I left at seventeen before the bread was warm
took the blue suitcase nobody claimed
Mother stood polishing the same clean glass
Dad read the paper without turning a page

There was a woman’s name behind the pantry clock
written twice then crossed with a kitchen knife
I asked who she was
They asked why I was still awake

Huh

They said “You’ll understand when you’re older”
So I got older somewhere else

I was gone before the kettle sang
gone before they fixed their tale
Let them blame my age my temper
let them blame the morning train

I was gone gone gone—
they can call it running if they like
I didn’t leave because they hated me
I left because they knew me wrong

Years later a stranger stopped me near the docks
said “You walk exactly like she did”
I laughed and asked “Who?”
She looked at me as though I’d made a joke

Then she handed me a photograph:
my father younger one hand out of frame
and a girl with my uneven teeth
wearing the blue suitcase name tag

Huh Small world
Terrible handwriting

She said “Your mother tried her best”
I said “Which one?”

I was gone before the kettle sang
gone before they fixed their tale
Let them blame my age my temper
let them blame the morning train

I was gone gone gone—
they can call it running if they like
I didn’t leave because they hated me
I left because they knew me wrong

Maybe I was kept
Maybe I was traded
Maybe love gets very polite
when the truth is complicated

I never asked again

That keeps them nervous

I was gone before the kettle sang
gone before they fixed their tale
Let them polish every answer
I know where the story fails

I was gone gone gone—
huh they still insist I’m wild
I didn’t leave because I hated them
I left as someone else’s child

Remember kids all DJs are double agents
A cool bassline resuscitates a patient
So you're a beginner and you want be a winner
Well slap some mustard on my buns and call me a wiener

Just hang on tight and remember this advice
If you're heating up the scene then pretend you're cool as ice
Don't need to have a big bag of tricks
When you only really need three basic tips so c'mon

Like this (Come on come on come on) And like that
(Suckers never play by the rules)
Like this and like that (Incredible fantastic wonderful)
And say (We are the robots)

Say what?
(Say ho ho ho ho ho)
One more time for your mind go

My supercomputer with my super producers
And all my time traveling dimension benders
They can tell you about skills when mine are spenters
Because they come from different places
And they're masters at their traces

But you can keep it simple rappers start to do as a sample

(Harlem city) They do it like this
(We are the robots) They do it like this
(We are the robots) They do it like this
Like this

I woke to a sound that wasn’t there
The world was still but something stirred

Your name was carved in quiet places
Not in stone — but in the way
The kettle clicks the curtain moves
And silence starts to sway

It’s not the wind it’s not the rain
It’s every pause I can't explain
It’s you beneath the surface
It’s you without a name

I never learned to hold the stillness
Always filled the space with noise
But now I count the absent seconds
Like they were stolen joys

It’s not the sound it’s not the flame
It’s everything that won’t remain
It’s you beneath the surface
It’s you without a name

So I sit in the in-between
And feel what I can’t see
Under the surface
You’re still shaping me

[Intro]
City pulse
Turn it up
시동 걸어
We don’t stop

Late ride clean mood
Windows down smooth groove
No big talk just move
Tonight we choose the view

도로 위에 번진 빛
우리만의 작은 scene
신호가 바뀌면 go
심장은 faster low

천천히 올라가는 speed
But we keep it clean
너와 나의 timing
딱 맞아 like a dream

숨이 조금 뜨거워져
Bass가 몸을 밀어
말은 짧게 눈은 길게
이 밤을 더 열어

City pulse city pulse
속도를 올려 feel the rush
City pulse city pulse
오늘 밤은 all for us

Left right slide
차갑게 빛나는 drive
City pulse city pulse
We ride we ride we ride

City pulse city pulse
기분은 높게 volume up
City pulse city pulse
멈추기엔 너무 young

Turn switch fly
기억에 남을 tonight
City pulse city pulse
We ride we ride we ride

Black jacket soft bass
Good vibe no waste
I see the city on your face
Every second finds its place

