Lyrics: Adiós by Benjamin Clementine

Lest the trees cease breathing
Lest the bees cease breeding
And all the salts in the dead sea ferments to honey

Until then, I will be forever
Chasing, chasing, chasing it all till the very end
The decision is mine
Let the lesson be mine
‘Cause the vision is mine
The decision is mine
Let the lesson be mine
‘Cause the vision is mine

These first lines, and really, you should listen to them, moved me to tears. This is such wonderful poetry, such a great, unpolished voice.

The song, Adiós, is a nice variation on the theme of no regret:

Yes, goodbye, adiós
Adios to the little child in me
Who kept on blaming everyone else
Instead facing his own defeat in Edmonton
After all, I should have no regret

Benjamin Clementine’s lyrics are poetic in the sense that they are not trivial and deploy interesting and original metaphors. I’m glad that such artists are alive today, because the erase (not: bridge) the gap between poetry and ‘mere entertainment’.

I almost forgot, foolish me I almost forgot
Where I am from I see the rain before the rain even starts to rain (from: condoleances)

When I go to bed in the night, I see some children in the light
Fighting unknown shadows behind my mother’s back (from: I won’t complain)