NF - 10 Feet Down Lyrics
Lyrics
Intro: Ruelle
Cold nights, cold nights, long night
Staring down at an empty cup like
I'ma fill, I'ma fill it up
All night, all night
Ten feet down nearly my whole life
But I'll be rising, rising up
Verse 1: NF
Yeah, I know the person in the mirror's not a perfect one
I look at him every day and think he's not enough
My life's a book that I don't really like to open up
I'm twenty-six, but I feel like I live in chapter one
I skim through it, I've been through it, they laugh at us
You think it's funny, yeah, laugh it up
I always felt like no one listened to me, that's how I grew up
Church is where I found God, but it's also where I learned to judge
Yeah, I had to learn there's a difference between
What you want, and what you really need
I've always been motivated by comments from people tellin' me
Things they think I'll never be, and then I become it, this is my everything
There's so much that goes on in my head that people will never see
You probably be terrified of my memories, don't lecture me
Let me be, let me see, let me breathe, how they remember me
Doesn't alter who I am as a person to take my energy, yeah
Chorus: Ruelle
Hard days, cold nights
Staring down at an empty cup like
I'ma fill, I'ma fill it up
All day, all night
Ten feet down nearly my whole life
But I'll be rising, rising up
Cold nights
Verse 2: NF
Yeah, my fans made me who I am, but they also deceived me
I've been allowed to live life like I'm already grieving
I'm at a table of lies, but don't eat what they feed me
My hoodie over my face, so nobody can see me
I'm on a plane, 'bout to fly again
Looking out the window, take a moment to admire it
Wondering how high it is, wonder where the time has went
Then I shut the window and go back to feeling like I'm out my mind again, agh!
Yeah, seems like we're all trying to climb a ladder
It's crazy what we'll do to climb it faster
It's like we throw away the things in life that really matter
Just so that we can make it to the top, and wonder what we're even climbing after
I know the feeling of feeling like everything that you deal with don't never change
That's part of being a human, yeah
Life's what you make of it, take it, embrace it, and take it, and savor it
Ain't about what you did, it's what you became from it, agh!
Chorus: Ruelle
Hard days, cold nights
Staring down at an empty cup like
I'ma fill, I'ma fill it up (Oh, yeah)
All day, all night
Ten feet down nearly my whole life
But I'll be rising, rising up
Cold nights
Bridge: Ruelle
We all want what we never had
The good life doesn't seem so bad
The good life doesn't seem so sad
Yeah, we all want what we never had, whoa
Chorus: Ruelle
Hard days, cold nights
Staring down at an empty cup like
I'ma fill, I'ma fill it up
All day, all night
Ten feet down nearly my whole life
But I'll be rising, rising up
Cold nights
Bridge: Ruelle
We all want what we never had
The good life doesn't seem so bad
The good life doesn't seem so sad
Yeah, we all want what we never had
Chorus: Ruelle
Hard days, cold nights
Staring down at an empty cup like
I'ma fill, I'ma fill it up
Outro: Ruelle
Cold nights, cold nights, long night
Staring down at an empty cup like
I'ma fill, I'ma fill it up
All night, all night
Ten feet down nearly my whole life
But I'll be rising, rising up
Video
NF - 10 Feet Down (Audio) ft. Ruelle
Meaning & Inspiration
NF's "10 Feet Down," released in 2017, dives deep into the internal struggles of feeling overwhelmed and buried by life's challenges, a sentiment that resonates profoundly with the human experience of facing overwhelming adversity. The song doesn't shy away from the darker aspects of mental and emotional turmoil, painting a vivid picture of being stuck in a place where progress feels impossible, as if literally "10 feet down" from solid ground. This feeling of being submerged, unable to breathe or see the light, directly mirrors the Psalmist's cry in Psalm 42:7: "Deep calls to deep at the roar of your waterfalls; all your waves and your billows have passed over me." NF's raw delivery captures this sense of being engulfed, yet the underlying message, interpreted through a lens of faith, offers a pathway out of such despair. It speaks to the battle against internal giants – anxieties, doubts, and past traumas that threaten to consume us.
The power of "10 Feet Down" lies in its honest acknowledgment of this struggle, which is a prerequisite for seeking solace and strength. The song's narrative can be seen as a descent into the very pit that Scripture often describes when people are in deep distress. Think of Jonah's experience, as recounted in Jonah 2:3: "For you cast me into the deep, into the heart of the seas, and the floods surrounded me; all your waves and your billows passed over me." While NF’s lyrics don't explicitly point to divine intervention in the same way scripture does, the honesty with which he articulates the feeling of being down and out opens the door for a spiritual interpretation of overcoming. The implicit search for a way up, for a release from this suffocating state, echoes the persistent hope found in God's faithfulness even in the darkest moments. The song, in its exploration of internal conflict, serves as a powerful reminder that acknowledging the depth of one's struggles is the first step towards finding the courage to climb out. It’s a testament to the resilience of the human spirit, and when viewed through faith, it becomes an anthem of finding hope and a lifeline even when the world feels like it's caved in, pointing towards the ultimate rescuer who can pull us out of any pit, just as Psalm 40:2 declares, "He drew me up from the pit of destruction, out of the miry bog, and set my feet upon a rock, making my steps secure." The song’s message, therefore, is not one of succumbing to the darkness, but of enduring the struggle with the underlying, unexpressed, yet palpable hope for a way back to the light.