Six Feet Deep by Geto Boys
On March 19, 1993, a rap trio called the Geto Boys released an album called “Til Death Do Us Part.” On this album, Brad Jordan (Scarface), Richard Shaw (Bushwick Bill), and Michael Burnett (Big Mike), recorded a song called “Six Feet Deep.” This song was an instant hit, because so many people in the inner city could relate to the death that was depicted in the song. Although this song was released more than twenty years ago, it still has relevance today. The things that went on then are still going on in black communities today. Each verse described each person’s view on how death has come into their lives.
In the first verse, performed by Scarface, he talks about losing a close friend to a gun shout wound to the chest. He described the scene at the wake when he said, “And everybody dressed up in black suits.” The black suits is a part of a tradition practiced in many parts of the world. People are to wear something black to the wake or funeral of the deceased. He also described the sad expression on the faces of others around the death of his friend. Scarface recalled some things about their past, letting the listener know that he would never forget his friend and that his memory will live on forever. This verse was his way of saying good bye to his friend. He also explained how he felt about the situation saying that “it hurts to see the boy you broke bread with six feet in the dirt”.
The second verse was performed by Bushwick Bill. He talked about how death seemed to be something that was happening quite often in his community. It also talks about how people are unwilling to accept the death of a loved one. This verse gave a glimpse into his world, a world where people were being killed for shoes. This verse was especially sad for me because it touched on the fact that the boy was too young to die. This led me to believe that kids were being victims of violent deaths. In his verse he depicted how all the deaths were starting to affect him, stating that he couldn’t sleep at night. He was afraid of death and didn’t want to be a victim of a violent death. He felt that with all the people dying around him, it was only a matter of time before someone would try to kill him.
The next verse was performed by Scarface, again. This time Scarface detailed the environment at the funeral of his friend. He expressed how people’s pain and anxiety increased as they got to see the body in the casket. There were songs being sang at the funeral, but the songs were not songs of joy. The songs were making everyone sadder. Even Scarface broke down himself. He described the actual burial as being the worst part of the funeral. He communicated what the scene was like at the actual burial site. The complete silence as the funeral director gave his last words, and people throwing flowers on top of the coffin.
The final verse is performed by Big Mike. This verse was similar to Scarface’s first verse in that is was Big Mike’s good bye to a friend he grew up with. He reminisced about how they used to run the streets together trying to hustle their way to the top. He recounted seeing a lot of people dying and crying. More specifically, “Alotta mother crying.” He also recounts how he tried to stop him from going down the wrong road but he wouldn’t listen. At the end of the verse, just as Scarface did, Big Mike wanted to let his friend that he would not be forgotten. He even went a step further saying, “dead or alive real partners come together.” This meant that he would see him in the afterlife.
The chorus of this song, “There’s far too many of you dying”, leads me to believe that this song was created to bring awareness to the many senseless killing of black children and young men in black communities here in the United States. This is an extremely sad song that portrays the violence in inner city. They all talk about people crying because of the death of a loved one. I know that we never know when we will die, but this song seems to imply that these young people that are dying are going before it’s their time. The emotions range from happy when reminiscing about a lost loved one, to paranoia where they are scared of being the next victim.
Scarface’s verses gave some insight to what funerals are like in the black community. He outlined the attitudes and dress at the wake. He expressed what emotions they were going through during the funeral and how they felt on the way over to the burial site. He also recalled people throwing flowers on the casket which is something that is done before covering the casket in the ground.
This song displayed components of the death system. These components include the funeral director and cemetery (burial site) in verse 3, the news in verse 2, the dress of the grieving in verse 1, the killing of individuals in verses 1,2, and 4, and coping with the death of loved ones in all verses.
In my opinion, this songs image of death, dying, and bereavement is a productive image. It gets the listeners to take a look at what going on in the inner cities. It brings violence in our streets to the forefront. It talks about how the children and young men are dying and being killed, bringing awareness to this ongoing issue. No matter how much people are exposed to death, they will never be used to losing loved ones. Especially the children and young men in their communities.
In conclusion, this song is a sad song that depicts what goes on in some of the poor black communities. It was a song that brought some of the elements of the death system and it described some of the traditions that are used in funerals. Overall, this song was a dedication to a couple of individuals that were killed by gunfire and an enlightenment of what type of killings occur within black communities.
Citation

Brad Jordan, Richard Shae, Michael Burnett (1993). Six Feet Deep. On Til Death Do Us Part (Cassette). Housto