Labi Siffre (born June 25, 1945) is an English poet, songwriter, and singer… Read Full Bio ↴Labi Siffre (born June 25, 1945) is an English poet, songwriter, and singer. Born the fourth of five children to a Barbadian/Belgian mother and a Nigerian father and raised in Bayswater and Hampstead, London, he was educated at a Catholic monastery school, St Benedict's School in Ealing. His musical influences included Thelonious Monk, Miles Davis, Charlie Mingus, Jimmy Reed, Wes Montgomery, Billie Holiday, Jimmy Reed, and Mel Tormé. In July 1964, he met his partner Peter Lloyd, and the two officially became partners under the Civil Partnership Act 2004 when the Act entered into force in December 2005.

Siffre released his first six albums of songs between 1970 and 1975, and a further three albums between 1988 and 1998. During this period he had several solo hits, including "It Must Be Love" (No. 14, 1971) (later covered by and a No. 4 hit for Madness, for which Siffre himself appeared in the video); "Crying, Laughing, Loving, Lying" (No. 11, 1972); and "Watch Me" (No. 29, 1972). In 1978 two of his songs, "Solid Love" (performed by Siffre) and "We Got It Bad" (co-written and performed by Bob James) reached the UK finals of the BBC's A Song for Europe. His 1987 hit "(Something Inside) So Strong", which reached No. 4, was an anti-Apartheid anthem that won the Ivor Novello Award for "Best Song Musically and Lyrically", and has since been used in Amnesty International campaigns, a television advertisement and Alice Walker's film against female genital mutilation: Warrior Marks.

In 1997, Siffre's play "DeathWrite" was staged at the Sherman Theatre in Cardiff and later televised.

His song "I Got The..." was sampled in rapper Eminem's hit single "My Name Is," Siffre, who is openly gay, said in an interview that he turned down the offer to approve the song at first until the original sexist and homophobic lyrics were removed: "Dissing the victims of bigotry – women as bitches, homosexuals as faggots – is lazy writing. Diss the bigots not their victims." Siffre eventually allowed its usage when he was sent a censored "clean" version, not realizing that he was also allowing the riffs use on the alternative "dirty" versions with the original lyrics.

In 1984 Siffre began writing poetry and has since released three books of poetry: "Blood on the Page" 1995 and "Monument" 1997. His poetry addresses a variety of themes, from theology and childhood to sociology, love, hate, language, critical thinking, and communication. In 2006, he released a new album, The Last Songs.

Pristine Verses
Labi Siffre Lyrics

She wrote pristine verses on the ceiling of my soul
Till the British Museum said sl-o-o-ow down
She sang Angelique songs till the devil took tongs
, and pulled the fire out
It′s hard to bare, someone so stunning.
Makes you tired
You realize your whole life's misfired
Then the seamstress touched me and my stitches fell away
And the choir was singing
Tho I could not hear a word they said

Your falling up to heaven, but you′re the wrong way down

Pandemonium in the palace, desperation on the throne
To tell the first, that first is last you see
She's finally gone home
She wrote 16 verses that my memory slipped upon
Tho my clutching fingers held some pieces and the song

Its hard to bare, someone so stunning.
Makes you tired
You realize your whole life's misfired
Pandemonium in the palace, desperation on the throne
To tell the first, that first is last you see
She′s finally gone home
She wrote 16 verses that my memory slipped upon
Tho my clutching fingers held some pieces and the song

Writer(s): Labi Siffre

Contributed by James T. Suggest a correction in the comments below.

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