Know Yourself Songtext
von Kae Tempest

If you saw the younger you, what would you say to them?
I would say, "Thanks."
I would say, "Peace."
I′d tell them, "Soon, child, you're going to find release."


Long time coming to right now, pipe down
Lifetime looking for things I thought I′d found
Already, falling to the floor like I'm alright, I'm steady
I send myself back so I can tell me
Twenty years deep in the rhyme of beats
And I′m still so far from finding peace
Every line is a ladder I can climb through time
And I walk straight-faced through these winding streets
I eat the bread of rhythm, I drink the milk of rhyme
I′ve been carrying a bag of shame that's bigger than me
Pushing it ahead of me, up an endless staircase
Until the day I realised this doesn′t mean what I think it does
I don't need to carry this forever
I left it in the clearing by the fire pit and ran
Back to the child I was looking for an elder
I saw myself there, I took myself by the hand
When I was young, I sought help from my older self
I came into my head, I told me, "Know yourself"
When I was young, I sought help from my older self
I came into my head, I told me, "Know yourself"
I was seventeen, heaven seemed close enough to touch
I had never been happier, chest against the barrier
Watching Wu-Tang, my own character starting to bloom
I was learning how to capture a room in two phrases
Twenty years deep in the rhymes of beats
Close my eyes and speak down the wires of time
I go back to the child I was when I put myself on the line
I had to beg for the mic, I had to deal with their ignorance
Had to get better, I wanted bigger things
These days, those days, they are far away
Try and catch them in my sights, but they start to fade
Now I sit amongst great loads of rhyme books
And I think about the days that the time took
I thank the little me that put the work in
Could you picture me when you were spitting sixteens?
Surfing the top deck, penning them bars
Underaged in the clubs, taking charge of the mic
Precautious little nothing with the world in his sights
I am on it now, I will work harder
This is peace to the kid I came after
The words of the bridge between the present and the past
I know myself at last
When I was young, I sought help from my older self
I came into my head, I told me, "Know yourself"
When I was young, I sought help from my older self
I came into my head, I told me, "Know yourself"
I told me, "Know yourself"
Soon, child, you′re going to find release