Zheng Yi Sao & Questions For Her directs questions for inspiration towards the titular Zheng Yi Sao, famed Chinese female pirate. Throughout the song, the questioner inquires about the myriad of hurtles and paradoxes that she faced as well as confronting the most poignant question: why was someo...
[Verse 1]
What if you can end your days
Doing the shit you love with the ones you love?
You beat the house at its own game
So why did your name get lost when you've built so much?
[Pre-Chorus]
How did you find grace
Under pressure, all that pressure?
How did you step away
From your empire? Did it just get tired?
[Chorus]
And when the time comes
I'd love to know how, how did you do it?
I'd love to know how, how did you do it?
The waves were high, but somehow you ruled them
How did you do it? Oh, how did you do it?
No easy life, but somehow you schooled them
How did you do it? Oh, how did you do it?
[Verse 2]
You made the boys all bend and shake
Taking the southern seas with some husband's name
But the man-made arms of history
Then pulled you behind their cloak so predictably
[Pre-Chorus]
What drove you to the waves?
Was it money? Was it power?
Did it take a woman's mind to say
You were ready, it was over?
[Chorus]
And when the time comes
I'd love to know how, how did you do it?
I'd love to know how, how did you do it?
The waves were high, but somehow you ruled them
How did you do it? Oh, how did you do it?
No easy life, but somehow you schooled them
How did you do it? Oh, how did you do it?
[Outro]
Ah, ayy
Da-da, da-da, da-da-da-da, da-da
Da-da, da-da, da-da-da-da, da-da
Zheng Yi Sao & Questions For Her was written by Dan Smith.
Zheng Yi Sao & Questions For Her was produced by Dan Smith & Mark Crew.
Bastille released Zheng Yi Sao & Questions For Her on Fri Oct 25 2024.
Dan Smith:
Another figure that Emma directed me towards was Zheng Yi Sao, who ran a piracy empire that was so big it challenged the Chinese empire in the early 19th century. It’s crazy to me that she isn’t more well-known and this song looks back at her with awe from the present day, asking how she...