New Maps

I used to know these parts
But now they draw this town with new maps
Now a complete stranger
Looking at me like I am the danger

I used to know these parts
But now they draw this town with new maps
Now a complete stranger
Looking at me like I am the danger

Snap the heels of your Jimmy Choos
Vomit up your green juice and burn in your hot yoga studio
Wash the feet of a nurse
Who worked for 25 years keeping this community alive
Ask her for advice on how to live when you feel her calloused soles
Ask her about making a home and raising a family

You missed the point
People first, things after
Do you want to live somewhere with meaning
Or do you want to live somewhere with a faint idea of meaning
You have no clue about what it means to dress up for church
Where there are drums and tambourines
You have no respect for culture
You never seek divinity in the common man
Beneath the wallpaper of your penthouse is a council house
Wallpapers are filled with chicken stew and fried plantain
Beneath your parquet floors, cocoa butter babies crawl
For you diversity is a tropical cocktail
And as long as everyone on your street looks just like you
It’s all good

I used to know these parts
And now they draw this town with new maps
Now a complete stranger
Looking at me like I am the danger

I used to know these parts
And now they draw this town with new maps
Now a complete stranger
Looking at me like I am the danger

Do you know how many grassroots artists
Sung into microphones amongst raves and head dives
Before it was your fine wine shop
Can you feel the vibrations amongst the merlot
I walked these holy streets
Remembering reggae shops and patties made to crispy perfection
There was sacredness in community striving
You are erasing the mystery and crackle of excitement
The mix of dreams of a people who came here from everywhere to make a world
Tower blocks of bass are now statues of silence

Does heritage mean nothing to you
Does lineage mean nothing to you
Does a man making a living
Selling fruit for 18 years mean nothing to you
Asking about the philosophy behind a ripe and bruised mango
You learn more than your expensive therapist
Then taste it
Let it take you to different lines and feel the juice filling you up
The only dance you’ve done is ballet
You are a tragedy to tradition
A tragedy to tradition

I used to know these parts
And now they draw this town with new maps
Now a complete stranger
Looking at me like I am the danger