2pac - Hail mary
sting - fragil
stevie wonder - that girl
2pac - only god can judge me
John lennon - imagine
and people might wonder why i would pick hail mary 1st.. welll he hit many areas in this song and rememberthis is off on a limb, I don't think Pac was trying to critique Catholicism and draw elaborate metaphors for the religion.... we all knew Pac was very educated about history, religion, and sociology, and again, I think this was Pac's personification behind the Hail Mary. Pac mentioned specific names and ideas in interviews and songs that he knew many would not understand, but he also knew that some educated listeners would connect with him on these things and realize he knew what he was doing.
a good example of this, I was listening to Tupac's court testimony when he was called to the witness stand (it's a bonus feature on Resurrection DVD) and he was asked by the prosecution "what is rap?" Pac said rap is poetry, a beat is is not necessarily needed, and (I quote) "even iamic pentameter is rap" which TOTALLY threw off the prosecutor, who obviously had no clue what iamic pentameter was, based on his response to Pac's response. what I'm trying to say is Pac was a lot more educated than most people realize, and I think he said things at times he knew many would skip over and not realize the significance.
don't forget what books, authors, and figures Pac studied.... Machiavelli, Shakespeare, Sun Tzu, the Bible, etc....
the definition of a Hail Mary:
Hail Mary or in Latin Ave Maria is a traditional Christian prayer to Mary, the mother of Jesus. The prayer is based upon the Gospel (Luke 1:28 and Luke 1:42) and a reinforcement of basic Christian belief in the real divinity and real humanity of Jesus.
It is the central point of the Rosary, a prayer recited by Catholics, comprised of 4 sets of 5 Mysteries meditating upon the incarnation, life, death and resurrection of Jesus. Each of these Mysteries is prayed as a decade (literally ten), consisting of : One Our Father (Pater Noster or The Lord's Prayer), Ten Hail Marys, and One Doxology ('Glory be to the Father') .
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I think Pac knew exactly what a Hail Mary was, and this was his own personal version of the Hail Mary. as you see in the words of the actual Hail Mary, it's asking for our sins to be forgiven in the hour of our death. lyrics to Pac's Hail Mary:
"pray 2 God, hopin that he's listenin, see them niggaz comin 4 me, my diamonds when they glistenin..."
"I live my life a product made to crumble, was too hardened for a smile when it's crazy to be humble..."
"catch me father please cuz I'm fallin to the liquor store...."
"I got a head with no screws in it... one life 2 live but I got nothin 2 lose.... we all wrapped up in this livin life as thugs..."
most of the lyrics are angry (yet apologetic) and explain the darker side of Pac's life. after reading the "Making of Makaveli" in XXL thread, I learned that Pac's demeanor during Makaveli was much darker, solitary, and sophisticated than his previous works. the people close to him also said that Pac spoke of his death coming soon, and in his music it's apparent that he knew death was coming quick. I think this, like Blasphemy (which made the album) and a handful of others that probably didn't make the Makaveli album, was another public plea of forgiveness to God before Pac's time on this earth was expired. look at the last two lines of the actual Hail Mary: "pray for us sinners, now, and at the hour of our death."
sorry for typing so much howevever i knew ppl would look at it as some crap rap song..
