Before Paris Lyrics
[Monologue]
(If you're) Starting to trying to be a musician or artist—something like that—because you wanna make money, because you wanna do a job, that's- that's the wrong way. You have to do this because you love it. And it doesn't matter if you broke, you still gon' do it. I mean, I go out to jam sessions, and I play regardless of whether I'm getting a check or not. It's-, it's about whether I, uh—you have to love this thing, man! You have to love it and breathe it and—It's your morning coffee. It's your food. That's why you become an artist. Art is a mirror of society, you know...
(If you're) Starting to trying to be a musician or artist—something like that—because you wanna make money, because you wanna do a job, that's- that's the wrong way. You have to do this because you love it. And it doesn't matter if you broke, you still gon' do it. I mean, I go out to jam sessions, and I play regardless of whether I'm getting a check or not. It's-, it's about whether I, uh—you have to love this thing, man! You have to love it and breathe it and—It's your morning coffee. It's your food. That's why you become an artist. Art is a mirror of society, you know...
About
Genius Annotation
“Before Paris” features a monologue taken from a 2012 irockjazz interview of trumpeter Roy Hargrove titled “It isn’t a Job”:
The opening track lays out the governing motive which inspired the track that follows: “Lost in Paris”. In it, Tom recounts losing a memory stick full of music in Paris as though it were his lover, which echos the idea of music as an essential part of life as opposed to merely being a job.
Q&A
Find answers to frequently asked questions about the song and explore its deeper meaning
- 1.Before Paris
- 4.Movie
- 5.Tick Tock
- 8.Disco Yes
- 9.Man Like You
- 10.Water Baby
- 12.’Cos I Love You
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