Take Back Thursday - A Concept Analysis of The Roots’ “Undun”

INTRODUCTION:

With a massive discography, the music of the iconic rap group The Roots spreads throughout generations and stands the test of time. Their thirteenth studio album, Undun, released in 2011 is a conceptual masterpiece that stands as an unprecedented milestone in the genre’s storytelling potential even today.

Founded by front rapper Tariq Trotter known as Black Thought and drummer Ahmir Thompson known as Questlove, The Roots have been challenging and transforming hip-hop conventions since their conception in the late ’80s. In 2009, Jimmy Fallon hired the group to be his house band. This gave the group something to fall back on, giving them time to improve and experiment with any ideas that might’ve been difficult, too challenging, or risky to pursue. The result was Undun, a pivotal point in their discography; they were attempting something more complex than ever before.

Based on the Sufjan Stevens song, “Redford (For Yia-Yia & Pappou),” the album takes us through the life of title character Redford Stephens, an average young man trying to escape poverty and facing the consequences. Through innovative fusions of jazz, art, soul, rock, and East Coast rap music, The Roots vividly explore the harsh realities of urban life, generational trauma, and the consequences of pursuing the American Dream through the story and eventual demise of Redford. The album takes a unique approach to conventional hip-hop storytelling. Not only was there a short film released that visualizes the narrative but it also adapts a reverse chronological structure. This means that the album begins with Redford’s death and unfolds backward through key moments in his life, which is reflected by the title.

In this track-by-track analysis, we will unravel the intricacies of each song by delving into the storytelling through its intricate lyricism, illustrative instrumentation, and thematic elements that make Undun a standout work in not only The Root’s impressive discography and within the hip-hop genre, but within music altogether. Jampacked within a runtime of only 38 minutes and 48 seconds, from the haunting opening track, “Dun,” to the orchestral beauty of “Finality,” Undun takes us on a journey that is both emotionally resonant and socially relevant, showcasing The Roots’ commitment to musical innovation and the storytelling experience.

Track 1 — “Dun”

The album starts. At first, a faint baby cry. One second later an ear-splitting ringing noise: a heart monitor. We’ve just witnessed Redford Stephens' very last moments. Both slowly fade out as a reversed sample of chilling ghostly vocal harmonies and organs gradually take their place. A heartbeat gets louder and louder until it’s all that is left, then suddenly a scream and the track is over. We know it’s too late for Redford, but how did we get here? The baby's cries after death support the album’s major theme of cyclicity. The title, “Dun,” is a play on words describing both the state of the story and Redford’s life. The backward playback of this track, progressing from a flatline to a heartbeat, hints that we are about to see his life flash before his eyes in reverse until we reach the beginning. Or rather, we are quite literally about to see his life and death “Undun”. Every lyric and instrument from now on is the sound of Redford reflecting on his story directly to the listener (even from featured artists). This is both the start and end of the narrative.

Track 2 — “Sleep”

The ending scream of the previous track transitions into this one, showing listeners this was moments before Redford’s death. The first three tracks are arguably the deepest and richest and set the tone for the rest of the album’s runtime. We are introduced to R&B musician Son Little singing the chorus as well as the first three lines which are both the start and end of the song:

“Like when Autumn Leaves

Fall down from the trees

There goes my honeybee

I’ve lost a lot of sleep to dreams

And I do not miss them yet

I wouldn’t wish them on the

Worst of enemies

Let them burn, go from here”

The first three lines are a play on words that interpolate lyrics from the popular song “Autumn Leaves” (Nat King Cole’s rendition being the most commonly known). The pause after leaves and after fall make their uses ambiguous. He’s either discussing the transition to winter (the last month of the year) or his soul departing from his body. He’s lost his life and everything he’d ever known and loved. Through even more lyrical trickery, Redford describes his inability to sleep due to his horrible dreams, presumably of the traumatic events he’s experienced through a life of crime. An alternate reading of these lines describes the constant work required to earn the money needed to achieve the unrealistic American Dream. As well as how Redford’s persistent pursuit of escaping poverty through illicit activities significantly influences his well-being- an integral aspect of the album’s overarching theme. “Sleep to dreams” is an allusion to the famous “To be or not to be” Hamlet monologue where Shakespeare wrote, “To die, to sleep; To sleep: perchance to dream”, indicating Redford’s struggle with sleep and dreams. The instrumental features fuzzy, unsettling, and quiet synths that glitch in and out, resembling the quality of an old radio. Questlove crafts a creative and complex rhythm section using subtle shuffling hi-hats, heavy kicks that blend into the beat, and strange clacking wooden blocks and güiros. In an interview, Questlove described this track as portraying Redford in a state of “disoriented post-mortem” and the atmosphere it creates expresses that well. A stark contrast to the beat he raps over, Black Thought comes in suddenly with the extremely clear and punchy vocals he’s known for. Human reflection and the resulting turmoil is an important part of the album’s narrative and is first suggested here through the line “A face in the glass, unable to admit defeat”. Mirrors appear multiple times, always leaving Redford upset and angry at his inability to change. Hints about Redford’s story are revealed through lines like:

