Ian Taylor - Pompeii (Freeverse)

Since I've already heard the song a dozen times in the lives, and seen the video in them a few times as well, I can't really do an "initial thoughts" post on it. :D But I'm just gonna write whatever.

I've never before seen the word 'freeverse' but after looking it up on Wikipedia and switching the language to Finnish, I know what it means. We've talked about it in Finnish and Literature classes in school. And this is the most common kind of poetry I write myself - where the lines can vary in length and they don't necessarily even have to rhyme. I mainly write poetry to get feelings out, so the length of the lines or if they rhyme is the last thing on my mind. The emotion can end up on the paper in so many forms (in my case), such as a diary entry, a poem of any kind, a drawing, a word, random collection of words, a mindmap, a quote or quotes, etc... 

The beat sounds very 'ethnic' to me, I don't know how else to describe it. Video also has some palm trees and such, there's a vibe. Even though Pompeii is in Italy, but... :D

The reason I've been waiting for this song to drop is just simply the fact that it sounds good in my ears. :D Even though it's a freeverse, there's a ton of rhyming and he's fast with the rapping, plus the beat is SOOO GOOOOOD!!<3 I love this song. Lyrics are the typical fun kind of boasty stuff, like the 2nd best Ian songs are (after the deeply personal ones).

Unlike some (even after they said they would) *cough* Knox *cough* Ian actually posts his lyrics online.
I'm just very tired today and a bit drunk and have never broken down his lyrics before, so... We'll see if I get anything out of them :D Luckily I know this song pretty well, and know it's not a deep personal track or one with a ton of layers in it, so... Maybe I'll be fine, lol.
Will NOT try and break down the rhyme schemes, even though I want to......... I will miss so many. He's too good, lol. Not to mention flows or anything like that... We'll leave that to the professionals...
Unless this song blows up, though, Knox won't probably break it down... He likes to wait 'til an artist has a buzz around them (because his slots for reactions are quite limited, and if an artist has no buzz, the video doesn't perform well, and that isn't doing anyone any favors)... He's said he'd rather duet on an up-and-coming-artist's song to boost their career than make a reaction video that gets no views.

Some kind of vague attempt to break down the lyrics

"Pedal to the metal in the fast lane?
Won’t brake."

He's rapping fast, no brakes. But brake is probably a double for "break". It's referring to the next bar 'got it gunning when I pass lames' - Ian is saying he won't break under pressure.

"Got it gunning when I pass lames.
Ride in aromatic like a sachet,
Bringin in my good vibes to the soiree."

"Got it gunning when I pass lames" brings to mind FPS's (first person shooter video games), but it's also a double for a shooting range, I think. Somehow my mind goes from 'lames' to 'range', even though they can't really be pronounced the same, so I might be imagining that double. :D
Googled "got it gunning" and that means "to try very hard to obtain something". So he's boasting. Called it.
Sachets are small bags filled with herbs or other things that smell nice (aromatic). An "automatic" is a gun that shoots many bullets when you only press the trigger once. I'm pretty sure "sachet" or something similar refers to certain type of gun, but I cannot find it right now...
Soiree was a new word for me, it means 'a private evening gathering'. The Finnish equivalent iltamat is familiar to me, although in Finnish, it's a bit of an old-timey word... But it rhymes with other words, so I can see why he used it.
And the doubles work all the way through ^^ Pedal to the medal and 1. won't brake, gunning (shooting), pass lames, automatic, sachet (the gun?) or 2. break, "got it gunning", aromatic, sachet, soiree.

"Blowin up on the beat like it’s Pompeii.
Finish with a woman in her Lingerie, "

Blow up is kind of a triple here?
Blow up, like you're "going ham" on the beat, "killing" the beat, aka you're a good rapper. Boasting.
Blowing up like Mount Vesuvius, when it erupted (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eruption_of_Mount_Vesuvius_in_79_AD).
A sexual innuendo, erupting/finishing with a woman (cumming). It is implied that she's giving Ian a blowjob... in case someone didn't catch that.

"Keeping it 100? Nah bae.
Keep it 3000, call it Andre."

"Keeping it 100" means sticking to 100% of whatever, usually referring to being honest or something else positive like that. Ian is not keeping it 100%, he's keeping it 3000%, exceeding expectations and being extra (in a good way). Also, André 3000 is a rapper, best known from Outkast. So, it's a double, but not a "perfect double" as I call them, where all the parts would work together. Now 3000 only works with 100 and André, but 100 and André don't work alone. The double is fun, but doesn't bring any further substance into the expression, like a "perfect" double would. It just makes you chuckle a bit.

