Kate Tempest - Cannibal Kids lyrics

[Verse 1] Round here These cannibal kids want to be kings They don't see that kindness is courage Or that sympathy sings Much louder than violence They are bitter and drained Eyes of ice stare from figures of flames They puff-chested, restless, nameless They've carried their pain To the point of being painless Numb ones, young ones New latch-keys of London Soaking up the humdrum And it makes them want to run from The state they're in Powerless, penniless Feathers clipped, they find eagles' wings In the derelict brotherhood of gang-life That bang-bang life That shouts louder than a sarcastic teacher Clapping hands twice And staring down a frightened nose They learned that respect comes from striking a pose That demands it But we know respect and fear are not compatible A long way from bat and ball They don't play, they let daggers fall From blood-soaked fingers While their siblings lie bleeding in hallways dead But like wisdom has always said Blood begets blood and keeps spilling So the pavements are stained And our hearts are grief-stricken [Chorus] Round here Cannibal kids want to be kings But there ain't no royalty left Round here Sirens and the screams float on the wind And even the street shudders Afraid of our footsteps Round here Cannibal kids want to be kings But there ain't no royalty left Sirens and the screams float on the wind And even the street shudders [Verse 2] While that paranoid panic Goes seeping through the granite Of the breeze-blocks Turning our cities into sheep-flocks I pity those whose knees knock The victims of the media machine Poor souls who've forgotten how to dream You see, that cut-throat mentality's Encouraged in business They tell you, to be a successful You've got to step on some necks So big money is made through that corporate pursuit They're selling water and jailing kids for selling couple suits Please, born into blood-soaked cities of industry Informed of the savagery The infamy, barbarity of history Controlled, contrived, and depressed And attested, and stressed out and vexed It's a message we've been fed So we could propagate their system Of division, inhibition Viciousness and contradiction We were s**led on the milk that they soured Told the future was ours And then disembowelled and disempowered We have been disgraced, deafened and deflowered Our brains brutalized and our defiance devoured And so now they're shooting guns and robbing cats And trying to claw a little back But when the whole thing shatters It always starts with a little crack And then splinters stretching out for miles Pointing fingers at sharp suits with crocodile smiles But it's us, we get the blame Told that life is all exchange Told that we are the children of capital That we are the children of apathy That we are the children of this rapidly changing reality But look, I say we learnt it from them From their rules and their ways Their legitimate businesses deceive and disgrace Look we learn it from them From their rules and their ways Their legitimate companies deceive and disgrace While us, we do what we can Because we live in this place Where the truth can't be seen in the face [Chorus] Round here These cannibal kids want to be kings But there ain't no royalty left Cause round here The sirens and screams float on the wind And even the street shudders Afraid of our footsteps Round here These cannibal kids want to be kings But there ain't no royalty left Cause round here The sirens and screams float on the wind And even the street shudders Yes, even the street shudders