“To catch a thief, who stole the soul I prayed to keep”

“All that I am, all that I was is history”

“Look, and what I did came back to me eventually”

“Illegal activity controls my black symphony”

“Oh, there I go, from a man to a memory”

We learn that Redford was killed for reasons we haven’t been filled in on yet. The murder was a consequence of his actions and revolved around his criminal lifestyle. The track ends how it begins, with the lines “Like when autumn leaves”, this time missing the honeybee bar, supporting the album's cyclicity even further.

This is the final of four tracks and scenes showcased in the short film. It begins with a black screen featuring the noise of a clock ticking and a quote, “Death is not the greatest loss in life. The greatest loss is what dies inside us when we live.”- Norman Cousins. Next, it says “10-21-99 12:02pm” and the song begins. The opening shot is a man lying dead on the sidewalk holding a handgun as pedestrians walk by. It cuts back and forth between the corpse and a man in a black hoodie facing away and overlooking the city. He now sits on church steps. The camera looks up to a statue of a biblical figure crossing its arms and looking down on him. A man wakes up, grabs a handgun, and looks through his apartment peephole. A beam of light shines through. We see the hooded man’s face for the first time as he walks into the apartment building wearing a white ski mask. The man who woke up walks out his door and is immediately shot. The hooded man is seen in front of a bathroom trough, then another shot of the body, and he’s alone on the subway. Text shows the word “sleep”, the album cover is shown, and the film’s credits roll.

Track 3 — “Make My”

Undun’s lead single, “Make My” begins with a soft stuttering synth that transitions into a lullaby-esque piano melody with quiet supporting violas and a hypnotizing snare-centered backbeat. Redford is being put to “sleep”. Southern rapper Big K.R.I.T. spits a prayer with his iconic smooth flow and Mississippi drawl asking for forgiveness in his final moments:

“I did it all for the money Lord

That’s what it seems.

Well, in the world of night terrors, it’s

Hard to dream”

It suggests that Redford knows he’s going to die soon. He attempts to justify it to God or maybe even himself. Redford again demonstrates his regrets about blindly chasing his dreams of being rich. Former member of The Roots, Dice Raw sings the depressing and defeated hook:

“They told me that the ends

Won't justify the means

And they told me at the end

It won't justify the dreams

That I've had since a child

Maybe I'll throw in the towel

Make my (Make my), make my (Make my)

Departure from the world”

At the very end of his life, he regrets the lie he’s been living. The reason his life of eventual riches felt so unfulfilled is that he brought down others to bring himself up. This is almost the opposite of glorifying the unbridled chase to make the most money possible seen throughout many other rap songs and Western media in general. The promises the American Dream makes about making your dreams come true were never fulfilled, but alas it is too late. Redford accepts and even welcomes death; his fight is over. Conversely, Black Thought’s verse describes the terror-filled thought process he goes through to reach this acceptance. At first, Redford begins to panic, recognizing that he’s dying young violently after living a violent life, with little impact on the world he’s leaving behind. Black Thought cleverly says “Whatever- see, it’s really just a matter of semantics”. Semantic being the study of meaning, he ironically says that there is no point in trying to understand the meaning of his life, despite the album being his search for reflection. He lays out bleeding and delivers his “letter of resignation”. The most important part of the verse is seen in it’s final lines:

“The heat of the day, the long robe of muerte

That soul is in the atmosphere

Like airplay

If there’s a Heaven, I can’t find

The stairway”

The heat of the day refers to the sensation a bullet supposedly makes your body feel, while the robe of death is the grim reaper coming to collect him. His soul is traveling to the next world. He knows that Heaven is no place for those pushed into a life of sin by their dangerous environment. Dice Raw sings a reprise when suddenly the song freezes and explodes into a coda. The drums speed up, distorted synths and choral vocals fade in. Everything blends into a flute-like ringing noise and the song’s over.

