I am the driver who drives the women home after hip-hop video shoots
It smells of pine air-freshener1 and perfume
A man next to me stares anxiously at his cars
While rappers with entourages pass us by
"I'm putting everything into this"2
He says to me quietly, "Three AMGs3 leased just for this rubbish"
And then he asks me my name quietly
A rapper drips oil onto a muscular arm
I'd call myself DJ Wrecking-Ball4
If I could do anything, I say
And he looks at me questioningly
I'm just fetching the dancers from their dancing
Norwegians call me Lars and my dad calls me Jan
I couldn't sleep last night and I'm still drowsy
But everyone's gotta do something to get by
The director shouts at us to shut up
He looks like he's screwed, and on cocaine
We're behind schedule, the tracksuit bottoms are wrinkling up
Now the motorbikes come drawing black circles [on the ground]
Now the rapper sings that everyone pledged themselves against him
That the bitches never believed in him and nearly destroyed him
His enemies will pay, and it'll be expensive
Somehow sounds to my ear like paranoia
But I'm just the guy they don't know here
And if they know who I was
They'd call me DJ Wrecking-Ball
I'm just fetching the dancers from their dancing
To rest in the pre-warmed car
To get by, everyone has to do something
Now the dancers are walking over damp asphalt in high heels
One on all fours with a collar and lead like a dog
Now someone is rapping again, about honour, family and respect
The asphalt is cold, please stay healthy
A woman who reminds me of someone is wearing a bikini
And is masked by a balaclava
She'd holding a fake golden AK47 and a cheap ninja sword
She is the woman who I drive home after hip-hop video shoots
And she asks me sleepily: "Why don't you have any tattoos?"
[Using] The front-facing camera on her phone as a make-up mirror
"Why are you not tattooed?"
I say, I've become so hard after all this time
Nothing has happened in my heart for years now
The colour has just faded5 from my skin
That's why I am not tattooed
She says it's good how you keep quiet, you drive well
You look like you'd rather be alone
I've forgotten the answer since people rarely ever ask
But I'll drive us another lap of the city
That's what we do
Tired and drowsy
That's what we do
To get by
1. Specifically it would seem, of those pine-tree shaped car air-fresheners.2. This was a new German idiom for me - kind of like 'I'm putting all my eggs in one basket', though I felt this wouldn't fit as well here.3. As in the fancy cars: https://www.mercedes-amg.com/en/home.html4. I didn't know, but I should have guessed what a "Demolition pear" would be, what a word!5. Lit. chipped/flaked off.