Released: 2021
Label: Grade A Productions/Interscope Records
Featuring: Lil Uzi Vert
When it dropped in 2018, ‘Goodbye & Good Riddance’ by Juice WRLD struck a poignant chord in the heart of the hip-hop community. This album was a touchstone, showcasing Juice’s expertise in blending emo sensibilities with trap beats, creating a sound that was both raw and captivating. Songs like “All Girls Are The Same” and “Lucid Dreams” brought vulnerability to the fore in a way that was incredibly relatable, a testament to Juice’s lyrical artistry and knack for melody.
‘Goodbye & Good Riddance’, with its soul-baring verses and ear-catching hooks, is filled with lyrics that explore heartbreak, substance abuse, and the artist’s tumultuous navigation of fame. Whether it’s the confessional realism of “Lean Wit Me”, the poetic melancholy of “Candles”, or the defiant spirit of “Black & White”, each track offers a unique sonic journey into Juice WRLD’s psyche. The album features collaborations with heavy-hitters like Lil Uzi Vert, as seen on “Wasted” and the remix of “Lucid Dreams”, further heightened by Juice’s signature emotional grit.
This deep-dive will unpack the lyrics of the breakout album ‘Goodbye & Good Riddance’, scrutinizing the soulful themes and nuances that helped solidify Juice WRLD’s mark on the hip-hop scene. So let’s get into it. From “Intro” to “Lucid Dreams (feat. Lil Uzi Vert) – Remix”, here are the Breaking down the Lyrics on ‘Goodbye & Good Riddance ‘ by ‘Juice WRLD’.
1. Intro
Through this number, he primes his listeners for an intense emotional journey filled with heartache and introspection. The intro isn’t just another track, it paints an image of Juice WRLD’s struggle, showcasing an artist who is unafraid to be vulnerable. It’s raw, it’s authentic, and it’s steeped in real-life experiences. His lyricism on this track demonstrates his exceptional ability to express complex emotions through simple words, paving the way for the thematic richness to come. The ‘Intro’ sets the stage for an album that’s all about the real struggles of love, loss, and self-discovery.
2. All Girls Are The Same
Steeped heavily in themes of heartbreak, relationship dysfunction, and substance misuse as coping mechanisms, every line is a testament to Juice’s struggles with love and self-identity. He’s reflective and brutally honest, likening his love encounters to battles with demons and heart-wrenching rendezvous with the devil. With references to personal despair and iconic figures like John Lennon, he blends vulnerability with cultural callbacks — a hallmark of his style. It’s an introspective gaze into Juice’s tempestuous love life, a sobering reminder of the pain that can lurk behind the curtains of fame.
3. Lucid Dreams
He masterfully captures the rawness of unrequited love, the torment of heartbreak, and the treacherous pull of his own shadows haunting his psyche. The track resonates with a generation wrestling with their own feelings of love and loss, navigating the complex landscapes of identity and self-worth. The true genius of Juice WRLD lies in his fearless storytelling, laying bare his inner demons for the world to witness. The dark introspection within his lyrics speaks volumes, highlighting a distinctive, yet heartbreaking chapter in his musical journey.
4. Lean Wit Me
As introspective as it is haunting, the track unflinchingly delves into the rapper’s relationship with various drugs, offering a stark commentary on the emptiness and despair that often accompany addiction. The lyrics oscillate between the visceral allure of escapism (“Get high with me if you rock with me”) and a grim acknowledgment of its deadly toll (“Fucked up liver with some bad kidneys”), cementing the track as a painfully honest exploration of dependence and self-destruction. “Lean Wit Me” is not just a song; it’s a gritty journal entry from the abyss of addiction.
5. Wasted (feat. Lil Uzi Vert)
Enlisting Lil Uzi Vert’s warped-trap style, the lyrics tumble into the void of addiction, presenting a hollow tableau rather than glorifying drug misuse. The repeated mantra “Wasted, I’m on these drugs, I feel wasted,” reveals a lament and self-interrogation, not a celebration. Amidst the darkness, there are strokes of wry humor, from the GTA reference to being the lady’s doctor. Critically, Juice WRLD demonstrates that hip-hop’s exploration of the drug culture need not be one-dimensional—there’s room for introspection and even subtle satirical critique.
6. I’m Still
Flexing even with a shattered heart, Juice illustrates the dichotomy of outward success and internal turmoil, a prevalent theme in Hip Hop since PAC’s Thugz Mansion days. Pills surface as his bittersweet escape- his Advils, numbing the pain but not healing it. Yet, Juice chooses to ‘still move’, albeit in ‘slow motion’, embodying the beautiful struggle engrained in the fabric of Hip-Hop. As he feels more than we can, Juice becomes our vessel into navigating overwhelming feelings, epitomizing the 21st century’s emotional Hip-Hop wave, driven by Soundcloud poets like him and X.
7. Betrayal – Skit
He flips the script on betrayal, giving us a titillating phone call interlude that echoes the frustrations and complications of a love gone sour. We peep an insidious dynamic where it’s the lady doing the betraying, grinding away at the expected gender roles in hip-hop narratives. It’s not just betrayal, but a questioning of ego and masculinity. Juice WRLD ain’t just scratching the surface, he digs deep showing us what it means when fidelity is thrown to the curb, and how the aftermath ain’t all black and white.
8. Candles
Juice navigates the labyrinth of post-breakup feelings with raw honesty, dissecting his internal struggles in a lyrical discourse that’s both introspective and resonant. The somber verses trace past relationships and the residue they left on his psyche, seen in the recurrent line, “Baby, you’re not her,” a stark reminder of an ex who left him scarred. However, the most telling line, “You can’t kill me if I kill you first,” portrays his attempt to shield his heart by keeping ahead of potential heartbreak, signaling a tragic preemption against vulnerability.