핸들 위에 얹은 손
리듬 따라 가는 선
바람이 지나가면
웃음이 먼저 터져

[Rap]
Okay shift it
밤의 온도 lift it
Too smooth don’t miss it
우리 둘만 fit it

속도는 올라가도
머리는 차갑게 둬
Fun mode control
우린 선을 알고 go

Turn left turn right
작은 길도 feels nice
No noise just style
웃어 봐 one more mile

천천히 올라가는 speed
But we keep it clean
너와 나의 timing
딱 맞아 like a dream

숨이 조금 뜨거워져
Bass가 몸을 밀어
말은 짧게 눈은 길게
이 밤을 더 열어

City pulse city pulse
속도를 올려 feel the rush
City pulse city pulse
오늘 밤은 all for us

Left right slide
차갑게 빛나는 drive
City pulse city pulse
We ride we ride we ride

City pulse city pulse
기분은 높게 volume up
City pulse city pulse
멈추기엔 너무 young

Turn switch fly
기억에 남을 tonight
City pulse city pulse
We ride we ride we ride

잠깐만 속도를 낮춰
이 순간을 더 봐줘
급하지 않아도 돼
우린 이미 충분해

If you laugh I know
If I smile you know
다음 길이 열리면
다시 올라가 let’s go

[Final Chorus]
City pulse city pulse
속도를 올려 feel the rush
City pulse city pulse
오늘 밤은 all for us

Left right slide
차갑게 빛나는 drive
City pulse city pulse
We ride we ride we ride

City pulse city pulse
기분은 높게 volume up
City pulse city pulse
멈추기엔 너무 young

Turn switch fly
기억에 남을 tonight
City pulse city pulse
We ride we ride we ride

시동은 켜져
기분은 더 커져
City pulse
We ride we ride

Whispered winds home's call
Mem'ries bloom hearts enthrall
Fireside dreams warm glow
Far away yet I know
Home's embrace I'll stow
Yearning for where I belong
Echoes sing a childhood song

Misty morns dewy lawn
Familiar paths now withdrawn
Laughter echoes in my mind
Comfort's embrace hard to find
Distance stretches miles long
To my roots I long

Oh home sweet home
Wherever I roam
Your essence I keep
In dreams I sleep
Longing never to cease

Though afar I roam
Home my heart's true home

We knew the date before we started
You had a flight I had a lease
Everybody told us not to do it
So we did it anyway

Four weeks is not a lifetime
But it isn't nothing either

Give me August anyway
Give me the ending on the first day
I would rather hold a thing that goes
Than never hold a thing at all
Give me August anyway

(anyway anyway)

Now it's cold and I still know
The exact sound your car made in the drive
People ask me if I'd take it back
And I laugh and I say

Give me August anyway
Give me the ending on the first day
I would rather hold a thing that goes
Than never hold a thing at all
Give me August anyway

Some things are not meant to be kept
Some things are meant to be spent
And I spent it every hour of it
And I would spend it again

Give me August anyway
Give me the ending on the first day
I would rather hold a thing that goes
Than never hold a thing at all
Give me August anyway

Give me August anyway
(anyway anyway)

Bone cold gunshots and rain
Forecast brought me the pain
It won't bleed again

Alone (As we walk through)
The rain (It's forecast)
Whisper (I heard and called)
Your name (Until you came)
These moments (The moments that)
Keep playing (In my mind)
In my brain (Calendar 'til the day)
And as I fade

It'll never be the same again
I never felt this way
I never will again
It was love until it ends
As we cling to faith
(As we fade)

Bone cold gunshots and rain
Forecast brought me the pain
It won't bleed again

How do you hold on
To something that's already gone?
I won't leave you
But I can't stay here for long
A gentle whisper
A gentle touch
A gentle ache inside
At night

It'll never be the same again
I never felt this way
I never will again
It was love until it ends
As we cling to faith
(As we fade)
How many times can a heart be broke
And still fall in love again?
How long can a man hold on?
I'll hold on as long as I can

