Father

About Father

"Father" is the third single from LL Cool J's seventh album, Phenomenon. It was released on January 13, 1998 for Def Jam Recordings and was produced by the Trackmasters. "Father", which was an auto-biographical song that detailed LL's abuse from his mother's boyfriend, would prove to be the most successful single from the album, it made it to #18 on the Billboard Hot 100 and became his eighth single to reach #1 on the Hot Rap Singles. It sold 500,000 copies. The song's main sample is "Father Figure" by George Michael. The music video was directed by Samuel Bayer. more »

Year:

1997

4:44

154 Views

Playlists:

#1

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I swear to tell the truth and nothing but the truth,
So help me GOD
I just felt like telling the story of my life
Felt like, maybe somebody could be inspired, you know?
We all feel pain, we all go through things
But it's time to overcome all that

If your plane crashed in the water and everybody died
Would you drown on purpose or try to survive?
I was born handicapped my arm wouldn't move
They called me a cripple pops caught an attitude
Beat my moms smoked lye drove trucks
My moms had a miscarriage, he didn't give a f*ck
He sniffed some coke, come home
Beat up on my moms cause she's talkin' on the phone
Come on

[Chorus]
(All I ever wanted)
All I ever wanted
(All I ever needed)
All I ever needed
(Was a father)
Was a father
(That's all)
That's all!
(All I ever wanted)
All I ever wanted
(All I ever needed)
All I ever needed, was a father
(Was a father)

Moms got tired of the beatings said, "Yo, we got to go"
Packed up her bags we bounced out the do'
She said, "I ain't taking these whippin's no mo'
I want to live to see my little Todd grow"
I remember tear drops on my pops face
Looking down at me standing on the staircase
Handsome brother with a smooth goatee
Makes me wonder why he act so ugly, you feeling me?
(I'm feeling you)

[Chorus]

My pops got drunk when me and my moms bounced
Swigged some Jack Dan', sniffed up a ounce
Grabbed the shotty left Long Isle for Queens
Possessed by a demon, a devil it seemed
I was too young to understand the risk
When your moms come home off the midnight shift
She turned around heard the shotgun click
My pops said, "You think that you could leave me?"
He blasted my moms in the back
She fell down screaming I can't forget that
My grandfather tried to close the do'
He got shot ten times in the stomach yo, for real

[Chorus]

My head was spinning, I had never seen blood
Four years old, this don't feel like love
Anyway, pops disappeared
Grandpops and moms healed up over the years
This therapist got up in her head
Led her to believe without him she'd be dead
You know, they fell in love with one another
Everything seemed right that's word to mother
Until I started getting beatings everyday
Sometimes for going outside to play
Late at night on my knees I'd pray
A young child, wishing the pain would go away
Dad where was you when he made me strip
Beat with belts like a slave with a whip
Kicked me down steps outside in the snow
Punched me in the chest stomped me out on the flo'
That's just the tip of the iceberg look
It's too long for a song but perfect for a book
Word is bond, that's real baby

[Chorus]

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LL Cool J

James Todd Smith (born January 14, 1968), better known as LL Cool J, for Ladies Love Cool James ), is an American rapper, entrepreneur, and actor from Bay Shore, New York. He is known for romantic ballads such as "I Need Love", "Around the Way Girl" and "Hey Lover" as well as pioneering hip-hop such as "I Can't Live Without My Radio", "I'm Bad", "The Boomin' System", and "Mama Said Knock You Out". He has released thirteen studio albums and two greatest hits compilations, including 2008's Exit 13, the last for his record deal with Def Jam Recordings, and currently has a new studio album in the works. He has also appeared in numerous films, including Halloween H20: 20 Twenty Years Later, and currently stars as NCIS Special Agent Sam Hanna on the CBS crime drama… more »

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