movie Deep Blue Sea) are working separately or in conjunction with Shark LL. We
learn more of Shark LL’s abilities. He is fast, perhaps too fast for the
human eye to keep up with; leaving behind blood as the only evidence of his attack.
Even God won't intervene
Nightmares of darkness
Not surprisingly
in this deep, blue existentialist universe God is unable or perchance unwilling to intervene. Perhaps here LL is saying that the creation of a human/shark hybrid proves Jean-Paul Sartre’s belief in a Godless universe where there are no absolute, objective guides to action, morality, belief, or understanding. Such a universe would indeed be a dark nightmare for some (for example, Shark
LL’s victims).
My appetite is heartless
Even if we related, you eliminated regardless
Once again we are reminded
that Shark LL is indeed a changed man, as evidenced by his unstoppable need to devour those closest and formerly most beloved
to him.
In the deep blue, underwater walls
Half man, half shark
My jaws don't fall
Closing the first verse,
LL returns to the most important thematic elements. Reminding us of our surroundings
and of LL’s continued hybrid state he then follows by assuring us that his jaws will indeed not fail in their murderous
duty. Then he says “Deepest, bluest, my hat is like a shark's fin” eight times.
|