This is the penultimate song and scene of the short film. First a quote, “A man is born alone and dies alone; he experiences the good and bad consequences of his karma alone; and he goes alone to hell or the Supreme abode.”- Chanakya. As well as “10-21-99 11:59am”. A clock ticks and the song begins. The opening shot is a man waking up. He grabs his gun and walks out his door; the same scene as shown during “Sleep”. This time, however, we see the man who was just shot stumbling down the stairs outside the building. He fires several missed shots at the hooded man but is fatally hit and knocked over. The same shot of him lying on the street, but this time the angle changes. A shadow looms over his body and he is shot several more times in the chest. It cuts to the hooded man firing his revolver and the words “make my”. The scene is over.

Track 4 — “One Time”

Pounding drums counting down like clocks and dramatic piano strikes accompany Phonte’s (half of the rap duo Little Brother) aggressive and penetrative delivery. He opens his verse with “Yo, the spirit in the sky scream, Homicide!”, insinuating that God is the one who led Redford into this life of crime. He ends his verse by saying he wishes he could:

“Listen to my instincts and say, fuck the rest

But once you had the best, better aint as good”

As well as:

“Like a samurai, the streets’ Hammurabi Code

Play your part, shut the fuck up, and do as I was told”

Redford struggles to break free from a life dictated by street codes and societal expectations. He is trapped in his ambitions, almost as if he has no free will at all. Dice Raw returns, singing a much softer hook where Redford starts questioning his and the world’s dedication to money by asking “Who wants to be on time?”. In Black Thought’s verse, Redford considers where his priorities did him wrong through the lines:

“To an example of what time’ll do to you

When those nameless things just keep on eluding you”

Redford blames his early death and empty life on never being satisfied with the one he chose. Thought says that he “left the ladder unclimbed”. He is trapped at the bottom because dreams of an average life have no appeal or realisticness to him. Instead, Redford hoped that the chaotic reality of his street life would somehow eventually lead him out of the pain and to a purpose. During Dice Raw’s final hook, the piano speeds up but the drums stay the same. The sonic landscape that the group creates displays a life lived too fast. Additional audiation illustrates Redford’s chaotic and swiftly changing thoughts within this single moment of reflection, as the drums envision his time ticking away. He entered a life of crime because he was told it was the only thing he could do. His potential was squandered. Redford is filled with regrets after becoming a product of his environment and being unable to follow an alternate route. This track is a futile attempt at remorse for his actions, as we the listeners know he’s been dead since the beginning.

Track 5 — “Kool On”

Noticeably happier than any other track so far, chanking funk guitar riffs and Questlove’s sample of D.J Rogers’ “Where There’s a Will,” create an air of money and confidence. The song’s shimmering chorus portrays this further with the repeating line, “Come get your kool on, Stars are made to shine”. In this track, Redford is bathing in the glory and rush of completing a job, though he knows that these good times are short-lived and point to tragedy striking. The choice of sample is symbolic of Redford’s hope that sticking to his life of crime (and this specific job) would finally get him out of his painful reality without facing the consequences. He wanted to bask in the sunlight without casting a shadow, but the sun always sets and the moon always rises. Either way, right now he’ll celebrate. Black Thought describes this complex feeling of both prosperity and paranoia through clever wordplay in the line, “Suited and booted for shooting like it's prom night.” The one positive moment so far is a disastrous prophecy.

Track 6 — “The OtherSide”

“Never loved what I had

Always felt like I deserved more

But when I make it to the other side (Make it to the other side)

That’s when we’ll settle up the score”

Singer-songwriter Bilal’s soulful delivery of the chorus on this track encapsulates the powerful emotions Redford is feeling. His perpetual yearning for more has left him unsatisfied with everything in his life. The idea of “The Otherside” is a quadruple entendre. First, economically: Coming from a life of struggle and poverty, the currency has consumed Redford, leading him to originally believe none of it would matter when he made it to the other side of the socioeconomic ladder. However, he has made it there and his life still feels empty. That’s where the second meaning comes in: He prays for the day when all of the horrible things he’s done become worth it and he finally discovers the sublimity in life he’s been searching for. This is also addressed in the lines:

