Song Details
- Album Release Date: 2012
- Genre: funk
Song Meaning of “Planet of Love & Hate” by Papa Grows Funk
This song is a deep exploration of the duality of love and hate, and how both exist in the same space. The lyrics suggest that it’s both possible and necessary to make these two opposing forces work together. The narrator expresses that they have had to learn to accept the two contrasting emotions, and let them both live side by side. The chorus is a perfect illustration of this, as it states, “You’ve gotta roll love and hate on the same ol’ planet.”
The verses of the song make it clear that the narrator is struggling to make sense of the strange planet they have found themselves inhabiting, with one half being a place of love while the other one is a place of hate. The narrator knows they will never be able to declare total allegiance to either emotion, as one would never be able to fully obliterate the other from the planet. Instead, a form of balance must be maintained.
The narrator laments the fact that they can’t ever fully escape from the planet; love may prevail for a short period of time, only for hate to eventually come back and sway matters the other way. As the narrator states, “no one ever really can get away from this ol’ planet.” In the end, the narrator comes to the understanding that, in order to survive and to thrive, love & hate must live side by side on the same planet.