PoemPart "Liberty Needs Glasses"

So I Say GOODBYE

A date without a year, Tennyson as a proverb, and the decision to follow his heart: Tupac bids farewell to his past before a new beginning.

Book: The Rose That Grew from Concrete (1999)
Part: Liberty Needs Glasses
Dedication: Nov 20 (date without a year)
Original text: not reproduced (copyright); see the book

Beneath the title, there is only a date: “Nov 20,” though without a year. So I Say GOODBYE is one of the few poems in The Rose That Grew from Concrete with such a note. In the book, it appears in penultimate place, directly before In the Event of My Demise: it depicts a departure into the unknown and a farewell to his own past.

Following the Heart and Giving Everything

The poem consists of six long lines. The speaker stands before something new and does not know what awaits him. He has decided to follow his heart and leave his mind behind. Should it hurt, at least he will know that he gave it his all.

Then Tupac takes up a well-known piece of wisdom: that it is better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all. The thought traces back to Alfred Tennyson’s poem In Memoriam A.H.H. from 1850. Tupac uses it without attribution, like a proverb. It shows how naturally he blended classical poetry with everyday speech.

Tears or Smiles: Farewell to the Past

The final two lines remain open. In the morning, he may wake up smiling, perhaps crying. Before that, however, he must say goodbye to those from his past. Whether this concerns a new relationship, a move, or a career step, the text does not reveal. The phrase “if there be pain” connects it to If There Be Pain….

According to the preface by Afeni Shakur, the poems were written between 1989 and 1991; a November 20 therefore falls in the years 1989 or 1990. Which year is meant is not documented. Through its position before the closing poem, the text in the book reads like a farewell from the author.