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