Hymns Digital Booklet

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HYMNS

All tracks composed by Kele Okereke / Russell Lissack. Except 3 composed by Kele Okereke / Russell Lissack / Justin Harris. Produced by Roy Kerr / Tim Bran. Mixed by David Wrench. Engineered by Max Hayes. Except 11 engineered by Max Hayes & Ben Jackson. Vocals by Kele Okereke. Guitar by Russell Lissack. Bass guitar by Justin Harris. Drums by Alex Thomas. Choir by Nicky Brown / Jesse Grant / Geo Gabriel & Jermaine Foster on tracks 2 / 4 / 10 / 14 & 15. Choir vocal arrangements by Nicky Brown. Master engineer Nigel Walton. Recorded at Lynchmob, London UK. Management by Tony Perrin & Colin Roberts for Big Life Management. Polaroids by Rachael Wright. Art Direction by Big Active & Kele Okereke. Design & Imagery by Phil Armson at Big Active.

HYMNS

THE LOVE WITHIN Lord give me grace and dancing feet As I conquer all anxiety The angel told me not to fear That the power to was in me For I have learnt the way to pray Like a muscle growing taut now Bind the past into a knot And let the love consume us Let the love consume us Let the love consume us Can you hear the stars now sing? Resounding in D Major As the god vibration resonates And pulls us up towards her Take your shoes off, feel the earth Beneath your feet respond to touch And let our laughter now ring forth As the love consumes us

The love within is moving upwards Sweeter than any drug The melody is taking over Guide my heart through this hurt Pull back the veil Let your eyes meet this world The love within is moving upwards So don't you want to get high? Don't you want to get high?

Don't you want to get high? Don't you want to get Don't you want to get high? The love within is moving upwards Sweeter than any drug The melody is taking over Guide my heart through this hurt Pull back the veil Let your eyes meet this world The love within is moving upwards So don't you want to get high? Don't you want to get high?

ONLY HE CAN HEAL ME (For only he can heal me)

There are times I get to feeling That this world has stole my grace When everyday feels like a hustle Every day I'm saving face Tell a lie to make the paper Put a little coin away It's never ending (For only he can heal me) When the trappings of the body Lead me to that hopeless place And I feel my spirit crumble

Under strain and under guilt Lay me down in rivers Cleansing where the tall grass Grows and grows And let me wait Until my saviour comes home For only he can heal me Help me over come it For only he can heal me With his touch Help me over come it (For only he can heal me) From the towns and from the cities Came a feeling of defeat From the lame and from the wretched Pouring forth unto the street Lead me to my only temple Where I overcome defeat And let me rest there by my saviour's feet For only he can heal me Help me over come it For only he can heal me with his touch Help me over come it (For only he can heal me)

Oh, oh, oh Heal, heal me (For only he can heal me)

SO REAL Heartbreak the first Comes to me in bursts You danced with him whilst I could see you Although it hurts Tears are not enough To dissolve all the pain I'm feeling Must not much have mattered must I? Moving forwards Did not take long to pass me by Moving onwards

What am I supposed to do? When the only good thing about me Was you What I am supposed to feel? As you kept the only part of me That was real So real I'll bet you'll claim To him I was insane Too much like a girl I bored you Release a dove Let grace into your world Be still your wicked tongue I loved you Once before our cracks did show I know I pleased you But now my baby's got new slang And a taste for strangers

What am I supposed to do? When the only good thing about me Was you What I am supposed to feel? As you kept the only part of me That was real So real So real

It's got to be real It's got to be real, oh

THE GOOD NEWS Spent my commission on another diversion And I don't got no meaning No purpose left at all My pastor tells me that my My light is dimming And I've been too long drifting in a ocean "It's OK, you just need faith" Been looking for answers in the wrong place But how do I tell him that There's something missing And I don't got no substance Since you've gone?

Every day I walk down to the water And I pray since you left me that way Oh Lord I'm trying to keep my mind On the good news That's in my heart

For the good good news For the good good news Since my baby left My light refuses to shine Like a bird without a song Or a sun that will not rise Now I can make the eyes At anyone that I desire Throwing down with all the lost boys At the very edge of town Now I can spin a lie that binds me Up all through the night cause I've got No one home to answer to this time Every day is a repeat Like a carrier bag stuck in a tree I used to find my answers In the gospels of St. John But now I find them At the bottom of this shot glass Every day I walk down to the water And I pray since you left me that way Oh Lord I'm trying to keep my mind On the good news That's in my heart For the good good news (Don't got no meaning and I don't got no purpose) For the good news (Can't find comfort and I can't find no solace)

