Famed for his largely improvised shows, that see Jamie constructing his tracks live, voicing and layering right in front of your eyes, effortlessly whipping them out of the air and forging them into clanking electro riffs and deathprod funk grooves.
Likened to Sly Stone, Prince and Little Richard, he is Britain's voice of soul for the new era.
Jamie is/was half of the Super_collider project. He has also helped write and produce on the albums of Mocky, who in return drums in his live band.
You Are Waking
Jamie Lidell Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Nothing beating till I met you
Now it's back and racing
And this me wants to grab you
One by one, let's take it all off
One by one, let's strip it down
Something sleeping
Something sleeping inside
You are waking
Something sleeping
Something sleeping inside
And it's all coming out
And it's all coming out
It's all coming out now
Got so good at building illusions
Almost believed they were real
Tried so hard to keep up the facade
In the end I just wanted to feel
Guess I never letcha see
The whole picture
Never let you see
The whole of me
You are waking
Something sleeping
Something sleeping inside
You are waking
Something sleeping
Something sleeping inside
And it's all coming out
And it's all coming out
It's all coming out now
Learnt to live without a heart
Till 14 years passed in the dark
Pushed down the pain painted over the cracks
But you were not afraid too peel it all back
See I've become a stranger to my soul
Forgotten what I look like
Underneath it all
My troubled soul
You are waking
Something sleeping
Something sleeping inside
You are waking
Something sleeping
Something sleeping inside
And it's all coming out
And it's all coming out
It's all coming out now
In these lyrics, Jamie Lidell opens up about how meeting someone new has seemingly awakened something inside of him that he didn't know was there. He compares himself to a "longtime zombie" who didn't feel anything before this new connection. Now that he's feeling alive again, he wants to "grab" onto this new person and explore everything with them, one by one, "stripping down" whatever barriers exist between them. Lidell seems relieved to have finally been able to get to this point, as he talks about becoming skilled at building "illusions" and keeping up false appearances for so long. He never allowed anyone to see the "whole picture" of who he was until now, and he thanks this new person for "waking" something up inside of him that had been "sleeping" for so long.
The chorus of the song repeats the line "You are waking something sleeping inside," signifying the idea that this new person has brought something to light that had been buried deep inside Lidell. He acknowledges that it's all "coming out now," indicating that he's prepared to face whatever those revelations might entail. He talks about trying to live "without a heart" for a long time, but that this new love has peeled back the layers for him and shown him parts of himself he had been hiding. He ends the song by repeating the "You are waking" chorus, possibly indicating that he's grateful and excited to see where this new awakening will take him.
Line by Line Meaning
Longtime zombie
For a long time, I was going through life in a trance, devoid of passion or energy
Nothing beating till I met you
I didn't feel anything until I encountered you, and now my heart races with feeling
Now it's back and racing
My heart has come back to life, and it beats with excitement and anticipation because of you
And this me wants to grab you
This passionate, awakened part of me wants to hold onto you and never let go
One by one, let's take it all off
Let's open up to each other and reveal our true selves, one layer at a time
One by one, let's strip it down
Let's remove all the illusions and facades that we've created, and be vulnerable with each other
You are waking
You are stirring something deep inside of me, and bringing me out of my lethargic state
Something sleeping
There was a part of me that was dormant and unawakened before I met you
Something sleeping inside
It was a deep-seated part of my being, that was waiting to be woken up by someone special
And it's all coming out
All those feelings and emotions that were buried deep inside me are finally being expressed
Got so good at building illusions
I became an expert at creating a façade, and making others believe that it was the real me
Almost believed they were real
I started to believe my own illusions, and forgot who I really was beneath it all
Tried so hard to keep up the facade
I put a lot of effort into maintaining the illusion of who I was supposed to be, instead of being myself
In the end I just wanted to feel
All the fake glamour and illusions were empty and unfulfilling, and I just wanted to experience genuine emotion
Guess I never letcha see
I realize now that I never showed you the real me, and that I kept part of myself hidden from you
The whole picture
I never let you see the full scope of my emotions, feelings, and true personality
Never let you see
I was afraid of being vulnerable, and didn't want to show you my true self
Learnt to live without a heart
I shut down my emotions and lived a life devoid of passion, feeling like a zombie
Till 14 years passed in the dark
I lived like that for a long time, 14 years to be exact, feeling lost and in the dark
Pushed down the pain painted over the cracks
I dealt with my emotional pain by ignoring it and hiding it behind a mask, pretending that everything was ok
But you were not afraid too peel it all back
You helped me face my fears and showed me that it was ok to be vulnerable and open up
See I've become a stranger to my soul
I lost touch with who I really was, and felt disconnected from my own inner self
Forgotten what I look like
I forgot who I was underneath all the illusions, and lost sight of my true identity
Underneath it all
Deep down, there was a part of me that was yearning to be uncovered and rediscovered
My troubled soul
My soul was troubled, weighed down by the emotional baggage I had been carrying for so long
It's all coming out now
Thanks to you, all those repressed emotions and feelings are finally being expressed and released
Contributed by Liam G. Suggest a correction in the comments below.