London Fire Brigade gets serious about smoke alarms – step 3 – the rap – answers and notes

The document attached has the lyrics and notes in case you find this an easier way to study the song!

VERSE 1
The clue is in the chorus
The clue is in the verses, in the song
And if u aint listening you dead wrong ¹
You need to hear the track
You need to hear the lyrics in the rap
Smoke alarms will save you (and) that’s a fact

Vocabulary
A clue – a piece of evidence which helps reveal a hidden truth or solve a problem. If you are clued-up (informal) you are well-informed about a particular matter.Perhaps you know the informal phrase not to have a clue about sth? It means you know nothing about sth or about how to do sth. "Where’s John?" or "How does this machine work?" – "I’m sorry, I haven’t a clue!" clueless – informal adj – having no knowledge, understanding or ability
1 And if you aren’t listening you’re making a serious mistake, you’re completely wrong (dead wrong – informal)

Too many people be dying cause they aint trying ²
You only got yourself to blame when you hear the sirens ³
I am telling you now so take heed
Call the number that’s provided – you can get you one (for) free ⁴
For a fire to break out takes very little time
You need to think read between the lines
The smoke can kill before you even see the signs ⁵
Before you know you callin 999 ⁶
This ain’t a game
This ain’t a test ⁷
It’s like 50 without the change it don’t make sense ⁸
It’s like gambling with your life playing Russian roulette
Kid you need one of these on your ceiling and that’s that

2 Too many people are dying because they aren’t trying (i.e. to prevent an accident happening?)
3 You’ll only have yourself to blame when you hear the sirens or You’ve only got yourself to blame if you hear the sirens
4 You can get yourself one (for) free
Note: You need to think – (you need to) read between the lines. To read between the lines means to look for or discover a meaning that is hidden or implied rather than stated explicitly. It doesn’t really quite make sense here – Controversy means something like ‘ understand the importance of this message’.
5 The smoke can kill before you’ve even seen any sign(s) of it
6 Before you know it you can be calling 999 / Before you know it you’re calling 999. 999 is the emergency telephone number to call for the police, ambulance or fire-brigade.
7 This isn’t a game, no really, it isn’t, it isn’t some sort of test
8 It’s like 50 without the change – it doesn’t make sense?? Perhaps Stephen-remell means it’s like paying for something minor with a £50 note and not getting any change back? Any other idea what this might mean?

HOOK
CAUSE I GOT MINE, HAVE YOU GOT YOURS ⁹ YOU NEED THIS /
IT SAVES LIVES, STOPS YOUR HOUSE FROM BURNING TO PIECES /
IT’S LIKE A PACE MAKER ‘CAUSE IT KEEPS YOU BREATHIN’ ¹⁰ /
WE GIVE EM AWAY FREE – SEEING IS BELIEVING! ¹¹ /

‘CAUSE I GOT MINE, HAVE U GOT YOURS? GO GET ONE! ¹² /
GOT A REAL NICE HOUSE BUT NO REAL PROTECTION? ¹³ /
IF IT BURNS DOWN U GONNA GET REAL VEXED, SON! ¹⁴ /
IF THE ONE U GOT BROKE BETTER GET YOU A NEXT ONE / ¹⁵

The term ‘hook‘ is a musical idea such as a phrase or chorus, that is often used in popular music, especially dance or rock music, to make a song or dance appealing.
9 Because / ’cause I’ve got mine – have you got yours?
10 It’s like a pacemaker because it keeps you breathing
11 We give ’em (=them) away free – it’s unbelievable!
Seeing is believing – saying – said to mean that if you see something yourself you will believe it to exist or be true, despite the fact that it is extremely unusual or unexpected: eg "We never thought Tony would get to the top of Ben Nevis, but seeing is believing!"
12 ‘Cause (or because) I’ve got mine; have you got yours? Go and get one!
13 What’s the point of having a really nice house if you have no (fire-) protection, if you haven’t got it protected from fire?
14 If it burns down you’ll be devastated, people
15 If the one you’ve got has broken you’d better go and get another (one)!

VERSE 2

Step one: U call us and we book you a day
Step two: We come round and we fit it (for) free
Step three: We give you advice and then we finished ¹⁶ from the time we ring your doorbell all it takes is 20 minutes

What’s the harm in putting up a smoke alarm?
s’like a lucky charm watching over pops and moms ¹⁷,
bro’s and sis, it’s peace of mind knowing this ¹⁸
that a little (beep beep) can save you and the kids
so get 1 get 2 get however many you need
just make sure you get prepared, u get me? ¹⁹
get to calling on the number get to logging on the site, ’cause by getting one of these you get to save your life ²⁰
listen, I’m just tryin’ to run this by you
Ain’t no comeback from this fire ²¹
Listen the words you hear in my flow ²²
That’s it, I’m oscar uniform tango, peace.

