[Intro]
(Ooh-ooh-ooh)
(Ooh-ooh-ooh)
(Ooh-ooh-ooh)
(Ooh-ooh-ooh-ooh)
[Verse 1]
Our love is like a river, overflowing over time
Running wild, filled with life
Our love is complicated, living lies and compromise
Side by side, speaking our minds
[Pre-Chorus]
We both made this bed
We can't fit the whole world into it
Tie our threads into a life that fits
[Chorus]
If it's gonna make you happy
If it's gonna set us free
If it's gonna hold us steady
Then it's all we need
If it's gonna make you happy
If it's gonna let us be
If it's gonna hold us steady
Then it's what I need
[Post-Chorus]
(Ooh-ooh-ooh)
(Ooh-ooh-ooh) It's what I want
(Ooh-ooh-ooh) 'Cause I want you, I need you
(Ooh-ooh-ooh-ooh)
[Verse 2]
Your voice brought us forever, but with work and fame and family
We use our minds to light some fires
Our choices bound together, saw the world, made history
We're living free, and honestly
[Pre-Chorus]
So we share this bed rather than lying more in it
Pull the threads, but just don't set fire to this
[Chorus]
If it's gonna make you happy
If it's gonna set us free
If it's gonna hold us steady
Then it's all we need
If it's gonna make you happy
If it's gonna let us be
If it's gonna hold us steady
Then it's what I need
[Post-Chorus]
(Ooh-ooh-ooh)
(Ooh-ooh-ooh) It's what I want
(Ooh-ooh-ooh) 'Cause I want you, I need you
(Ooh-ooh-ooh-ooh-ooh)
[Bridge]
Still their faces come to haunt me
The ghosts I have to share you with
Oh, still to me, they're never walking
In this garden that we've built, oh-oh-oh
[Chorus]
If it's gonna make you happy
If it's gonna set us free
If it's gonna hold us steady
Then it's all we need
If it's gonna make you happy
If it's gonna let us be
If it's gonna hold us steady
Then it's what I need
[Post-Chorus]
(Oh-oh-oh)
(Oh-oh-oh) It's what I want
(Ooh-ooh-ooh) 'Cause I want you, I need you
(Ooh-ooh-ooh-ooh)
Essie & Paul was written by Dan Smith.
Bastille released Essie & Paul on Fri Oct 25 2024.
Dan Smith:
I wanted to write about Paul and Eslanda Robeson, who were husband and wife and civil rights activists. They had a complex relationship and I wanted to capture the compromises of long-term love on this song, as well as giving a musical nod to ‘Eleanor Rigby’ with the track being only str...