[Intro: John Agard & José Ferrer as Cyrano de Bergerac]
Explain yuself wha yu mean when yu say half-caste
Ah listening to yu wid de keen half of mih ear
An when I sleep at night I close half a eye
Consequently I dream, I dream half a dream
An when moon begin to glow, I half-caste human being
Cast half a shadow
...be afraid? Love more to make a visit than a poem?
Seek introductions, favors, influences?
No, thank you
No, I thank you and again, I thank you

[Verse 1: Loyle Carner]
Yeah, uh, small man cast a big shadow
Ready and raggo, heart stay dodging from the arrow
Skin of my teeth, late nights I was paro
Sweet to the bone, to the marrow, the marshmallow
Yeah, wonder why the waters so shallow
The sun was my ally, the night was my gallows
Uh, cooking up thе chips in the tallow
Invisibility cloak like the hallows
Black likе tobacco, black like the lungs that my dad
Smoked away in the days that the hate stayed narrow
I'm from the age where the hate seems macro
We keep a little oil in the afro, The Black Sparrow
Hit the high seas, straight like Sopranos
The streets still hot like Serrano, saran wrap
Around the bad taps so we had to grab the hose
Let the cold water flow over man's nose
[Chorus: Loyle Carner]
Yeah, I'm black like the key on the piano
White like the keys on the piano, low ammo
Uh, black like the key on the piano
White like the key on the piano

[Verse 2: Loyle Carner]
Fascinated by the pyramids, masquerading as the infamous
Reminisce thirteen, back flipping and ninja kicks
Was emceeing but no one getting me into this
Been emceeing since I found out this shit exists
This shit that fills the pain as the wisdom spits
Out of the ink and drip, the feels of the wings unclipped
The beats I ripped 'til I got sent a batch of my own
Now I let the speakers bang out your home
Uh, and let the words flow out my dome
As a spoken poem, let it levitate your zone
I'm the homegrown preacher, the creeper, Thai, not sativa
But these days I wouldn't smoke either
S-O-B-E-R, I take a breather
Pink lungs, yo, I got my mind looking cleaner
The deep sleeper, ayo, I came back sweeter
Can't lie, I'm still afraid of Grim Reaper
Uh, put another verse into the ether
I hit the corner giving twenty pounds to Peter
[Chorus: Loyle Carner]
It's like that, key on the piano
Black like the key on the piano, no ammo
Ayo, I'm white like the key on the piano
Black like the key on the piano, no ammo

[Outro: John Agard]
When Tchaikovsky sit down at dah piano
An mix a black key wid a white key
Is a half-caste symphony