Lost in The World - Composition

Composition

"Lost in the World" is 4 minutes and 16 seconds long and has been described as a "moody meditation". It features tribal drums and samples Bon Iver's "Woods", a song originally written about alienation, applied by West "as the centerpiece of a catchy, communal reverie" on the album. The song manipulates the original Bon Iver sample and incorporates influences from both house music and dance music, adding tribal chants and percussion. During the duration of the song, there are several distinct production changes. The song begins with faint vocals delivered by Vernon, which are reinforced by drums, gospel-styled chorus, an increased tempo, and a final measured tempo. The song continues to build at a slow pace, until a choir explodes into a bombastic roar, boasting the line "run from the lights."

West delivers a short, 40 second verse, which appears over two and a half minutes into the song. West's verse contains an interpolation of the "Mama-say mama-sah ma-ma-coo-sah" hook from Michael Jackson's song "Wanna Be Startin' Somethin'". He alters the refrain to, say "Mama-say mama-sah Mama Donda's son," referring to his late mother Donda West who passed away in 2007. The song features West's comment on his his fans and his fame, with additional references to Jackson. Embling of Tiny Mix Tapes viewed that the track points out a paralleled with West and Jackson, commenting:

"Life in the spotlight is perilous, and West knows that what happened to the King of Pop could just as easily happen to him. A disembodied chorus urges West to 'run from the lights/ run for your life' on 'Lost in the World,' the record’s frenzied penultimate track; but even as we listen, we know there’s little chance that he’ll leave the spotlight behind. West is telling us, over the course of 11 songs, that he’s willing to die for our amusement, our respect."

The ends with a very long sample of Gil Scott-Heron's "Comment No. 1", a speech which served as a comment on the 1960s Revolutionary Youth Movement for failing to recognize the more basic needs of the African-American community. "Lost in the World" transitions into the closing track "Who Will Survive in America". It is edited to a smaller version on the track that, according to Chicago Tribune writer Greg Kot, "retains its essence, that of an African-American male who feels cut off from his country and culture". Ann Powers of Los Angeles Times described "Woods" as a "Wisconsin death trip that becomes a testimonial to rebirth through isolation" and noted a significant difference from "Lost in the World", commenting that the song was more about West's "exhausted cry of one who's always new in town, chasing whatever goal or girl is in the room, fueled by consumer culture's relentless buzz, but finally left unsatisfied."