“You might say I could be doing something positive

Humble head down, low and broke like promises”

The way Redford plans to achieve this is through the third meaning: This is how he justifies doing the next job to himself, because what if? The man is addicted to gambling his life and cannot cash out because he might win big the next time around. Sure, life might suck now, but what about after this job is done? The job he’s referring to is the one that led him to such affluence in the previous track. The final meaning is the tail end of that coin: Not only does Redford consider the possibility that completing such an act would result in his death, but we as a reader already know that it does. He doesn’t care. Redford will continue chasing this ball-on-a-stick dream of his, taking more and more, regardless of its effects. There’s no appreciating or reflecting on what he has until he’s gone, a.k.a. exactly what we’ve been listening to. The instrumental begins with a loud and powerful breakbeat that transitions into a dramatic piano melody with a particularly precise Black Thought verse that embodies the track's subject matter of urgent contemplation. Thought’s second verse begins with the line

“Yo, we did this in remembrance of

Faces from the past we no longer have an image of”

This suggests that Redford's motives for completing the job aren’t just financial, but personal. This was revenge. The moment the job is being completed is a crucial turning point for the album. Thought’s verse describes Redford waking his victim up, alluding to the scene in the short film and the fact that he’s now waking up to the reason he died. He reveals that the man tried to take something from him (whether that be his life or something material) and now he’s “Dead on the money”. The lines following this murder are arguably the most important throughout the entire piece:

“Undun, I am becoming

And when he’s tired of running through the layers of the onion

He’ll probably shed a tear ‘cause there’ll be no more fast times

Just his weak mind scrolled out like a bad sign

He never had enough and got confused when they asked why

Life is only a moment in time, and it passed by”

Let’s break down these incredibly nuanced lines. Undun takes on multiple new meanings here. Instead of referring to just moving backward from the end, undoing Redford’s death to explore how he got there, it now construes the mental and physical consequences resulting from this kill and directly blames them for his downfall. It also discusses the major piece of the story that was revealed here; We are at a point where the listener is beginning to understand how Redford got to the state of distress in the songs leading up to his death in the first track. The rest of the lines seem to be Redford discussing the man he had just killed, but also accurately apply to himself. Right now he is searching for meaning and culpability in his memories (layers of the onion) as his soul is leaving his body. Redford refuses to let go of his fast lifestyle and after he’s done reflecting on how it affected him, chances are he’ll cling to it until he can’t anymore. We the listeners know that these are the events leading up to his mind being “scrolled out” from being shot and killed. One of Redford’s major struggles was never being satisfied with what he had. And finally, Redford wasted his life which passed by before he even had a chance to live it. These lines that can be interpreted as referring to either of the dead men are the first hint of the biggest secret yet to be revealed to the listener. Adding yet another dimension to the line “Undun, I am becoming”.

Track 7 — “Stomp”

“Stomp” begins with a sample of a pregame football warm-up speech from a Georgia Tech pastor that ends with the words “It is your hour, it is your moment. Go take it!”, this track features heavy distorted guitar riffs and kick drums that build up the energy throughout the song. Redford is losing himself to the thrills of crime. In a life where he’s felt nothing but disappointed and powerless, this is his time to take charge. Black Thought’s verse starts with the lines:

“Yeah, speaking of Pieces of a Man

Staring at a future in the creases of my hand

It reads like a final letter I’m leaving for my fam

But it’s written in language they will never understand

A late repentant, never deviating from a plan

I drive by, headed for the Valley of the Damned

The wheels spin, I’m looking for a sacrificial lamb”

He references a Gil Scoot Heron song, “Pieces of a Man”. By committing to this lifestyle, he will leave a man in pieces, leave his life in pieces, and leave himself in pieces. Redford stares at the gun in his hand like a fortune teller reading the future in its creases; he’s abandoned all chances at any other future. He will leave behind a horrible reflection of himself and bring sorrow to his family. Anyone who doesn’t understand how he feels could never put themselves in his shoes. Although he will regret his actions, as of now he has no plan to. As of now Redford actively searches for the victim that will result in him being sent to hell. He says the lines, “It just as easily could’ve been me instead of you,” expressing that you could’ve just as easily ended up in his situation and foreshadowing that it will be him as well. Roots member Greg P.O.R.N.’s verse shows Redford illustrating horrible crimes and acts in a careless and unapologetic tone. The evil life has enchanted him.