"I been told I’m a little incredible with the lyrics I’m peddling.
It’s a little unwelcoming.
I’m too bold if you’re tryna wreck the kid. "

?? idk. He's a good rapper, the next two bars don't make sense to me.

"I been known as the reckoning, homie,
Better not settle in.
This is my home, I been told it’s unsettling,
even borderline menacing,
Couldn’t think of a better one."

The Reckoning is a horror movie from 2020, but it doesn't involve a family/person settling in a new home, so it's an unlikely reference.
But you do settle into a home, so those two bars work together. Home/homie and settling in. And it keeps on going, with the this is my home and unsettling.
He's boasting. He's "the reckoning", "better not settle in", "unsettling", "borderline menacing". Haunted house vibes, but also "don't mess with this rapper" vibes...
That being said... "Couldn't think of a better one." 😂 But yeah, it could mean "I want another bar here but cannot think of another one" but also "I cannot imagine a better rapper than myself".
The boasting's getting a bit obnoxious... Haha.. My Finnish brain is rolling their eyes, boasting isn't really "our thing", to say the least... Modesty is a virtue that's very much engraved in our brain, even our rappers rarely boast...

"I’m in my zone, doin me like a veteran.
If you got a vendetta then you’re really irrelevant it’s like,
I don’t fucking like you hoe.
You a big ol’ bitch and you gotta go."

Stfu (jk).
Idk... I don't notice doubles... There's someone he doesn't like. Whoopee-do?

"Wouldn’t like yo look through kaleidoscopes."

I know I'm reading too much into this, but THIS is a perfect bar. Kaleidoscope is a toy that you look through and it turns the world into colorful symmetrical patterns (similar to mandalas). No matter what you look at, the image you see is beautiful. But. The person Ian's talking about, he wouldn't even like them through kaleidoscopes. Multiple kaleidoscopes. Toys that turn ANYTHING into perfectly symmetrical, beautiful, colorful patterns. This person is so ugly on the inside they don't look beautiful even through a kaleidoscope. 

"I don’t need yo shit. No, I ride alone. "

Another powerful line. He'd rather be alone, even lonely, that be with this person.

"Fe Fi and Fo. Got a giant flow."

I VERY recently learned from my fiance that this is a reference to Jaakko ja pavunvarsi (Jack and the Beanstalk), the old English folk tale of a boy (Jack/Jaakko) who buys a bunch of magic beans and those grow a plant so big he can climb into the world of giants. And then he steals a bird who lays golden eggs or something and brings his family up from poverty. Something like that. Anyway, there's the meaning behind the fi fi and fo and giant. 

"With the whole ass team, bring the title home.
All I’m saying is, I win gold.
Hit that finish line with a smile donned."

A sports reference (which he explains - and I thank him for that), boasting, and a sexual innuendo (finishing aka cumming).
When you think about it further, it becomes a full orgy, though... And Ian finishes first... Not a perfect word play there, lmao. Don't you know that nice guys finish last, Ian? ;) (And yes, this joke is a double.)

"Dial tones,
All you’re gonna get when you call the phone.
Talking to you’s like I’m mining cobblestone,
A little repetitive,
Dial tones,
Dial tones, *Minecraft Jokes*" 

Ian's ghosting you, not answering your calls (the ho/bitch he doesn't like).
I'm glad he mentions this being a Minecraft reference, because I wouldn't have gotten it otherwise (I don't think it's an adlib, I think he just wrote it in the lyrics). I'm yet to fully embrace Minecraft (I'm more of a Sims kinda person... even though EA sucks)... A simple google search tells me that mining cobblestone in Minecraft is tedious, because it's quite a hard material to mine. So talking to this person is tedious and boring, repetitive. You're just waiting for them to finish their sentence so you can finish the conversation. I know people like that. Who just say the same things every time. If they're a small child or elderly, it's endearing, but in any other age group... grinds the gears of many an introvert.
(Source for the Minecraft thing: https://minecraft.fandom.com/wiki/Cobblestone.)

"Been told I’m a dick and I know.
Guess some don’t vibe. That’s the way that it go."

