Kae Tempest - What We Came After lyrics

I tell of him
Who summoned them storms in vengeance
Poisoned by the wrath of his rememberance
Him that gave language just to impose
The senseless his name was Prospero
And he prospers by what he knows
Knowledge he keeps for himself
And it is used for the bad
To enslave and to mystify
Know the language that fills up
Your mouth is imposition
And subject your ambition to
A bootless inquisition

Look, Propsero, wronged, survived
He grew wise he got fattened on dem books
He despised when he should have dismissed
Well, that to this is all relative

Madness for those who can’t measure it
Sadness for those who seek seditative


Gladness for those who know that
Pleasure is all self-constructed
Who know how to clutch it

Look, if by your art you
Are fevered of the skies
You need to let the heat
Within rise and evaporate
If you’re the type that sees the
Sea’s tide is against you
You will never navigate
I know that language is for
Those obsessed with real meaning
Don’t love the oppressor or
Trust the oppressor
But don’t begrudge the oppressor
The oppressor’s oppression
Because each has to learn their own lessons

Look, if all these people were prophets
We’d profit
We were born with the truth but then we
Lost it in logic so go and find it
Remind yourself of the timeless
Because you are the planet that bred you
And you are the language that led you
And you are the knowledge that fed you
So just own it
Make it make sense and make it relevant
And never believe that the words of the
Wise are not your words to read

See, when I hear the quiet voice
Of vengeance in my ear
That’s when I know that hell is empty
‘cause all the devils are here
When my tongue tastes shadows, and all
My friends are shedding tears
That’s when I know hell is empty
‘cause all the devils are here
When my heart is consumed with
Regret and with fear
That’s when I know hell is empty
‘cause all the devils are here
And when the boat sails away and
I get left on the pier
That’s when I know hell is empty
‘cause all the devils are here
When you’re trying to understand but
The text isn’t clear
When the demon jumps up
Straight, rejecting the spear
When the view is so bleak
It starts infecting the seer
That’s when you know that hell is empty
‘cause all the devils are here

So, call me Caliban they gave me language
So I could rain down these curses in verses
And I will take them on word for word
Because believe me, the worst is
That I have to watch my good
Friends getting’ caught up in circuit's
You see the serpent he rehearses his hisses
He makes the valiant vicious
And I know now never to waste wishes
So, go on then
Conjure a storm on the head of your enemy
You’re going to find yourself
Victim of negative energy
What you need to do is extend your empathy
Make yourself sensitive
This island was mine for a home
I was free to make rhyme as I roamed
Now my mind is alone as I writhe and I moan
I’m the captive of consonants
And I beseech you to be much more confident
‘Cause we run around nonchalant
Rejected, and restless, like
‘Oh, we can't’ change nuffin’ though
So why should we try?’

But look, we can change
We can rampage ‘til we stand strange
Right now we got our hands chained
Clutching a freedom you know
The freedom of mean-what you-say
And say-it with meaning
We need to change our own minds before
We try and change the sequence
We need to live with our energy
And not by our reason
But this the last day of my discontent
It's season
No more will I tolerate this greed
It’s demeaning we needing a breeze through
This stifling heat
Of elitist descriptions of what we can reach
But they want you to fear it
To not get too near it so they can continue
Pretending they're smarter sit still though
Receive it from self like Siddhartha
The past is just what we came after

So when you hear the quiet voice
Of vengeance in your ear
That’s when you know hell is empty
‘cause all the devils are here
When your heart is consumed with
Regret and with fear
That’s when you know hell is empty
‘cause all the devils are here
When your tongue can tastes shadows, and
All your friends are shedding tears
That’s when you know hell is empty
‘cause all the devils are here
And when your boat sails away and
You get left on the pier
That’s when I know hell is empty
‘cause all the devils are here
When you’re trying to understand but
The text isn’t clear
When the demon jumps up
Straight, rejecting your spear
When the view is so bleak
It starts infecting the seer
That's when you know that hell is empty
‘cause all the devils are here