FORTRESS These sheets of ours Shield our bodies like a fortress They keep us safe from harm Intertwined our bodies lay there Like a comma The arch of your back invites desire We put our bodies to the test Follow the curve right down your neck Your sweat, my sweat stuck in a web And in the mirror, you relent It's teasing me with every step Reach down and feel how strong my love Grows just for you Pull me under Under the ocean Cover my mouth with yours Put it on me like no one's watching Like it's the first time... And on the street Our bodies ache for one another I just can't wait, till we're alone And I'm a fool for the sight Of all the gold between your thighs You still the sea that's stirring deep in me Make your base right here next to me As our notes blend in harmony And when we sex we hear the beat And it's so serene

Pull me under, under the ocean Cover my mouth with yours Put it on me like no one's watching Like it's the first time And if you're hungry devour your morsel Cover my mouth with yours Put it on me like no one's watching Like it's the first time...

Pull me under, under the ocean Cover my mouth with yours Put it on me like no one's watching Like it's the first time... We kissed

DIFFERENT DRUGS Every time I go back home Something's wrong, There's something missing You're spinning away from me I don't bitch no I don't moan But I can't try to fight this anymore Our common ground has shifted You're standing in the doorway With a look I used to know With all the best intentions Somehow our cover's blown We're trapped inside this room With no window or a view And now you're backing away from me Well, what can I do?

And if there was a pill We could take to find each other Would you drop with me? Would you follow me down? And if there was a leaf We could smoke to meet each other Would you blaze with me? Would you chase with me? It started as a joyride Just a way to let off steam But now we're running off the road Cause you're asleep at the wheel Which way do you choose? Cause right now I choose you Do you still think of me fondly? Do you still think of me? I'm trying to broach the distance That's growing in our lives From the night until the morning Like we're on different drugs Did I say too much? Did I take too much? The temptation to vacate seduces us I'm trying beat the static That's living in our hearts Like white noise that's in the distance That will only drown us out Did I say too much? Did I take too much? The temptation to vacate seduces us It's like we're on different drugs

INTO THE EARTH This fennel tea that you bought for me Well it does its magic discretely I wrote this song for you, it's true In our only south facing room See I don't know what the future holds But I hope we face it together Cause rock and roll has got so old Just give me neo-soul Into the earth our bodies will go We got to keep it all fluid Into the earth our bodies will go You're gonna keep me good looking You've seen the colour of my cash Does it not impress, was I way too flash? Are you backing away from me? Calm down Yoshi The fungi is helping this fun-guy deliver When I get high I dance all night I'll sing you Al Green songs I'm just trying to gently blur the lines With my trusty sensimilia Don't be so jaded or so coy When you could just be familiar Into the earth our bodies will go We got to keep it all fluid Into the earth our bodies will go You're gonna keep me good looking

Take a lover start a life And try to keep an open mind I'll dress up for you, I scrub up nice I'll make your mother proud I'll make your momma proud

If you're looking for devotion Then come to me If you're fearing your emotions You got to believe me that it goes both ways

And if I stop I won't go hungry Cause I know how to steal I got to thank my older brothers For keeping me real

Into your orbit I will not be denied I asked about you And how to keep you on my side If we are part of the same constellation Shifting in the night She whispers to me "Don't waste the daylight" It brings me round

Into the earth our bodies will go We got to keep it all fluid Into the earth our bodies will go You're gonna keep me good looking Take a lover start a life And try to keep an open mind I'll dress up for you, I scrub up nice I'll make your mother proud I'll make your momma proud

MY TRUE NAME Into your eye line, keep me in your sights I asked about you And how to get into your life Like daylight through a stained glass window Our colours run Her voice sings Like the Thames in the morning It makes me strong

If you're looking for devotion Then come to me If you're fearing your emotions You got to believe me that it goes both ways Lean on me, I'll take your strain I'll soften the blow, I'll tease away And I'll take on anyone That tries to mess with us Your love should be good enough From this day forward You will call me by my real name You must call me by my true name Today Today

VIRTUE Temptation hides in the space between Lord help me fight this desire for fire Words can cleanse and purify Or tear down a pack of lies In your presence consequence I can't stop trembling For all of my virtue Why can I not hold the truth? For all my good fortune I would change my place with you This path will lead us back Will lead us back to ruin For all of my virtue Why can I not hold the truth? This path will lead us back Will lead us back to ruin For all of my virtue Why can I not hold the truth? Once in a while The urge resurfaces So we split hairs As rumours circulate And there's a need to fertilise Behind my lover's trusting eye Like water drops on burning rocks I can't stop trembling

For all of my virtue Why can I not hold the truth? For all my good fortune I would change my place with you This path will lead us back Will lead us back to ruin For all of my virtue Why can I not hold the truth? I've fallen, I've fallen again I've fallen, I've fallen again I've fallen, I've fallen again I've fallen

