Beastie Boys
Paul Revere lyrics
- Language
- English
- Level
- Intermediate
- Released
- 1986
- Genre
- Pop
- Length
- 3:41
Now here's a little story I got to tell
About three bad brothers you know so well
It started way back in history
With Ad-Rock, MCA and me, Mike D
Been had a little horsey named Paul Revere
Just me and my horsey and a quart of beer
Ridin' 'cross the land, kickin' up sand
Sheriff's posse's on my tail 'cause I'm in demand
One lonely Beastie I be
All by myself without nobody
The sun is beatin' down on my baseball hat
The air is gettin' hot, the beer is gettin' flat
Lookin' for a girl, I ran into a guy
His name is MCA, I said, "Howdy," he said, "Hi"
He told a little story that sounded well-rehearsed
Four days on the run and that he's dying of thirst
The brew was in my hand, and he was on my tip
His voice was hoarse, his throat was dry, he asked me for a sip
He said, "Can I get some?", I said, "You can't get none"
Had a chance to run, pulled out his shotgun
Quick on the draw, I thought I'd be dead
He put the gun to my head and this is what he said
"Now my name is MCA, I got a license to kill
I think you know what time it is, it's time to get ill
Now what do we have here, an outlaw and his beer?
I run this land, you understand? I've made myself clear"
We stepped into the wind, he had a gun, I had a grin
You think this story's over, but it's ready to begin
Now, I've got the gun, you've got the brew
You got two choices of what you can do
It's not a tough decision, as you can see
I can blow you away, or you can ride with me
I said, "I'll ride with you if you can get me to the border
The sheriff's after me for what I did to his daughter
I did it like this, I did it like that
I did it with the whiffleball bat"
So I'm on the run, the cop got my gun
And right about now it's time to have some fun
The King Ad-Rock, that is my name
And I know the fly spot where they got the champagne
We rode for six hours, then we hit the spot
The beat was a-bumpin', and the girlies was hot
This dude was starin' like he knows who we are
We took the empty spot next to him at the bar
MCA said, "Yippee-yo, you know this kid?"
I said, "I didn't," but I know he did
The kid said, "Get ready, 'cause this ain't funny
My name's Mike D and I'm about to get money"
Pulled out the jammy, aimed it at the sky
He yelled, "Stick 'em up!" and let two fly
Hands went up and people hit the floor
He wasted two kids that ran for the door
"I'm Mike D, and I get respect
Your cash and your jewelry is what I expect"
MCA was with it, and he's my ace
So I grabbed the piano player and I punched him in the face
Piano player's out, the music stopped
His boy had beef, and he got dropped
Mike D grabbed the money, MCA snatched the gold
I grabbed two girlies and a beer that's cold
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Key vocabulary
- d
- letter D
- paul
- a common male name
- hoarse
- raspy voice
- sip
- small drinkB2
- king
- male rulerA2
- lonely
- sad because aloneB1
- sand
- small grains of rockB1
- spot
- small area; pointB1
- about
- concerningA1
- after
- later in timeA1
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About this song
Beastie Boys were an American hip-hop group from New York, mixing rap with punk, funk, and jazz. They are known for albums like Licensed to Ill and Paul’s Boutique, which helped define late-1980s rap, along with the MTV hit “Sabotage.”