Dec 12, 2016 Why is Change in the middle though? Maybe the s--- y'all was saying about it being able to be played backwards true. Maybe the story repeats backwards and the child that was born goes through the story in the reverse order and that shows the cycle going on? Idk bro I'm reaching heavy imma just log off and go fold clothes at my girl house
Dec 12, 2016 First listen I thought it was a friend of both of theirs and his death made the street guy give up on the progress he was making and return to the streets. Can see it both ways tho
Dec 12, 2016 lmao, but na i covered that it makes sense ... thats why the songs after that point to the average listener seem like they are 100% from coles perspective ... neighbours, folding clothes ... but if you really look deeper its also cole reflecting on situations which his now fallen friend might have gone through ... this is especially proven by she's mine part 1 ... which although we know is for sure from coles perspective now that we find out he has a daughter, we also know it HAS TO be from the street guys perspective as well because the whole album is about his daughter so how could we not have a song showing the joy that he felt when his daughter was born you know ... like i said to me change is the climax, so i think the placement is actually perfect and really potent right there in the middle ... at first you're wondering who it is who died in that skit, but then when you get to the title track you connect the dots that it was this guy who dies and also that it was his premonitions we were hearing on "for whom the bell tolls"
Dec 12, 2016 You can really play the album backwards and it makes sense. Just as enjoyable as listening to it forwards. The intro can actually be the outro. Kind of dope.
Dec 12, 2016 right, i might be reaching ... but like i said it just seems much more impactful if you consider it being the guy who the album is about so thats how ima see it until proven otherwise lol ... hopefully cole don't end up telling it otherwise haha
Dec 12, 2016 the backwards thing is dope as h--- if you really think about it tho, shout out my n----- @eddie ... still waiting on your review now haha you start off hearing the context of the whole story with title track, then right away its the birth of the daughter who the album is about (she's mine part 2), then folding clothes is stuff you have to do when you have a kid (thats where that theory gets pretty deep) ... then even tho he's a domestic father his neighbours still think he's selling dope ... but then its from there that i have a bit more trouble connecting the dots ... although moving forward a few tracks immortal would definitely be a cool second last song, and in that case it would definitely be cool hearing "for whom the bell tolls" with his death premonitions being the album outro
Dec 12, 2016 Maybe the backwards thing can help describe the father (street guy) life. Like he was born in She's Mine, innocent and wanting to do good in Foldin Clothes, starting dealing in Neighbors, wants to change in Change but then his homie is killed and he says f--- it, then he falls in love?, next two songs he's torn between being in the streets and loving his girl/wanting better for himself, then immortal he goes fully into the streets and then Whom the Bell he gone Reaching like I'm Steph Curry but might be something to it
Dec 12, 2016 At first, I thought it was just another friend to further emphasise the troubles of the hood and this being the reason why James goes back to gangs. But if it is your theory and it's the end, then it makes sense that the rest of the album is in Cole's perspective with subtle reference to James until it's all explained in the last track.
Dec 12, 2016 @2014 Forever Lives JCN I just read through this and It makes me feel like we agree on almost everything... might not drop my review cause it's just a album review like a blog s---... haha ...I have some concept s--- but it's similar to yours. Only thing I was thinking about is the you said some of the songs don't fit the narrative. BUT... Changes, the Street guy wants to change but can't cause the system is rigged and Cole talks about how the system is rigged not letting people change... Neighbors, the street guy has made and effort to change but it's not easy for him and he is still looked at as a dealer by everyone so he say "MFer I am"! Obviously it's from a more Cole perspective... cause he is shedding light on what his neighbors see in a black man who is in "their" neighborhood... I think a lot of what is going on is the switch between Cole talking about his life and the fact that he is telling a story about his friend. He is highlighting the stuggles of his life and what he has gone through but also telling the story of a fatherless daughter... Idk... I have so much in my head just cant seem to articulate it all that well... haha
Dec 12, 2016 Dope, i'm going to transcribe this into my Amazon Echo to read to me tomorrow while i'm folding clothes.
Dec 12, 2016 same haha, thats why i had so much trouble structuring that post and why it ended up so long lol but yeah i agree, thats basically what I'm saying, thats why the placement of neighbours after change is so perfect to me ... even when the change is made society as a whole still reflects upon you the racist stereotypes lmaooo my n-----
Dec 12, 2016 Bro @2014 Forever Lives JCN your theories have got me f----- up lol. You think it's possible that Change is the center piece to this whole album and it really can go forwards and backwards to show all different kinds of perspectives? It's crazy what that could mean. Like moving backwards we start off with the girl being born, then we have Foldin clothes which is just some nice family s---, then its neighbors where the girl deals with some racism and oppression from her environment growing up. Then, again the climax, her dad gets gunned down in Change and she is left fatherless ... completing the full cycle of the story and the "voice of the voiceless" angle Cole was going for. I could also see Deja Vu as a guy trying to get with the daughter and thus a "Deja Vu" of how her parents met. The title track foreshadows a lot of the album and the dad mentions that in it.
Dec 12, 2016 On Change... "n----s die over b------s, disrespecting dollar bills" Y'all think James maybe was slain because of the girl from Deja Vu? Or just coincidence?
Dec 12, 2016 thats definitely a possibility ... didn't even think about that myself tbh maybe thats just it, he stole the girl on deja vu from the "small town n-----" and the dude got payback? who knows
Dec 13, 2016 WOT A WONDERFUL PLEASURE to read you again homie. I hope Cole will release soon a new project to read you fam. I think there's something behind the title "Deja Vu" to dig. But you help me. I'm about to drop my theory soon to compare, maybe to complete. Actually, your entire theory make me question all mine.
Dec 14, 2016 if ville mentality is from "James" perspective and he says "start a new life in a foreign location" but then he dies at the end of change ... perhaps neighbours, folding clothes, and she's mine part 2 represent the life he wasn't able to have with his girl and daughter because he died ... he wasn't able to move to the suburbs and have his neighbours think he's selling dope, or fold clothes with his girl, or experience the joy of raising his daughter
