Marlon Roudette was born in London and is the son of Cameron McVey, a Briti… Read Full Bio ↴Marlon Roudette was born in London and is the son of Cameron McVey, a British music producer, and Vonnie Roudette, a designer and artist from Saint Vincent and the Grenadines. He's also the stepson of Neneh Cherry. As a young child he moved with his mother and sister to St. Vincent, where he began his music career, and returned to London when he was 18. He was a member of R&B / Hip Hop act Mattafix. The New Age Songfacts reports that their single "Big City Life" was an international hit topping the charts in Austria, Germany, Italy, New Zealand, Poland and Switzerland. However the band lost their record deal and they were forced to break up meaning Roudette had to go solo.

City Like This
Marlon Roudette Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

A city like this
Won’t understand
Won’t get to know you
Won’t hold your hand
Where comfort’s a subway car
Voices are drowned
And warmth is a feeling
From steam underground

In a city like this
Where dreams are for real
And laid out before you
In concrete and steel
You talk to yourself
To make it alright
You do what you can
To get through the night

How could you know
Your life was leading
To a moment like this
How could you stop
Your heart from breaking
In a city like this
In a city like this

Losing my faith, losing my mind
Trying to keep up one street at a time
There’s no way you’ll ever find me here
In a city like this

A city like this
Like any place I know
Can change in a minute
We pay as we go
We’re measuring progress in profit and wealth
You thought you could own a piece for yourself

How could you know
Your life was leading
To a moment like this
How could you stop
Your heart from breaking
In a city like this
In a city like this

Losing my faith, losing my mind
Trying to keep up one street at a time
There’s no way you’ll ever find me here
In a city like this
In a city like this

How could you know
Your life was leading
To a moment like this
How could you stop
Your heart from breaking
In a city like this
In a city like this

Losing my faith, losing my mind

Trying to keep up one street at a time
There’s no way you’ll ever find me here

Overall Meaning

The lyrics to Marlon Roudette’s “City Like This” speak about the struggles and hardships that come with living in a big city. The first few lines describe how the city won't hold your hand or bother to get to know you, leaving you feeling isolated and alone. The second verse emphasizes the harsh reality of chasing your dreams, trying to survive one day at a time, and talking to yourself to keep going. The chorus laments the difficulty in finding your place and purpose in such a fast-paced, profit-driven, and ever-changing city, leading to a loss of faith, mind, and self. The final lines reinforce the idea of how hard it is to cope and survive in a city like this.

Overall, the song is an accurate portrayal of what it’s like to live in a large metropolitan city, where the hustle and bustle can become overwhelming and exhausting. It highlights the struggle to find your place, connect with others on a deeper level, and maintain your mental and emotional wellbeing amidst the chaos.

Line by Line Meaning

A city like this
This city, with all its characteristics, restrictions, and nuances

Won’t understand
Will not grasp or comprehend your thoughts, feelings, or emotions

Won’t get to know you
Will not make an attempt to know you on a personal level

Won’t hold your hand
Will not support, guide or comfort you in your journey

Where comfort’s a subway car
Where a comfortable and safe haven is just limited to the space inside a subway car

Voices are drowned
Where the cacophony of sounds overpowers all spoken words and conversations

And warmth is a feeling
A sense of belonging, companionship or security is abstract and elusive

From steam underground
The only source of warmth in this bustling metropolis lies beneath the ground, in the form of steam pipes and vents

Where dreams are for real
A place where one's aspirations have the potential to be realized

And laid out before you
However, the notion of success and triumph is laid out in a concrete, predestined manner in front of you

In concrete and steel
Emphasizing the unforgiving and unyielding nature of the environment, and the challenges and difficulties that come with it

You talk to yourself
To cope and deal with the stresses and pressures of the city, it becomes a necessity to talk to oneself

To make it alright
To comfort oneself and convince oneself that everything will be okay

You do what you can
To overcome and survive in the harsh reality of the city, one must do whatever it takes

To get through the night
To make it through each day, which is full of challenging obstacles, one must persevere and hold on to hope

Losing my faith, losing my mind
Amidst the chaos and turmoil of the city, the artist is losing their faith and mental stability

Trying to keep up one street at a time
The artist is struggling to keep up with the rapid pace of life, in which everything is happening one street at a time

There’s no way you’ll ever find me here
The singer is saying that they don't belong in a city like this and that it's impossible for anyone to ever find them in such a place

Like any place I know
Looking at it objectively, this city is similar to any other city the singer knows

Can change in a minute
The city has the propensity to transform, alter, or turn upside down in a moment's notice

We pay as we go
The progress and growth of the city come at a cost, and society is continually paying it

We’re measuring progress in profit and wealth
The city's success and evolution are determined by how much profit and wealth it generates and accumulates

You thought you could own a piece for yourself
The dream of owning a piece of this city or its success is a mirage that can never be realized

Lyrics © BMG Rights Management
Written by: MARLON MCVEY, MARLON ROUDETTE, NICKY HOLLAND

Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind

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