Second Heartbeat
There's nothin' I'm runnin' from
Tell you where I'm comin' from
I know where I've been
I've been with you, you've been with me
Leather-bound diary, faded handwriting
Great-granddad thought it was a war worth fighting
He ended up surviving, had a daughter named Dot
That's my grandma, fell in love and married her boss
That's my grandpa, had a little hairdressing shop in Lakemba
First child ninth of December, in the years following the war ending
A baby boom set in, and now we call 'em boomers (hey mum!)
You were a straight-laced girl, say what
Went and got hitched to chain-smoking guys, say what
I've got a bit of both sides no surprised, say what
Like you're looking my different coloured eyes, say what
I got blue from brown and green songs of Donald Byrd the Trumpets
The came from a thirty-three and a third, maybe they got me
My memory is a cluster of notes
Forming a familiar melody I swear that I know
Stress in the mornin', stress in the evenin'
Stress is what I'm feelin', it's no wonder I ain't breathin'
Music is my life from before I could breath
Cause my daddy sang my mommy some melodious keys
Melodious G, melodiously
In the end it was the birth of melodious me
I picked up the tune when I was in the womb
And I promise I would pride 'em with the songs that I'm doing
I wonder if they thought that I could change the world
If I could change the world well I would change myself
First-borns seem to always know better
The past is in the future so I get to know better
Get to breath better, get to dream better
You paid for my college so I get to eat better
I saw you in the past working long hours daddy
I saw mama give dreams so we could be happy
It's deep like my African lin'age
I bet you're gonna need an African Minute
Ode it to the ancestors
Cause they answer prayers, cause they answer
There's just nothin' I'm runnin' from
Tell you where I'm comin' from
I know where I've been
I've been with you, you've been with me, oh baby
The past beats inside of me
You may not even know
Things you don't know, somethin' you feel
Fading like photos, somethin' so real
It's like there's a second heartbeat
A light to lead me home
Things you don't know, somethin' you feel
Fading like photos, somethin' so real
Subconscious is monstrous, underneath like the Loch Ness
Never seen but ever present like my blackness
Puffing out my fro to to check my bestness
Makin' waves, like the flowing song of my ancestors
Dig beneath the layers
Tryna see what they are saying
Looks like I found a treasure worth displayin'
I take it down from the shelf
Shine it up like a diamond, see what it's worth
And I know some things they are forever
Know some things they hold together
I won't walk this road alone
I won't walk this road alone
And I know some things they are forever
Know some things they hold together
I won't walk this road alone
I won't walk this road alone
There's just nothin' I'm runnin' from
Tell you where I'm comin' from
I know where I've been
I've been with you, you've been with me, oh baby
The past beats inside of me
You may not even know
Things you don't know, somethin' you feel
Fading like photos, somethin' so real
It's like there's a second heartbeat
A light to lead me home
Things you don't know, somethin' you feel
Fading like photos, somethin' so real
There's just nothin' I'm runnin' from
Tell you where I'm comin' from
I know where I've been
I've been with you, you've been with me
There's just nothin' I'm runnin' from
Tell you where I'm comin' from
I know where I've been
I've been with you, you've been with me