This song is featured in the second scene of the short film. The reoccurring clock ticking is heard, as well as the opening quote and time stamp: “Sometimes you have to pick the Gun up to put the Gun down.”- Malcolm X and “09-09-93 9:52pm”. The quote is another clue towards the big reveal and, significantly, the word gun is capitalized twice. Six years earlier, it opens with both the men in hoodies (one black and one white) from the earlier scenes with their faces covered. The scene is essentially a montage of their crime sprees and robberies, stealing jewelry to sell for cash, using cash to buy guns, and using guns to steal more jewelry- an endless cycle of violence reflecting the album and the generational trauma transferred from lifestyles like Redford’s. Suddenly a black screen, the word “stomp”, and the scenes over.

Track 8 — “Lighthouse”

Through rhythmic and undulating synths that rise and fall like waves during the choruses, drowned out by nonstop barrages of hi-hats and deep kicks, Redford vents about how hopeless he feels through metaphors about the ocean and drowning. Dice Raw’s opening verse moves from rapping with a dark cadence to powerfully evocative belting vocals that compare Redford to a sailor who is “face down in the ocean And no one’s in the lighthouse”. Maintaining hope is getting harder as his mind gets worse. Utter loneliness and turmoil surround him; he is lost at sea with no clear way home. Themes of mirrors are seen again in the lines:

“Take a look at the man in the mirror, we start fussing

Only one person gets hurt when throwing punches: me

And the man behind the glass just laughs”

This recurring interpretation of a reflection as a separate painful entity almost splits Redford into two people. He knows the way he lives will have drastic consequences and that makes it hurt even more. It’s not that he refused to change, but rather he couldn’t live any other way. Redford is drowning in an ocean of his own creation and all he can do is get angry at himself and sink deeper. The song takes an even darker turn in the lines directly after:

“The waves come over my head and just crash

My hand start bleeding, water starts receding

A feeling comes into my heart, I start believing that—

I actually might survive through the evening

Survive on my own thoughts of suicide that’s competing

With thoughts of tryna stay alive, which been weakened

By the feeling of putting on a smile while being beaten

The fear of drowning, still diving in the deep end

The waters carried me so far, you can’t reach him

And it feels like there’s no one...“

The weight of Redford’s pain is becoming unbearable. His mind has become a constant battlefield as he tries to convince himself to live another day through constant thoughts of death. Each facade of security and happiness he’s forced to wear is vampiric to what little motivation he has left. He believes there’s no hope left. Black Thought’s verse ends with the lines

“I’ll leave the memories here, I won’t need 'em

If I stop thinking and lie—now, that’s freedom

Your body’s part of the maritime museum

And face-down in the past is where I’m being”

Redford is haunted by the guilt of having to kill a friend. Not only does the listener know the consequences of this, but Redford too. The only options he sees left are either to bury any memories they’ve made or to lie down and give up. The final line discusses where we are in the album right now and Redford telling us that even now he knew he was already dead.

Track 9 — “I Remember”

“I drew a two of hearts from a deck of cards

A stock trick from my empty repertoire

Another hopeless story, never read at all

I’m better off looking for the end, where the credits are”

Black Thought starts this track by describing the album’s concept in half a verse. A two of hearts is the card worth the least in the deck. He expresses that his story will never be told, both because the stories of other kids in his situation are often never told and because he died too young to even have one. Then he says that he’s better off “looking for the end where the credits are”. This line is extremely important. At first glance, it seems like Redford is displaying his suicidal thoughts further by saying that there’s no point in him even trying for a normal life. However, because of the album’s unique structure, the end is the beginning. By first saying that he was given the worst possible hand, and then saying to take a look at the end, which in this case is actually the beginning, Redford is telling us 3 things: For one, he is for the first time acknowledging the album's reverse chronological order. Second, he’s telling himself that to really reflect on why his life was empty and short, he needs to look to the very beginning. This leads to the third and most impactful message: Redford is actively telling the listener that something happened at the start of his life that led him down this path. Soft and melancholic piano chords evoke a sense of reminiscence, accompanied by crisp snares that mimic the sound of gunfire. Harsh synths, resembling the urgency of an alarm, build up before culminating in a simple yet mesmerizing chorus sung by the vocal duo Jazzyfatnastees, set against the backdrop of beautiful violins. Black Thought follows with these lines:

“It’s a pain living life against the grain

I’m looking back, and y’all look the same

Troy, Mark, and Lil' What’s-His-Name

Memory is rerunning it all

It’s the flight of my fall, and it’s right on the wall”

Redford experiences a major revelation about the factors leading to his demise. He analyzes other people in his environment who led a similar life against societal norms. All of them were killed before they even got to live and all of them were forgotten. In those last two lines, he cleverly alludes to two biblical portrayals of downfall: The Fall of Man, where humans lost their innocence, and the Fall of King Belshazzar, whose death was predicted in writing that appeared on the wall after he drank wine stolen from a holy temple (where the phrase “written on the wall” comes from). He explains that this reflection of his life has revealed that the signs he was going to die were here all along. Redford can see the identical path urban poverty pushes generation after generation down. Black Thought’s second verse discusses the city Redford is from and ends with these lines:

“I used to ride the train to the same two stops

And look at the graffiti on the rooftops

Like the same song playing on the jukebox

Joint called "Faded Polaroids in a Shoebox"

Regardless to what the cadence is

It can’t be forgotten, like auld acquaintances

I realize how depressing of a place it is

And, when I notice my reflection, whose face it is”

In those first four lines, Redford looks at his city, drawing parallels between its remnants of forgotten lives and the layers of old graffiti. A cadence is the end of a musical piece. He references the classic New Year's Anthem, Auld Lang Syne, which insists on never forgetting the old times. In the last two lines, he is referring to the bleakness of his town and how it’s shaped him. This is another commentary on the album’s themes of reflections and mirrors. Redford asserts that regardless of the eventual conclusion—whether in the album's narrative or his own life—the journey must be remembered. As he gazes upon the grim urban environment that has indelibly shaped him, he sees a reflection of himself. The city's bleakness becomes a mirror, and Redford, like many others, has become a physical manifestation of its harsh reality. Immediately after, the song erupts into a beautiful instrumental break of cellos and a vocalizing choral section that grandiosely builds back into the chorus as the cello continues in the background for the rest of the song. The Roots placed this interlude at a critical moment. Acclaimed composer, Larry Gold, makes this break sound like angels are carrying you up to Heaven. In the present moment that this song takes place, Redford has analyzed the people and the city around him and has realized that this is the only way he will allow himself to live. In this moment of his posthumous path of reflection, however, he has realized the thing that forced him towards this lifestyle was the city itself. The final verse explains why the end of the path was inevitable for Redford:

“It’s only human to express the way you really feel

But that same humanity is my Achilles’ heel

A leopard can’t change its spots, and never will

So I’m forever ill, now, I can never chill

What’s keeping me from breaking out, like Benadryl

When my baptism of fire resulted in a kill

Sometimes, it’s as cut-and-dry as a business deal

You gotta cause the blood of a close friend to spill

But you remember still”

Redford spends his whole life wrestling with his crimes and searching for meaning. Although this is a universal human experience, his empathy and guilt are also his fatal flaws. He employs a clever play on words, intertwining the well-known expression “a leopard can't change its spots,” signifying the difficulty of altering one's fundamental nature, with a reference to leprosy—an incurable skin disease that manifests as lesions on its victims, commonly known as lepers. This dual analogy paints a vivid picture of Redford's inner conflict, emphasizing his struggle to escape both the ingrained patterns of his lifestyle and the haunting empathy that sets him apart. He attributes his inability to break free to a 'baptism of fire,' a metaphorical plunge into the chaos of crime akin to a soldier's first battle. This baptism led to the irreversible act of taking someone's life, becoming a catalyst for his descent into the shadows. While Redford acknowledges that, in his world, killing those close to you might be considered 'part of the job,' the burden of a guilty conscience becomes an ever-present weight on his shoulders.

Track 10 — “Tip the Scale”

“undun is the story of this kid who becomes criminal, but he wasn’t born criminal. He’s not the nouveau exotic primitive bug-eyed gunrunner… he’s actually thoughtful and is neither victim nor hero. Just some kid who begins to order his world in a way that makes the most sense to him at a given moment… At the end of the day… isn’t that what we all do?”- THE ROOTS

This quote, clock noises, and the time stamp “11-15-90 10:31am” begin the short film. We open to a man in a hoodie, presumably Redford, walking down the street of a rundown neighborhood. He passes a baby in a stroller wheeled past a man digging through trash. He then sees a man shooting up heroin on his porch, 2 pit bulls on chains, several homeless people, and two men smoking crack. Redford walks through all of this until he reaches a street corner with several presumed gang members on it. He stops in the middle of the street next to them and the scene ends.

