World Literature in English
Artist: The Fugees
Album: The Score
Song: Fu-Gee-La
Annotated by Sherri Wei and Eva Chen
The group's interpretations: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5
[CLEF]
We used to be number 10
Now we're permanent one,
In the battle lost my finger, Mic became my arm
Pistol nozzle hits your nasal, blood becomes lukewarm
Tell the woman be easy Naah squeeze the Charmin  (a brand name of tissue)
Test Wyclef, see death flesh get scorned.
Beat you so bad make you feel like you ain't wanna be born
And tell your friends stay the hell out of my lawn.
Chicken George became Dead George stealin' chickens from my farm.
Damn, Another dead pigeon
If your mafiosos then I'm bringin' on Haitian Sicilians
Nobody's shootin', my body's made of hand grenade
Girl bled to death while she was tongue-kissing a razor blade.
That sounds sick maybe one eday I'll write a horror
Blackula comes to the ghetto, jacks an ACURA (Ac --   The Acura Legend, a brand car. )
Stevie Wonder sees Crack Babies Be-Coming Enemies of their own families.(crack --  (n) Synthetic drug, extremely addictive.  I was told that crack babies are those illegitimate babies, especially for teenager mother.  S; interpretations)
What's going on?
Armageddon  (¥@¬É¥½¤é) come you know we soon done
Gun by my side just in case I gotta rump (We guess rump is for "run.")
A boy on the side of Babylon, trying to front like he's down with Mount Zion. (front   (v) Pretend to be that which you are not; act tough. )  (Mount Zion: In Israel; originally the stronghold of Jerusalem conquered by David; occupied in ancient times by the Jewish Temple)
The Group's comments
In this verse there are many violent image, and it talks about the problem in Black neighborhood. We got two interpretation of the line begin with Stevie. 
  1. First of all, it has the ironic meaning since Stevie Wonder can not "see."¨ Some people know all these problems such as drug, teenager pregnancy and sinister gang, but they don't really care and go deep into these issue. 
  2. The second meaning of see is understanding. Stevie Wonder is a Black musician. In this sense, the Fugees have similar identity and they also see what's going on in the society.


I think there is an image of struggling in the Last line "A boy on the side of Babylon, trying to front like he's down with Mount Zion."¨ Since Babylon is the city where Jews were enslaved.  Mount Zion seems to stand for a more peaceful place, is that right?

[LAURYN]:CHORUS
Oooh La La La,
It's the way that we rock when we're doing our thang (thing)
Oooh La La La,
It's the natural LA that the Refugees Bring
Oooh La La La La La La Lalala La Laaah,
Sweeeeet Thing

[LAURYN]
Yeah in saloons we drink Boone's and battle goons till high noon,
Bust rap toons on flat spoons, take no shorts like poon poon's. (Does the flat spoon refer to the dance floor in the bar?)
See hoochies pop coochies , for Gucci's and Lucci  (hooch informal word for strong alcoholic) (coochie  (n) Vagina. )
Find me in my Mitsubishi, eatin' sushi, bumpin' Fugees.
Hey Hey Hey
Try to take the crew and we don't play play
Say say say
Like Paul McCartney, not hardly,
ODD-ly enough
I can see right through your bluff
Niggas huff and they puff but they can't handle us, WE BUST
Cause we fortified, I could never hide, seen "Cooley High",
Cried when Cochise died. (Chochise 1812?-1874 Chiricahua Apache Indian chief; warred with U.S. Army and white settlers in Arizona; eventually settled on reservation occupying ancestral Chiricahua lands)
I'm twisted, black-listed by some other negroes,
Don't remove my Polos on the first episode.
Ha Ha Ha Ha, You shouldn't diss refugees, and (dis   (v) Insult or thwart in a social manner, short for disrespect.
Ha Ha Ha Ha, You whole sound set's bootie , and (booty adj- Not good, lacking N- bottom ass / Biblical, stolen treasure)
Ha Ha Ha Ha, You have to respect JERSEY, cause I'm superfly when
I'm super-high on the Fu-Gee-La. (JERSEY any of a breed of small short-horned predominantly yellowish brown or fawn dairy cattle noted for their rich milk)  (Superfly 1. A movie in 1972 about cocaine dealers in New York; 2. strong cocaine; 3. first-rate)

The Group's comments
We have problems with the first eight lines in this verse.  We make a guess that it is still about some negative issues in the Black neighborhood, like drinking, fighting and drug. Other Black people look down on those refugees. 

About the last line, we also have two interpretations. Before I found the meaning of superfly, we thought that Lauryn thinks they are great and also ask other to respect them. But with the meaning of superfly and super-high in mind, they might take drugs so that they are super-high.

[LAURYN]:CHORUS
Oooh La La La,
It's the way that we rock when we're doing our thang
Oooh La La La,
It's the natural LA that the Refugees Bring
Oooh La La La La La La Lalala La Laaah,
Sweeeeet Thing

The Group's comments
This verse repeats four times and the "ooooh La La La" really impresses audience a lot.

She says that that's how they reflect what they see the world.  (What does she means by "the way that we rock our thing?") I remember that in the interview, they said that they recorded several version of this verse and they found that ooooh La La La is the best. So, that explains "It's the natural LA that the Refugees bring"

[PRAZ]
I sit 90 degrees underneath palm trees,
Smokin' beadies as I burn my calories,(beadies: a kind of cigarette)
Brooklyn roof tops become Brooklyn tee-pees, (tepee  A cone-shaped tent of skins used by North American Indians)
Who that be, enemies, wanna see the death of me.
From Hawaii to Hawthorne, I run marathons, like
Buju Banton, I'm a true champion, like, (Buju Banton is a Caribbean singer)
Farakkhan reads his Daily Qu'ran it's a phenomenon,
lyrics fast like Ramadan.(Ramadan The 9th month of the Moslem year, spent in fasting from sunrise to sunset)

The Group's comments

The threaten of death still appears in this verse. He escapes from the enemy¡¦s quest.

However, like Buju Banton he is also a true Champion. Again, he mentions the name of a successful musician, especially Buju Banton "traces his roots back to the Maroons, African slaves brought to Jamaica in the 1600's."

[CLEF] (2X)
What's goin' on
Armageddon come you know we soon done
Gun by my side just in case I gotta rump
A boy on the side of Babylon, trying to front like he's down with
Mount Zion.

The Group's comments

I think this verse is significant since it appears at the end of the first verse.

Eva and I have different interpretations. I think Babylon here might have different meaning from the degeneration the last group reported.  Since in the Bible Babylon was the city that the Jews were enslaved, here it can imply to the Black people's enslavedness.  Since Mount Zion is the stronghold Of Jews, it seems to have a symbolic meaning as a center of strong belief.

[LAURYN]:CHORUS 2X
Oooh La La La,
It's the way that we rock when we're doing our thang
Oooh La La La,
It's the natural LA that the Refugees Bring
Oooh La La La La La La Lalala La Laaah, Sweeeeet Thing