Sammus spells it out in the intro. This song is all about that wonderful feeling of nostalgia and longing for childhood’s simple days.
The many references to 90s video games, movies and kids' books set the song in the “strange and distant land” of childhood escapism.
There’s a rose-coloured message...
[Intro]
This is a song about being a kid...
Cuz being a grown-up sucks
[Verse 1]
My folks fresh off the plane
They both weathered the pain
With postcards and they prayed for some co-stars
Had a baby like Mozart
Guitar virtuoso
Like Tom Morello with Zack de la Rocha
While I did homework pronto
On the sofa reading Roald Dahl
Booted up the console
One controller for my road dog
Ride with Koji Kondo
Then with Toadstool in my go-kart
Broha throwin’ combos
Goin’ postal yelling, “Ultra!”
Hoping Papa don’t preach like he usually do
Make a big speech, he a choosy dude, yeah
And Mama cook eats like egusi soup
Right before sleep “I Love Lucy” too
Now we singing:
“Nick at Night the place for TV hits”
Now I’m trippin’ like I’m Dick Van Dyke
Damn! I miss when we were kids
Steady trippin’ like:
[Chorus]
Let’s go away for a while
I’m a child
It’s a strange and distant land
Where we only speak the truth
Everyone understands how we play
Back in the day
[Verse 2]
Instead of bitches and hoes
We talked glitches and holes in plot twists
And the pros of the Mach 6
With steady giggles and lulz
We went through each of the shows on Fox Kids
Wanna slow the clock’s ticks
Passin’ time
Talkin’ Skywalker, Cyclops, or Saibamen
Arkham Asylum
Imbibed Where the Sidewalk Ends
Guile to MacGyver to Pride Rock to Frylock
And fights with Noob Saibot or Psylocke and Psyduck
And I spent a summer
Overdosin’ on Pokémon
Chillin’ with my brother
On the sofa while home alone
Any time it thundered
Then we’d wanna run close to mom
I remember postin’ with my bros in Hiroshima
Yeah whether Christmas or it’s Halloween
Fuck a distance they will always be a part of me
If life an RPG I want 'em in my party
We an army thick as Heifer, Filbert, and the modern wallaby
We gotta be
[Chorus]
Let’s go away for a while
I’m a child
It’s a strange and distant land
Where we only speak the truth
Everyone understands how we play
Back in the day