This song is the last on the album with lyrics before a four-part orchestral suite and it starts with this hook from Dice Raw:

“Homicide or suicide, heads or tails

Some think life is a living hell

Some live life just living well

I live life tryna tip the scale my way

My way

My way

My way“

Redford was born into a city where the odds were completely stacked against him. Faced with limited choices, he grapples with the decision to either lead an innocent life at the bottom of society that he cannot bear or to lead an empty life of violence to try for any sort of control. This is why he spends his life trying to escape poverty at all costs. Questlove calls this Redford’s “Will To Power” and it’s how he stays hopeful in the face of insurmountable odds. The song’s instrumental features a hopeful cello melody backed by somber organs and heavy precise drums. The verses on this album are thematically vital and rich with depth. For example, in Black Thought’s first verse, nearly every line offers important analysis.

“Yo, I’m always early, I never take off

'Cause I've got a job: rob Peter to pay Paul

Now, I realize it’s the winner that takes all

Do what I gotta do because I can’t take loss

Picture me, living life as if I’m some animal

That consumes its own dreams, like I’m a cannibal

I won’t accept failure unless it’s mechanical

But still, the alcohol mixed with the botanical

I guess I be referred to the owners' manual full of loners

Full of all the homeless throwaways and the stoners

Soldiers of the streets with eighth-grade diplomas

And the world awaiting their shoulders as a bonus

Look, let he without sin live without sin

Until then, I’ll be doing dirty jobs like swampmen

Counting the faces of those that I might've been

It’s like living that life, but I won’t live that life again”

In contrast to “One Time”, Redford expresses that he’s always early and is forced to be a perpetually punctual criminal, revealing the glimmer of hope he once possessed, Black Thought twists the phrase “rob Peter to pay Paul”, which means to take on debts to pay dues, only this time he is physically robbing people. For him, committing crimes is inevitable because the only other choice is abandoning any chance at a meaningful life, which he cannot fathom. Redford will cling to his dreams until he dies. The other people on the streets have shown him several alternative ways to survive and crime is the only one where he believes he isn’t losing. These different groups of young marginalized people stay poor to keep the wealthy rich. Even further, they are expected to carry the future on their backs. Redford recognizes the impracticality of expecting a sinless life and until someone proves him wrong, he will put his and other’s lives at risk for a shot at escape. Thought uses “dirty job” and “swampmen” both in reference to TV shows portraying dangerous jobs that are generally shunned by the public, a mirror of his own hazardous path. After embracing the criminal lifestyle, Redford refuses to revert back to the crushed dreams of his youth that are so abundant in the city around him. As Dice Raw’s verse starts, the drone of a saxophone fades in. He discusses the paranoia that inherently infects criminals from both police and other criminals. In a reality relying on crime, the threat of termination looms either through arrest or murder. Marginalized groups face much higher rates of punishment, often receiving worse punishments as well. Redford’s life would be basically over if he was arrested. Raw uses the line “Back against the wall, then shoot your way out,” to imply a situation where if he was under the threat of arrest, he would have no problems with shooting police or himself. He explores the allure of crime’s rewards but also how easily they vanish after imprisonment. Redford closes the verse with the lines, “The scales of justice ain't equally weighed out / Only two ways out: digging tunnels or digging graves out.” Redford highlights that because of the turmoil seen in urban poverty and systematic oppression within America’s justice system, people like him have two options: run from the law or die. The song breaks into a cinematic instrumental interlude as if the camera is zooming out to show the effects that Redford’s decisions in this song have on him. The song ends with crashes and a tape skipping.

Through a deeper analysis of this song, the interconnecting web of themes throughout the album becomes a lot clearer. Throughout the short film, the scenes are shaded in a black-and-white filter. When combined with changes in lighting, this blurs the lines between whether the man in the black hoodie or the white hoodie is being shown, especially because their faces are always covered with a white ski mask or otherwise obscured from sight. This is true from the opening scene to the final murder scene. The album is littered with ambiguous lines that can be interpreted as either murder or suicide.

