Swimming Pools (Drank)

Album: Good Kid, M.A.A.D City (2012)
Charted: 57 17
Play Video

Songfacts®:

  • Despite being mentored by Dr. Dre, Kendrick Lamar stays away from weed and alcohol. In "Swimming Pools (Drank)," he explains why.

    The song plays out with the voice of temptation trying to lead him down to the bottom of the metaphorical swimming pool filled with liquor, which he resists because he's seen what alcoholism does to people. Kendrick is determined stay focused and avoid becoming a cliché - just another West Coast rapper obsessed with getting drunk and high. He's determined to succeed as his true self, and that means sobriety.
  • Lamar spits his rhymes over a minimalist T-Minus beat. The Canadian producer is best known for the soundscapes he's provided for a number of Drake's musings, including his hit single "Make Me Proud."
  • Lamar performed this song along with "Poetic Justice" on the January 26, 2013 episode of Saturday Night Live.
  • Kendrick Lamar quit drinking and smoking weed when he was 16 or 17. He recounts his reasons for his abstinence in this song:

    You're like me, making excuse that your relief
    Is in the bottom of the bottle and the greenest indo leaf


    Lamar explained to Billboard magazine: "Teenagers don't get it - we selfish. Go drink, go smoke, go get f---ed up. Why did I do these things? Because I was brought up around it? It damn sure was in the household. I said, 'I know what happens to my family and certain friends when they get drunk and they smoke. They get out of their minds, they get violent. And that's in my blood.'"

    "I have little sips on special occasions," Lamar added, "but getting all the way out of my mind may not be a good idea."
  • "Swimming Pools (Drank)" was the second single from Lamar's major-label debut album, Good Kid, Mad City, following "The Recipe," a song where he and Dr. Dre rap about "women, weed and weather." That's one of the few songs where Lamar makes marijuana the subject matter of a lyric, but it's more about presenting him as a West Coast guy associated with Dre.

    The album got lots of attention and put Kendrick Lamar into the conversation of best up-and-coming rappers. He lived up to the hype, establishing himself as an A-lister over the next decade.

Comments

Be the first to comment...

Editor's Picks

Music Video Director David Hogan

Music Video Director David HoganSong Writing

David talks about videos he made for Prince, Alabama, Big & Rich, Sheryl Crow, DMB, Melissa Etheridge and Sisters of Mercy.

Rock Revenge Songs

Rock Revenge SongsMusic Quiz

John Lennon, Paul Simon and Lynyrd Skynyrd are some of the artists who have written revenge songs. Do you know who they wrote them about?

British Invasion

British InvasionFact or Fiction

Go beyond The Beatles to see what you know about the British Invasion.

Ian Anderson: "The delight in making music is that you don't have a formula"

Ian Anderson: "The delight in making music is that you don't have a formula"Songwriter Interviews

Ian talks about his 3 or 4 blatant attempts to write a pop song, and also the ones he most connected with, including "Locomotive Breath."

Martin Page

Martin PageSongwriter Interviews

With Bernie Taupin, Martin co-wrote the #1 hits "We Built This City" and "These Dreams." After writing the Pretty Woman song for Go West, he had his own hit with "In the House of Stone and Light."

Chad Channing (Nirvana, Before Cars)

Chad Channing (Nirvana, Before Cars)Songwriter Interviews

Chad tells tales from his time as drummer for Nirvana, and talks about his group Before Cars.