16 Then we’ve finished / or that’s it!
What’s the harm in putting up a smoke alarm? = Why not put up a smoke alarm? You might benefit from putting up a smoke alarm. If there is no harm in doing sth it means no-one will be offended or hurt, and there is no loss in trying sth. We use this to say there’s nothing to lose by doing sth – eg "You could apply for the job – even if you don’t get it, there’s no harm done." i.e. you won’t have lost anything, but you might gain.

17 It’s like a lucky charm watching over Mums and Dads
18 Brothers and sisters, it gives you (some) peace of mind knowing this
Beep beep is the sound the smoke alarm makes when it is triggered.
19 Do you get me = informal for "Do you understand me". eg I don’t get her = I don’t understand her.
20 Get down / around to calling the number get around / down to logging on the site, ’cause by getting one of these you might actually save your life
to run sth by sb – informal – to float, suggest sth to someone
21 If you are the victim of a fire, you won’t necessarily survive it to give this idea a second chance.
comeback – noun – a successful attempt to get power, importance or fame again after a period of having lost it – eg He’s making a comeback after 10 years out of politics.
22 Listen to the words you hear in my flow
That’s it, I’m oscar uniform tango, peace – presumably some of Controversy’s names!

‘CAUSE I GOT MINE, HAVE YOU GOT YOURS? YOU NEED THIS /
IT SAVES LIVES, STOPS YOUR HOUSE FROM BURNING TO PIECES /
IT’S LIKE A PACEMAKER ‘CAUSE IT KEEPS YOU BREATHIN’ /
WE GIVE ‘EM AWAY FREE – SEEING IS BELIEVING!

‘CAUSE I GOT MINE, HAVE U GOT YOURS? GO GET ONE! /
GOT A REAL NICE HOUSE BUT NO REAL PROTECTION? /
IF IT BURNS DOWN U GONNA GET REAL VEXED, SON! /
IF THE ONE U GOT BROKE BETTER GET YOU A NEXT ONE /

Its controversy yea you know me 23
I done started my own click with the LFB so let’s see 24
they like whos that dude, my wordplay twists and moves like rubix cubes 25
am gone stay, here for a few to in-tro-duce, my myspace, here we go its kinda cool 26
this is for you adults and kids boys and girls, it’s myspace forward slash controversyworld
Its just that easy, type it in, press return listen ‘n learn its simple believe me 27
So when you see me
You better tell me, con I logged on and got one for sheezy 28
we be kicking the facts we don’t play, its controversy reppin for the fire brigade 29
Listen we give them away free or you can buy ’em in the stores, I’m saying though I got mine you got yours 30

23 It’s Controversy*, yes / yeah, you know me, (*Stephen-remell Coleman’s rapper name. Notice that he spells his name without the capital letter – another liberty that he takes! to take liberties with sth is to do as you like.)
24 I have started my own song? advertisement? entertainment video? (your guess is as good as mine!) so just take a look at it!
Click is one of the names of very recent technology programmes, which send advertisements, clips of programmes, songs, or advice to any wireless equipment by SMS message.
25 (Informal – "They were, like. "Who’s that dude, with his wordplay, his quick twists and moves ….) = You should have heard their reaction, saying ‘Who is that man, and just listen to his wordplay and the way he moves and twists quickly this way and that like a Rubik’s cube / like a Rubix cube!
26 I’m going to stay here just for a few minutes / I’ll just stay here for a few minutes to introduce you to my website on myspace – here we go – it’s kinda cooll …… it’s myspace/controversyworld – NB the rapper omits dot.com after myspace – this sometimes happens with web addresses, when it is assumed people will add this detail.
27 It’s just that easy, type it in, press return, listen and learn, it’s simple, believe me!
28 You’d better tell me, "Controversy, I logged on and got one free!" Sheezy is invented here to rhyme with ‘easy’ but it’s obvious it means free. This is typical of the creativity of rap.We say ‘easy-peasy’ to say sth is simple, so we have a tradition of creating words in this way.
29 We’re trying to change current statistics, we’re not joking / playing! This is controversy rapping for the fire brigade
30 – although I’ve got mine, have you got yours?

HOOK

CAUSE I GOT MINE HAVE YOU GOT YOURS YOU NEED THIS /
IT SAVES LIVES STOPS YOUR HOUSE FROM BURNING TO PIECES /
IT’S LIKE A PACE MAKER CAUSE IT KEEPS YOU BREATHIN’ /
WE GIVE EM AWAY FREE SEEING IS BELIEVING /

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