What does 40 OZ 2 freedom mean?

Sublime: 40 OZ 2 freedom Meaning

Album cover for 40 OZ 2 freedom album cover

40 OZ 2 freedom Lyrics

You got your hair permed,
You got your red dress on,
Screamin that second gear was such a turn-on.

And the fog forming on my window
Tells me that the mornings here
And youll be gone before too long...

Who taught you those new...

  1. anonymous
    click a star to vote
    Dec 29th 2018 !⃝

    "damn.. i shouldnt start that thought, but life is one big question when youre staring at the clock.. the answers always waiting at the liquor store so i take that walk. im not going back."

    for $3 i can turn my brain around right now.. any alcoholic knows how long you can dwell on any problem n how easy it is to make it go away.
    im not going back is the part that is tough..
    as an alcoholic, i like to read it as.. im not going to fight my alcoholism anymore.. the answer is $3 away.. why count days and coins and steps, when i can give a dude $3 for my freedom.

  2. anonymous
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    Sep 10th 2017 !⃝

    As a previous poster noted, the song has hints that the protagonist has recently been released from prison. But what kind of prison? There are multiple interpretations: actual prison, the prison of his own mind, the prison of his girlfriend's manipulations, the prison of his own life circumstance . . . He is acutely aware of what is happening, the fleeting nature of the things he enjoys, the time he has lost to prison/unhappiness, the manipulations of others - things he wants to ignore . . . he takes pleasure where he can find it, flawed as it is . . . and then he self-medicates to avoid the mental anguish and guilt that inevitably follows . . . He's not going back to prison, because his "40 oz 2 Freedom" allows him to enjoy the good things (sex with his tricky ho girlfriend) without dwelling on the bad (she lies and bangs other dudes, which is how she learns new tricks) . . . it is also his "40 oz 2 FREEDOM" because self-medicating allows him to enjoy his life anyway, without confronting his GF (who he knows will never change), or resorting to crime to make some money, or killing the other dudes she has been banging . . . He's not going to let these minor temptations to "fix things" mess up his life, or send him to prison (again?) because as long as he knows he can "take that walk" and get his "40 oz 2 Freedom" then he knows things will be OK in the near-term . . . he has an escape so that he can temporarily forget his troubles, and so he will "never go back" to just sitting around dwelling on them . . . This is easier than solving the troubles in real life, which may be impossible - or the "cure" may be worse than the "disease" . . . He is never going back to a life without his alcohol, his whores, and his denial - because living a "straight" life in his circumstances would be the same thing as living a life in prison . . . The song in inspirational, in that he has found a way to enjoy life, even though things aren't perfect . . .

  3. anonymous
    click a star to vote
    Aug 29th 2017 !⃝

    He just got out of jail, his girl is all dressed up, shifting the car into 2nd gear pulling out of the prison parking lot makes him feel good, he's got no place to stay so he bangs his woman in the car and sleeps there, but he sees the fog on the window as the temp drops into the early morning hours, and he knows his girl has to go soon to walk the streets and earn some money to live on, he wonders who taught her those new sex tricks, but he then realizes that she's continued selling her body while he was in prison, and she has a new pimp now that she has to answer to, and this saddens him, which he remedies by going to the liquor store, 40oz to freedom from his inner torments and thinking about the time he lost - he can still feel good even though things got messed up . . . he pledges repeatedly that he won't go back to prison again . . .

  4. anonymous
    click a star to vote
    Oct 25th 2012 !⃝

    I think he got busted with a kilo. 39.something ounces. Girls looking good for him cause he's going away to jail. Second gear was a turn on cuz they were making a go at the border. And he's ironically drinking a 40 for the exact reasons that everyone else says. To forget his problems. Think it's about the game...

  5. ChristieBannon
    click a star to vote
    Feb 24th 2010 !⃝

    the songs about him sleeping with his ex, knowing shes been with other men, and knowing that it is just a once night stand type of relationship now. hes saying that its causing him to drink with his friends and forget about it.

  6. Dudevill
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    Jan 21st 2008 !⃝

    I think this song is about how he left his lover because he felt that she was cheating on him, and now he tries to drink to make himself feel better.

  7. anonymous
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    Oct 19th 2007 !⃝

    I think this song is about a girl who really likes this guy but he doesn't really like her it says
    and you'll be gone before too long. It says life is one big question when you staring at the clock like he can't wait to get away and it says I'm not coming back or maybe its talking about he's going to stay drunk on alchol 40 oz to freedom

    This interpretation has been marked as poor. view anyway

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