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Saul Fernandez

Prof. Batty

Eng. 102, Sec. 20394

December 12, 2018

A Lyricist’s Message

After releasing his latest and greatest selling album “Perception” in 2017, rapper Nate

Feuerstein, otherwise known as “NF”, has become known by all his fans as a great lyricist due to

his amazing use of non-explicit words to describe his personal life and give personal advice to

others through his music. “Remember This”, a rap written by NF, has become very popular over

the past few months due to it’s amazing lyrical flow, and deep poetic meaning. He wrote it by

composing his beliefs and feelings into the song to get people’s attention and to spread his

message about how to live your life. NF’s argument is that you should not let anyone control

your life. That you should be the one to decide how you want to live and survive. He begins by

talking about life issues that many people experience and uses literary devices to convey the

information, and to help the listener understand the rap/message on a deeper and more emotional

level. Then uses low beats and beautiful sounds to give the listener a sense of the mood he wants

us to feel. The song is easily understood and ends up being deep and very powerful.

NF wrote “Remember This” to give his fans/listeners a sense of what he felt about others

in his life and how he believes that we should remember to live our lives on our own terms. The

main purpose of the song is to get the listeners to be more aware of the way other people control

how we think. He argues that it’s up to use to see whether our life choices are the right ones or if

we need a change. He throws in his personal experiences in life to sort of help support his

argument to the listeners. Some of his advice is pretty self-explanatory but they’re very candid.
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Things like, “You want something in life, then why don't you go and get it?” (line 10), “Always

be yourself, not the person that you pretend to be” (line 16), “And perfect people don't exist, so

don't pretend to be one” (line 21) and “Yeah, don't take opinions from people that won't listen to

yours” (line 33.). These are things that people forget sometimes, and to make us feel the lyrics,

he only chooses certain words to portray the meanings behind them. Unlike other rappers, NF

does not use explicit language in his music.

What made this song so emotional and poetic is the way NF expresses his thoughts,

feelings, and emotions. He stays away from using explicit language and uses literary devices like

metaphors, rhymes, and personification. In the fourth verse of the song he says, “Yeah, anger's a

liar, he ain't got no respect/ I fell in love with my pain and I slept with my regrets/ Happiness saw

it happen, maybe that's why she up and left/ Joy called me a cheater, said she ain't coming back”

(lines 41-44.) This was a way of using personification. He used personification to better explain

to us how he felt with his emotions. In the fourth verse he says, “I've always had a problem with

relationships/ But that's what happens when you see the world through a broken lens” (lines 45-

46). This was a way of using a metaphor to say that we don’t see things as we should. He argues

that we tend to ignore small problems until they become big ones. When it is too late to fix. That

we avoid paying a smaller cost today, only to pay a larger one tomorrow. NF uses powerful and

well written combinations of words to make this point stronger and makes them rhyme to help us

remember them. To make it better, he carefully thought of what certain music sounds and

instruments he should use for the song.

The music he chose to present this song was perfect and helps us feel the mood and state

of mind that he intended us to be. In “Remember This” he uses a violin in the background which

causes the listener to feel a little down, sad and emotional. He also puts in a bit of a piano key to
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add to the violin. These instruments combined with a low beat tells you that the song will have a

serious tone and will be deep. That the message being played will be emotional, strong, and real.

It speaks and expresses his feelings in sound. So if listening to this song in instrumental, you’ll

still feel this way even without the lyrics. The rap style tells you he has a lot to say. In the end,

with the powerful lyrics and the music combined, it all plays very well.

“Remember This” is a very powerful and well written song that deserves its good

recognition. It’s the reason why it’s one of NF’s most amazing songs on his album. The song

was planned and written out carefully and the music chosen for it was simply perfect for its

poetic style. You have to be a great writer or lyricist to be able to make such a poetic song and

have others feel your emotions with you. This song did just that. All that NF asks is for us to

simply remember it.

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Works Cited

Song Source:

Nate Feuerstein. “Remember This”. Perception, Capitol Records, 2017. Pandora

https://www.pandora.com/artist/nf/perception/remember-this/TRtkm3lX2l73tJq
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Appendix

NF- “Remember This”

1. Yeah, they say when we grow up

2. You'll understand when you're older
3. Guess I'm still a kid, I don't know it
4. If I'll ever let go of this
5. Say goodbye to the old me
6. We ain't friends anymore, you don't know me
7. I know I could die any moment
8. If I do just remember this

9. Yeah, handouts create lazy people I'm not impressed with

10. You want something in life, then why don't you go and get it?
11. Actions speak louder than words do, it's pretty quiet, isn't it?
12. Look at the world we live in, defined by comment sections
13. Surround yourself with people that challenge how you think
14. Not people that nod their head and act like they agree
15. Those people will cut you open just to watch you bleed
16. Always be yourself, not the person that you pretend to be, no!
17. These people gon' tell you that you will never make it
18. Then when you do, they gon' say they knew you were goin' places
19. That's just how it works, next thing you know you'll be overrated
20. Hearing people say they miss the "old you, " it's crazy, ain't it?
21. And perfect people don't exist, so don't pretend to be one
22. I don't need pats on the back from people for my achievements
23. When I die I wanna know that I lived for a reason
24. Anyone can take your life, but not what you believe in, no

25. Yeah, they say when we grow up

26. You'll understand when you're older
27. Guess I'm still a kid, I don't know it
28. If I'll ever let go of this
29. Say goodbye to the old me
30. We ain't friends anymore, you don't know me
31. I know I could die any moment
32. If I do just remember this

33. Yeah, don't take opinions from people that won't listen to yours
34. If money's where you find happiness, you'll always be poor
35. If you don't like the job you have, then what do you do it for?
36. The cure to pain isn't something you buy at liquor stores, nah
37. The real you is not defined by the size of your office
38. The real you is who you are when there’s nobody watchin'
39. You spend your whole life worried about what's in your wallet
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40. For what? That money won't show up in your coffin, woo!
41. Yeah, anger's a liar, he ain't got no respect
42. I fell in love with my pain and I slept with my regrets
43. Happiness saw it happen, maybe that's why she up and left
44. Joy called me a cheater, said she ain't coming back
45. I've always had a problem with relationships
46. But that's what happens when you see the world through a broken lens
47. Mistakes can make you grow, that doesn't mean you're friends
48. Who you are is up to you, don't leave it up to them, no

49. Yeah, they say when we grow up

50. You'll understand when you're older
51. Guess I'm still a kid, I don't know it
52. If I'll ever let go of this
53. Say goodbye to the old me
54. We ain't friends anymore, you don't know me
55. I know I could die any moment
56. If I do just remember this

57. Yeah, they say you got into music, you signed up to be hated
58. That's kinda weird cause I don't remember signing my name up
59. Coming from people that give advice but never take none
60. I like my privacy, but, lately, I feel it's invaded
61. I heard that life's too short, don't let it pass you by
62. We waste a lot of time crying over wasted time
63. It's not about what people think, it's how you feel inside
64. My biggest failures in life are knowing I never tried, woo!
65. I look at the world from a different angle
66. People change, even Satan used to be an angel
67. Think twice before you're bitin' on the hand that made you
68. Don't believe what you believe just 'cause that's how they raised you
69. Think your own thoughts, don't let them do it for you
70. Say you want a drink, don't wait for people to pour it on you
71. Cut out the lies, stay close to the people you know are loyal
72. Grab your own glass and fill it, don't let your fear destroy you, woo!