Vampire Weekend
Vampire Weekend
Vampire Weekend
Vampire Weekend
Vampire Weekend
Vampire Weekend
Vampire Weekend
Vampire Weekend
Vampire Weekend
Vampire Weekend
Vampire Weekend
Vampire Weekend
Vampire Weekend
Vampire Weekend
“Step” is inspired by “Step to My Girl” by Souls of Mischief. Per the band:
“Souls Of Mischief I’ve always loved. I kind of associate them with the first time that I really started become a music fan as a young teenager. This song apparently was recorded around the time of their first album, which...
[Intro]
Every time I see you in the world, you always step to my girl
[Verse 1]
Back, back, way back I used to front like Angkor Wat
Mechanicsburg, Anchorage and Dar es Salaam
While home in New York was champagne and disco
Tapes from L.A. slash San Francisco
But actually Oakland and not Alameda
Your girl was in Berkeley with her Communist reader
Mine was entombed within boombox and Walkman
I was a hoarder, but girl, that was back then
[Chorus]
The gloves are off, the wisdom teeth are out
What you on about?
I feel it in my bones
I feel it in my bones
I'm stronger now, I'm ready for the house
Such a modest mouse
I can't do it alone
I can't do it alone
[Refrain]
Every time I see you in the world
You always step to my girl
[Verse 2]
Ancestors told me that their girl was better
She's richer than Croesus, she's tougher than leather
I just ignore all the tales of her past life
Stale conversation deserves but a bread knife
And punks who would laugh when they saw us together
Well, they didn't know how to dress for the weather
I can still see them there, huddled on Astor
Snow falling slow to the sound of the master
[Chorus]
The gloves are off, the wisdom teeth are out
What you on about?
I feel it in my bones
I feel it in my bones
I'm stronger now, I'm ready for the house
Such a modest mouse
I can't do it alone
I can't do it alone
[Bridge]
Wisdom's a gift, but you'd trade it for youth
Age is an honor, it's still not the truth
We saw the stars when they hid from the world
You cursed the sun when it stepped to your girl
Maybe she's gone and I can't resurrect her
The truth is she doesn't need me to protect her
We know the true death, the true way of all flesh
Everyone's dying, but girl, you're not old yet
[Chorus]
Gloves are off, the wisdom teeth are out
What you on about?
I feel it in my bones
I feel it in my bones
I'm stronger now, I'm ready for the house
Such a modest mouse
I can't do it alone
I can't do it alone
Gloves are off, the wisdom teeth are out
What you on about?
I feel it in my bones
I feel it in my bones
I'm stronger now, I'm ready for the house
Such a modest mouse
I can't do it alone
I can't do it alone
[Outro]
Every time I see you in the world
You always step to my girl
Step was written by Ezra Koenig.
Step was produced by Ariel Rechtshaid & Rostam.
Vampire Weekend released Step on Tue May 14 2013.
Ezra Koenig explained the lengthy sample and interpolation clearing process for “Step” on Ep. 17 of his Beats 1 Radio Show Time Crisis.
Koenig was interesting in using the chorus and melody to Souls of Mischief’s “Step To My Girl”. He later learned that the melody was sampled from Grover Washington...
When I finally heard “Step,” it was so good; I was just happy we were able to be part of that. I’ve heard so many terrible “'93 ‘Til Infinity” remakes that it’s refreshing to hear something that is actually not a remake but is an “inspired by.”
— Tajai, The Daily Swarm, 2013