Nah, Ian's not a dick. He has a dick, as far as I know, but he's not a dick. (Reminds me of the South Park joke - "Are you just an asshole? -No, I got arms and legs and everything!" Lol. Dialogue between Wendy and Butters.)
Ian can say stuff he doesn't mean sometimes, be a little inconsiderate, but he's not a bad person by any means. I'm a very sensitive and traumatized person (with a good medication, though) and I think he's good person. Like, a truly good person. Not just a barely decent person, but an ACTUALLY good person. I vibe with him, almost weekly, in his Sunday Live Streams. 

"Been told I’m a bit of a GOAT.
I tell ‘em “Not quite”, but a similar note, "

GOAT = Greatest Of Them All.
He's not the greatest of them all (rappers), but he's good.

"I can switch up with no hiccups,
In the spit. It’s just too ridiculous and efficient.
It’s like *blah* *blah* *blah* when I’m knockin phonics,
Like a Rockem Sockem Robot would on it."

Boasting. Switching up flows with no hiccups (no problem), even while spitting (rapping fast). It's just "too ridiculous and efficient", knocking phonics...
Had to google "Rock 'Em Sock 'Em Robots", but when I saw the picture I knew what he meant. He's probably familiar with the re-launch version that came out in 2000. I'm not quite sure where I know them from, but it's a movie or a tv show, or multiple of them. Might also be, that Ian only knows them through media, like I do. Mattel is apparently working on a move about them, which is... interesting...

"Watch em ponder how I wrote that.
Oh snap
There goes Ian with his notepad,
*Evacuate the building,*
*This could go bad.*
Setting fire to the whole pad."

There's doubles I'm missing? Because there's something to ponder?
In these bars, I see the notepad, that he's writing his bars on, and the whole pad he sets fire to, the housing complex...

"Yea, see the sun? I birthed it proudly."

...I'm speechless. It's like Kanye comparing himself to Jesus all over again...
Although, the Sun is basically a ball of fire, so... I guess it works with the theme.

"When I spit my first verse, it spurted out me.
I’ll curse in cursive till a hearse surrounds me.
Brought life to Earth; it was worse without me."

Boast boast boast...
I can live with the last one. I agree with him, the Earth would be a bit more lifeless, a bit worse without him in it. That's how much I love him, as a person. I actually think the world would be a slightly worse place without him in here.

"So I jot on.
See they’ll surely crown me the king of these things,
Turn it down g?
Never.
Never ever.
Couldn’t find nobody better. "

Boast boast boast...

"So better get used to this weather,
See it’s hot outside when I walk outside,
And when I get cold, they all die outside,
From exposure, to the writtens I flow, surf."

Now the Sun makes sense. He's saying he's hot, like he's sexy, or like his rapping is "hot stuff". And if the Sun gets cold, we all die. Got it. Still a VERY heavy claim to make (that we'd die without his music), but... Sure. It works.
His rap flow is good + a double with flow / surf, like the waves of the ocean...

"Roller coaster of patterns.
I boast, first toaster oven,
That’s my mouth hole.
I’m burnin words like herb.
Sure, be doubtful.
I don’t give a fuck. Nope,
I Promise that I’m still dumb dope."

You boast? Well that's a "sUrPrIsE", lmao.
His mouth is a toaster oven, because he's burning words... Whatever that means.
And a herb you smoke is marijuana.

"I’m leveling enemies.
Turn em into an effigy,
Of my mother fucking ass hole.
Tell ‘em, “Eat it” or spread they cheeks,
Imma sodomize em, lyrically and physically.
Ready g?
No I guess you’re prolly not, but oh well, spread em.
I’m readily waiting for the moment I can fuck em up,
And dump junk up on em like a dumping truck,
I love it rough.
Enough of the lovey stuff.
Just suck my nut I’ll bust, Pompeii, erupt.
Now I’m done. "

"Turn them into an effigy". Effigy is basically a statue. He's making them freeze, (them) not knowing what to do.
The rest is both unclear and very clear.
One side of the double is "kiss my ass", "I'm gonna fuck you up" and "take this load!", as in the rap he's delivering.
The other load he's delivering is a bit more unclear, the sexual one. Unless it's some kinda ass-to-mouth kinda situation. Because at first he tells them to either eat his ass or let him sodomize them aka fuck them in the ass, but then it's unclear if he's cumming on the ass or in the mouth... 

Anyway. It's a good rap song. A bit generic in the lyrical department, but makes up for it in his rapping skills and the beat. And the theme may be a bit shallow, but it's consistent. Boasting vs. sex, throughout the entire song. 8,5-9/10.