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.

Something Inside
Labi Siffre Lyrics

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The higher you build your barriers
The taller I become
The further you take my rights away
The faster I will run
You can deny me, you can decide
To turn your face away
No matter 'cause there's

Something inside so strong
I know that I can make it
Though you're doing me wrong, so wrong
You thought that my pride was gone, oh no
There's something inside so strong
Oh, something inside so strong

The more you refuse to hear my voice (ooh-weh ooh-weh ooh-weh ooh-weh)
The louder I will sing
You hide behind walls of Jericho (ooh-weh ooh-weh ooh-weh ooh-weh)
Your lies will come tumbling
Deny my place in time, you squander wealth that's mine
My light will shine so brightly it will blind you
Because there's

Something inside so strong, strong
I know that I can make it
Though you're doing me wrong, so wrong
You thought that my pride was gone, oh no
There's something inside so strong
Oh, something inside so strong

Brothers and sisters
When they insist we're just not good enough
Well we know better
Just look him in his eyes and say
We're gonna do it anyway
We're gonna do it anyway

There's something inside so strong
And I know that I can make it
Though you're doing me wrong, so wrong
You thought that my pride was gone, oh no
There's something inside so strong, oh
Something inside so strong

Brothers and sisters
When they insist we're just not good enough
Well we know better
Just look him in his eyes and say
We're gonna do it anyway
We're gonna do it anyway
We're gonna do it anyway
We're gonna do it anyway
Because there's

Something inside so strong, (something inside so strong)
I know that I can make it
Though you're doing me wrong, so wrong
You thought that my pride was gone, oh no, oh no
There's something inside so strong
Something inside so strong (oh oh yeah)
I know that I can make it
Though you're doing me wrong, so wrong
You thought that my pride was gone, oh no, oh no
There's something inside so strong

Oh oh, something inside so strong

Oh oh, something inside so strong
Oh oh, something inside so strong

Overall Meaning

The song "Something Inside So Strong" by Labi Siffre is a powerful anthem about strength, perseverance, and determination in the face of adversity. The lyrics speak to the idea that the more someone tries to hold you back or oppress you, the stronger your inner voice becomes. The song begins with the lines "The higher you build your barriers, the taller I become. The further you take my rights away, the faster I will run." These lyrics convey the message that the more obstacles someone puts in your way, the stronger and more resilient you become. The chorus contains the memorable phrase "Something inside so strong," which serves as a reminder that no matter how difficult things may seem, there is always strength to be found within oneself.

Later in the song, Siffre sings, "The more you refuse to hear my voice, the louder I will sing. You hide behind walls of Jericho, your lies will come tumbling." These lyrics express frustration with someone who refuses to listen or acknowledge the value of one's voice and experiences. Siffre turns this frustration into a powerful declaration of his strength and determination.

Line by Line Meaning

The higher you build your barriers
The more you try to keep me out

The taller I become
The stronger I will become in response

The further you take my rights away
The more you try to oppress me

The faster I will run
The harder I will resist

You can deny me, you can decide
You can try to reject me or ignore me

To turn your face away
To refuse to acknowledge my existence

No matter 'cause there's
But it doesn't matter because

Something inside so strong
I have a strength within me

I know that I can make it
I am confident that I can overcome these obstacles

Though you're doing me wrong, so wrong
Even though you're treating me unfairly

You thought that my pride was gone, oh no
You assumed that I had lost my self-respect