Eight-oh-five by Saint Michel
Kola had a cake box under one arm
one red shoe in the other hand
He said “My aunt turns sixty”

I heard “aunt” “cake” and “Saturday”
and supplied the missing cinema myself
At Idris’ barbershop I said
“Maybe the man is getting married”

Idris did not repeat my sentence
He gave it catering witnesses
and a cousin arriving from Marseille
with three phones and firm opinions

By nine-fifteen the taxi rank knew the venue
By ten the tailor had chosen gold
By eleven Auntie Binta had named two children
Kola was still looking for candles

Who told you?
No be me
Who confirmed it?
Nobody

Radio trottoir radio trottoir
one little “maybe” took a motorbike
Dem don carry am go dem don add pepper
by lunch that man was married twice

At one he had married the mayor’s niece
At two he had bought a flat in Lisbon
At three he had left her for a singer
whose name nobody could pronounce

At four the church committee wanted answers
about a generator no one had lost
At five I tried to stop the story
That became “He knows more than he is saying”

At six my mother called me:
“Wear something decent
Apparently you are giving the speech
And bring your own chair”

I found Kola beside the pharmacy
still carrying the same red shoe
The cake was for Aunt Mariam
The shoe had fallen from her shopping bag

He stared at me for seven quiet seconds
then asked who I planned to marry
I laughed exactly once
That was my second mistake

Who told you?
No be me
Who confirmed it?
Nobody

Radio trottoir radio trottoir
one little “maybe” took a motorbike
Dem don carry am go dem don add pepper
by lunch that man was married twice

I went home to hide from the bulletin
My neighbour had prepared rice
My sister said a woman named Celeste
had accepted me on my behalf

Who is Celeste? Nobody knows
She may be a dentist
She may be in Dakar
She may have started at Idris’ second chair

My mother likes her already
She says Celeste sounds responsible
There are now two cakes in the kitchen
Neither one belongs to Kola

Wetin happen?
Ask the barber
Who start am?
No be me
Where proof dey?
It left by taxi
Can you stop am?
You fit try

Radio trottoir radio trottoir
no antenna no editor no brakes
By sunset Kola ran the ministry
by midnight I was cutting a second cake

Radio trottoir radio trottoir
every correction opens another branch
I only said “Maybe he is getting married”
Now Celeste is discussing curtains with my aunt

Kola brought the candles
My mother served the rice
Idris arrived with invitations

No be me

You sent a message
Then took it back
I saw enough there
Between each gap

No big confession
No perfect scene
Just two people
Out of routine

I kept my answer
Short and kind
Left all the reasons
Out of my mind

You wanted closure
Clean and small
I gave you nothing
You could call

I used to replay
Every little word
Now I let it pass
Unrehearsed

I used to bend
Just to make us fit
Now I stand straight
And live with it

I’m better without proof
Better without blame
Better without you
Saying my name

I don’t need the last word
I don’t need the truth
I got myself back
Better without proof

Better better
Better without proof
Better better
Better without you

You still look polished
From far away
Like all the damage
Had a clean face

I don’t feel bitter
I don’t feel small
I just feel ready
To want more

Some days are easy
Some days are not
But I don’t bargain
With what I lost

You had your version
I had mine too
Both can be real
And still be through

I used to replay
Every little word
Now I let it pass
Unrehearsed

I used to bend
Just to make us fit
Now I stand straight
And live with it

I’m better without proof
Better without blame
Better without you
Saying my name

I don’t need the last word
I don’t need the truth
I got myself back
Better without proof

Better better
Better without proof
Better better
Better without you

No more checking
If you regret it
No more waiting
For some clean edit

I don’t carry
What we ruined
I just keep moving
Like I’m used to it

You can keep
Your side of pain
I can keep
My new last name

I’m better without proof
Better without blame
Better without you
Saying my name

I don’t need the last word
I don’t need the truth
I got myself back
Better without proof

Better better
Better without proof
Better better
Better without you

I’m better without proof
Better without blame
Better without you
Saying my name

Mm
I don’t need proof now
I just know