Statue In The Square Lyrics – Kae Tempest

Read the full Statue In The Square lyrics by Kae Tempest along with the music video, song credits, release information and other details about the song. If you enjoy Kae Tempest’s music, you can also explore Flags, another song by Kae Tempest.

[Verse 1]
Well, either I’m nice on the eye
Or this person that’s passing me by has never seen one
Like me before, we endure it
Keep reaching for it, knee deep, we keep pouring
Life force in a formless void, we’re too gorgeous
Dwarf the whole street when we walk are you transported?
I cherish the ones who support us
Fear takes from us but Love restores us
You are not the sum of the things you do wrong
In the eyes of someone who does not understand you
It’s not a disorder or a dysfunction
Disgusting the way they discuss us
But just ’cause a person’s not decent to me
Don’t mean they’re not decent to someone
The norm is not normal, it’s a construction
Designed to stifle the inner life and increase production

[Chorus]
They never wanted people like me round here
But when I’m dead, they’ll put my statue in the square
They used to tell their children not to stare
But when I’m dead, they’ll put my statue in the square
Yeah, they’re ten a penny, we’re rare
And when we’re dead, they’ll put our statues in the square
They can shake their heads in despair
But we been here from the start and we ain’t going nowhere

[Verse 2]
Spent my life trying to do things your way, normal didn’t feel right
Trapped in a shrinking hallway ’til It got too tight
Deep breath, fresh air when I broke the surface
Yes we’ve all lost lovers, what’s sad is a lost purpose
Reclaim it, reframe it, rename it something more fitting
Contain it, champagne it, complaining never did nothing but hitting
The ground running’s a start, hold your position
Tape it up, tuck it and love it beyond condition

Watching the city surrender to rain, I remember to live is to change
I don’t pray for the end of my pain, I pray for the strength to weather it
Paused on the brink of a gaping precipice, hesitant, derelict slow from the sedative
Terrified people never stop asking where the treasure is, I’m like everything’s relative
So don’t be surprised when they shield their eyes
What they fear’s a reflection of their own minds
They reveal themselves in their dead headlines
It’s fine, we don’t need permission to shine

[Chorus]
They never wanted people like me round here
But when I’m dead, they’ll put my statue in the square
They used to tell their children not to stare
But when I’m dead, they’ll put my statue in the square
Yeah, they’re ten a penny, we’re rare
And when we’re dead, they’ll put our statues in the square
They can shake their heads in despair
But we been here from the start and we ain’t going nowhere