EXES If you seek an explanation Well I'm afraid there is not one See all I have are excuses My daddy was a hunter And I am my father's son There was a time for about two weeks I swore you were the one I thought I could tell you anything You were more than a trick You were more to me than all of it To all the exes That I left behind These words will fall short But I must try

Everything I was proud of With everything that I'd done wrong In your eyes, I was someone With another history another past In the lobby of the Ace hotel You will not meet my eye Secrets spilled on pillows shared You were more than just slight You were more to me than all of it To all the exes That I left behind These words will fall short But I must try (Try! Try!) But I must try (Try! Try!) But I must try (Try! Try!) But I must try (Try! Try!) But I must try To all the exes That I left behind These words will fall short But I must try

LIVING LUX Shirtless and faded On the Champs-Élysées The world was ours then I had conviction But you, you had style Such a lethal combination The years changed us The money weighed us down We lost our way Let me spoil you Pick a place to go I want to spend my money on you Don't you remember? How this began You begged me for a chance Don't waste your sorry, no Don't waste your goodbyes tonight From hand to mouth And now we're living lux I order the lobster and you the Moët The waitress thinks that we can't pay What does she know? Our pockets are full grown And we've earned the right to fine dine So raise your glass my old friend For we both know that this is the end For the times we fought And the times we shared

I'll sing you a song The way I used to then Don't you remember? How this began You begged me for a chance Don't waste your sorry, no Don't waste your goodbyes tonight From hand to mouth And now we're living lux We're living lux

EDEN Underneath the iron cloud That will not let my daylight out So I smoke myself until I go see through Atomised and bugging out Signal fails in the CBD So I hold my breath until I start to glow Take me to the garden Stand with me naked by the tree Feed me poisoned apples Feed me till I forget everything With each bite we take Let the moonlight awaken in us So we can dance to the beat of the drum The drum... Under foot the serpent moves Watching us with a crystal gaze

Eyes that record every wicked thought There are times I feel like I've seen everything That I need to see Make me someone new And take me to the garden Stand with me naked by the tree Feed me poisoned apples Feed me till I forget everything With each bite we take Let the moonlight awaken in us So we can dance to the beat of the drum The drum...

NEW BLOOD I've been living too long in the tundra I've been living too long at sea And all my loved ones, forgot about me So I tame the urge to fight back Sounding off to who I see I used to be a renegade But now I'm just me With this new blood you'll hear me I'm making you a deal I kept my house in order So I dare you, I dare you, I dare you To rise

They said they're going to Teach me a lesson They wanna show me how to kneel I used to be a wild one but now I'm done When I brought you an offering of honey They said you needed blood And in that moment I made my choice Hear my prayer and clear the corners Let this blood wash away All the sins of all the fathers Guide my hand and on my honour I will keep your words alive I will keep you in my heart

With this new blood you'll hear me I'm making you a deal I kept my house in order So I dare you, I dare you, I dare you To rise I dare you, I dare you, I dare you To rise

PARAÍSO It was a look that I understood In another life Maybe I would have been yours Vision in white standing by the bar Like a wrecking ball Like a Japanese weight It makes the waters rise in me How do you do that thing you do? This beautiful charmer could be a deceiver too It's making me, do things I mustn't do My appetite for love is now a hunger/thirst Whoever you are We spoke of Lagos and Rotterdam Dancing cheek to cheek, get behind me Satan And all my good will is coming loose Like a ball of yarn, like a bad excuse It makes the embers glow in me It's your move

How do you do that thing you do? This beautiful charmer could be a deceiver too It's making me, do things I mustn't do My appetite for love is now a hunger/thirst Whoever you are Whoever you are I don't believe in coincidence You were sent this way for me For it takes two to step this dance Let us find a quiet place to sit Into night is all let me gaze upon your lashes Let it be known That I gave myself completely over Paraíso Paraíso

EVENING SONG There's a spirit in our bedroom That lives between the walls He listens deeply to our musings Manifests when we are wrong In the evening, as we lay sleeping He peers into our thoughts He guides us gently to one another To the point when our dreams meet [Chorus] For I have a message, it's in my voice For I have a message For I have a message, it's in my voice For I have a message He is there in leaky faucets In the creak of wooden floors As our heartstrings start to harden As our love becomes unspun He can sense that we are drifting In the autumn of our love In the morning, when we awaken And our love is all restored He says... For I have a message, it's in my voice For I have a message For I have a message, it's in my voice For I have a message

If you should fall or come undone My voice will lead you home If you should fall or come undone My voice will lead you home

THE LOVE WITHIN ONLY HE CAN HEAL ME SO REAL THE GOOD NEWS FORTRESS DIFFERENT DRUGS INTO THE EARTH MY TRUE NAME VIRTUE EXES LIVING LUX EDEN NEW BLOOD PARAÍSO EVENING SONG

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