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Are You What You Want To Be
Alternative
[Verse 1]
I woke up on Champs-Élysées1 to the Djembe2 of Ghana
Where a fine lady from Belize said "You got the spirit of Fela"3
A young one dripping make-up put her hands out to holla
Well, I gave her what I got but couldn't handle her broken heart
The right words in the hands of dissidents with the fire
Will rip apart the marrow from the bone of the liars
And well, I'm afraid of saying too much and ending a martyr4
Even more so I'm afraid to face God and say I was a coward, yeah
[Chorus]
With all these things I wait for revelation5
These things make me want to duck for cover
With all these things I wait for revolution6
These things ask the biggest question to me
And it's are you what you want to be
So are you what you want to be?
[Verse 2]
The war machines will put out both its hands for a dollar
It's drinking at the table with the chrome7 hand guerrillas8
The young ones dripping make-up lift her leg up to holla
Well, I told her what she's got should be protected in the arms of love
The right things in the hands of dissidents with the fire
Written by:
Mark Foster and Paul Epworth
Glossed by:
Leeza Torres
The right things in the hands of dissidents with the fire
Well I'm afraid of saying too much and ending a martyr
But even more so I'm afraid to face God and say I was a coward, yeah
[Chorus]
[Outro]
Are you what you want to be
So are you what you want to be? [x3]
1. famous fashion avenue in Paris, France; also translates to “Elyisan Fields,” the final resting place of heroes in Greek mythology
2. hand drum which originated from West Africa as leading ritual instrument; also translates to “bring together in peace”
3. Nigerian musician and political activist Fela Kuti, one of the pioneers of afrobeat; suffered punishment for speaking out against his government; banned from Ghana after riot broke out during one of his concerts
4. one who suffers or dies for their beliefs or principles; usually refers to those who die for their religion but here references those who die after speaking out against their government
5. revealing or disclosing information
6. completion of a cycle (such as the pattern of rise and fall of regimes/government systems/civilizations); the overthrow or renunciation of one government or ruler and the substitution of another by the governed
7. metal plating or façade layered over common metals as a means to be decorative, corrosion-resistant, or increase hardness
8. unauthorized, unregulated fighters who fight, typically larger, regulated forces
2014
GLOSS:
22