Some examples:

“It reads like a final letter I’m leaving for my fam” (“Stomp”)

“Maybe I'll throw in the towel/ Make my (Make my), make my (Make my)/

Departure from the world” (“Make my”)

“I’m better off looking for the end, where the credits are” (“I remember”)

“When my baptism of fire resulted in a kill” (“I remember”)

“Sometimes you have to pick the Gun up to put the Gun down.”- Malcolm X (“Stomp” short film scene)

As well as all of “Lighthouse”, the final verse of “The Otherside”, recurring mentions of hurting your reflection, killing “close friends,” and a general vagueness about who is being hurt or killed. The chorus of this song confirms this further. Dice Raw is saying that for Redford, homicide and suicide are two sides of the same coin; either way, his decision kills himself. He says “My way” three times which references the Frank Sinatra song of the same name that signified the end of his career. The ambiguity of whether Redford experiences a murder, suicide, or some combination of the two can be interpreted in various ways. First, either Redford is simply murdered or commits suicide which are both consequences of his crimes. Second, Redford is committing a symbolic suicide by adopting a life of crime or more specifically murdering someone, because it leads to his death. Third, Redford is committing a symbolic murder of his identity by abandoning his innocent life, which is supported by the short film’s purposeful obfuscation surrounding the colors of the hoodies and the character’s faces. No matter how you interpret it, this song shows the moment Redford realizes the direct connection between the relentless following of his innocent dreams of escaping poverty and his death.

Track 11 — “Redford (For Yia-Yia and Pappau)” by Sufjan Stevens

This song inspired the character of Redford Stephens and the album altogether. Sweet syncopating piano melodies progress as chilling and angelic vocals slowly get closer. Depending on how you interpret the orchestral suite, this is either the first song or the last song within it. The suite can be examined as either finishing off the reverse chronological order up to his birth or as the chronological stages of his life split into four acts. Both as the first and last song, he is a child, innocent, ignorant, and a clean slate. Yia-Yia and Pappau mean Grandma and Grandpa, and this is how they will always see their grandson, no matter who he becomes.

Track 12 — “Possibility (2nd Movement)”

Redford is a blank canvas earnestly awaiting the creation he will become. This viola and piano ballad is hopeful and growing which reflects the name and Redford’s potential at this point. As it progresses, it begins to slow; Redford is being pushed down a path that will squander his limitless possibilities.

Track 13 — “Will to Power (3rd Movement)”

This track is a terrifying sonic illustration of the world in which Redford was born into. Harsh untuned piano keys and barrages of drums resemble gunshots and the inequality and darkness that dissonant keys portray throughout the album. Instruments that were just previously used to create beautiful melodies are used to portray the violence and death rampant in his environment. This is the drive that leads Redford into such a fast life. It’s why he tries to take control of a place with no order- both the outside world and his mind. This is his Will to Power; the unachievable and never-ending chase to tip the scales of fate in his favor when they’re so clearly unbalanced. As the second part of the suite, this song reflects the world that awaited a newborn Redford. On the other hand, as the third part of the suite, this song paints a picture of a time in Redford’s life when he started to see the bleakness of his environment which pushed him towards his dreams of escape.

Track 14 — “Finality (4th Movement)”

Interpreted as the first song of the suite, this is the moment Redford was born. At birth, everyone is only pure. Redford is no different. He is born accompanied by a viola solo that’s poignant, gorgeous, and free, but at the same time somber and melancholy. As of now, he could be anyone. Suddenly, haunting dissonant keys. We know what becomes of him. Not everyone gets the same cards dealt. The cyclical nature of trauma infects generation after generation of people born in his situation. As the last act of his life, this is his death as the jarring notes are a piece played too quickly. The loudest silence you’ve ever heard drones on for 30 seconds. You’re given time to think about how tragic it was that he never had a chance at all. He was born into a world that wanted him to fail. The literal and figurative reason that his album is told in reverse: Redford Stephens was not a flame snuffed out too early, he was dead from the very beginning.

CONCLUSION:

In the haunting echoes of Redford Stephen’s journey, we traverse a landscape of despair and resilience. From the climactic moments of tragedy to the tender echoes of innocence, Redford’s life unfolds like a complex tapestry, threaded with the harsh realities of urban poverty. “undun “transcends the boundaries of conventional storytelling, offering a cylindrical view of a life ensnared by circumstance. The music becomes a visceral language, with each note carrying the weight of Redford’s burdens and aspirations. Redford Stephens was born into a world that predetermined his fate, His story, though singular, resonates as a collective echo; a testament to the countless lives entangled in the web of poverty and inequality.