9. Scared Of Love (with instrumental by Ghost Loft)
Juice WRLD lays his soul bare on this track, revealing his struggles with addiction and love. Each line echoes with realness, painting a picture of an artist entangled in self-doubt and dependency. The lyric, “I’m on the drugs way too much” admits the painful truth about his substance abuse, while “I never been scared of love, scared to love” conveys his internal battle with heartache. The instrumental by Ghost Loft enhances the overall melancholic vibe, underlining Juice’s confessions with a haunting aura. Without doubt, this track holds up a mirror to the dark side of fame and the unseen anguish of a young artist grappling with despair.
10. Used To
The emotionally charged bars echo the torment of past heartbreak, and the unhealthy coping mechanisms that ensued — he’s driving and drinking, seeking solace in the bottom of a bottle. Our man is dealing with the bitter pill of love lost, and the damage it caused is evident. This ain’t just another break-up jam; it’s Juice WRLD laying his pain bare, a stark confession of self-abuse and the darkness of isolation. This joint is a raw manifestation of his psyche, a poignant testament to the artist’s genius in turning his grief into a relatable sonic experience.
11. Karma – Skit
As an interlude, it delivers a dose of emotional turmoil, painting a picture of a fractured relationship through stark, desperate pleas of unreciprocated love. The lyrics amplify the sentiment of a broken-hearted lover navigating the troubling waters of betrayal. It’s a monologue that presents Juice WRLD as the victim of unpredictable love dynamics, bringing to light an under-explored aspect of his artistic persona. This skit underlines his genius in using simplistic lyrics to narrate complex emotions- a deftness that has defined his legacy in the hip-hop realm.
12. Hurt Me
His lyrics here are uncompromising and bleak, painting a picture of a life lived on the edge, of bad decisions trailing behind him, and of a desperate attempt to numb the pain. He’s a lone wolf in this track, refusing to buckle under the weight of expectations or past relationships. His assertion that drugs can’t hurt him is both a defiant proclamation and a cry for help, a disturbing irony that underscores the bleak narrative. His ruthless independence comes at a high price, and he’s not shy about opening up about it for the world to see.
13. Black & White
The poetic repetition of “we’ll be high before the night ends” captures the cyclical nature of addiction, while subtly pointing to the cultural chasms that Juice exists within. The lyrics, dripping with rawness, underscore the dichotomy of the black and white Benz – a metaphorical canvas for Juice to paint his reality of drug-tainted opulence. His shout-out to the late great Prince, meanwhile, serves not only as an homage, but also a haunting premonitory reflection of his own tragic fate.
14. Long Gone
Over a minimalist instrumental, Juice deploys his emotive lyrical delivery to convey the withdrawn pain of a love once vibrant but now faded, embodying the essence of post-breakup torment. He paints a vivid picture of dwelling on the fragments of a dissolved relationship, a web of emotions rooted in the physical remnants of his ex-lover. The repetitive chorus symbolizes his psychological loop, trapped in a cycle of longing and regret. However, through those shades of despair, Juice acknowledges the toxicity of this past love, coupling raw vulnerability with a stark self-understanding. This track is an introspective exhibition of Juice’s ability to project his inner turmoil onto his music, making “Long Gone” a standout in his melancholic melodic universe.
15. End Of The Road
Juice WRLD masterfully uses his lyrics to portray a vivid tableau of his internal turmoil, with persistent motifs of self-destruction and desolation. He paints a chilling picture of the pall that addiction cast over his life – the ‘end of the road’ symbolizing not just the physical aspects, but the emotional dead-end that dependency brings. His deft wordplay, referencing everything from street culture to pop culture, cleverly highlights the duality of his existence. The track is as much a self-eulogy as it is a cautionary tale, a testament to Juice WRLD’s real-life struggle that sadly mirrored his lyrics.
16. I’ll Be Fine
The title itself serves as a defiant proclamation, masking a stark truth about his drug-induced state of existence. Juice was all about that raw, unfiltered emotion and his lyrics reflect a tragic form of resilience, with lines about popping pills and sippin’ lean. The repeated line “Hold on, bro wait, I’ma be fine” paints a picture of a young man caught between the advice of his homie Swervo and his own ill-fated resolve. While the beat bops, the content hovers between bravado and a desperate cry for help, a chilling testament to the late rapper’s internal strife.
17. 734
He’s wrestling with the desire to hold on, his heart tethered to a girl who’s seemingly ready to step away. That struggle is painted in stark colors with lines that hit like a gut punch — the cold imagery of love as a lifeless entity needing a halo, and tear stains sullying the bankrolls, a stark juxtaposition of emotional turmoil and material wealth. His vivid narration elevates the track from just another heartbreak anthem to a profound exploration of love, loss, and the inescapable grip of loneliness.
18. Lucid Dreams (feat. Lil Uzi Vert) – Remix
Lil Uzi Vert) – Remix” by Juice WRLD offers a raw dissection of heartbreak. This ain’t your average love-lost narrative; it’s a gut-wrenching journey through the post-mortem of a toxic relationship. Juice WRLD’s confession of the paradox of loving and hating his ex simultaneously is candor on wax – unfiltered, tangible, and painfully relatable. The addition of Lil Uzi Vert on the remix intensifies the narrative further, with Uzi’s verse standing as an echo of Juice’s sentiment. The remix takes a deep dive into the emotional turmoil of the aftermath of love, boldly infusing it with a cocktail of raw emotion, self-reflection, and the disarming innocence of youth.
