Get all 23 Kenny Allen releases available on Bandcamp and save 50%.
Includes unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality downloads of The Great Lonely Lover, Open Highways, Lord Have Mercy, Art! Hurts presents lo and be home ep, Circles, Gone Gone Gone, Get Free, Cards on the Table, and 15 more.
1. |
don't hold back
03:53
|
|
||
don't hold back
when you got nothing to lose
you been waiting all night to say
all the things that have been
running through your mind
you can let it all go today
you could do it in a dance
you could do it in the song
you could clap your hands
you could even sing along
it seemed that time is really on my side
the band had just begun to play
i heard familiar melodies
that made me want to sway
I'd seen her many times before
but never by herself
and here she stood right next to me
still i had to tell myself
don't hold back
when you got nothing to lose
you been waiting so long to say
all the things that have been
running through your mind
you can let it all go today
you could do it in a dance
you could do it in the song
you could clap your hands
you could even sing along
my eagerness built with intensity
but sometimes i tend to over-think
by now the wolves began to come around
to offer her a drink
she turned them down
with laughter and with grace
and then she looked my way
the time had come for us to meet
i thought for goodness sake
don't hold back
when you got nothing to lose
you been waiting all night to say
all the things that have been
running through your mind
you can let it all go be free
you could do it in a dance
you could do it in the song
you could clap your hands
you could even sing along
|
||||
2. |
my star
04:27
|
|
||
ever since the day i laid my eyes on you
you have been the one i wanted to pursue
you keep pushing me so far away
why do you have to play these crazy games you play
all i want to do is to
explore the avenues with you
take a chance for better days
learn to understand your ways
show you who i am
be the best i can
is that so hard to comprehend
that i've become a better man
ever since the day i laid my eyes on you
you have been the one i wanted to pursue
but you keep pushing me so far away
why do we have to play these crazy games we play
when you're gone a long time i'm
waiting on your phone calls they
let me know your near to me
and i always hope we can meet
want to be where you are
no matter, near or far
you're right here in my heart
you are my star
ever since the day i laid my eyes on you
you have been the one i wanted to pursue
but you keep pushing me so far away
why do you have to play these crazy games you play
you are my star
|
||||
3. |
free
03:32
|
|
||
she liked to dance to the
beat of a different drum
she’s amazing in ways that
you just couldn’t imagine
and she’s the only one i know
who can make me, breath take me
elevate me to a placei’ve never known
she ... eswa
i liked to walk around the city
with her all day long
she’ll be laughin and dreamin
about days yet to come
and even though she felt
secure in my arms
past things restricted
the vibe thing going on
she just wants to be free
free
we like to bask in the
heat of the summer sun
it’s engaging, we’re painting
pictures with lovely
feelings of hopeful tomorrow
we had no regret or sorrow
we … enya
i can remember that day
like it was yesterday
we were all at the table
and i had not much to say
cuz right before my eyes
i could see you were there
and not here any more
just like that the end of we
we just couldn’t be free
|
||||
4. |
rainbows around the sun
04:14
|
|
||
Rainbows around the sun
in the skies of Ethiopia yay a
woke up this morning to a beautiful vision
war eradicated with a peaceful incision
everyone enjoying the love of each other
like a baby in the hands of a joyful mother
i praise the will of the holy father
cuz if i didn't i wouldn't bother
it's so amazing the times that we live in
to see the miracles and marvels we're given
Rainbows around the sun
in the skies of Ethiopia yay a
one man say that the cause is pollution
another man say it's divine protection
i way through a sea of projections
i see them as a source of infections
times are so critical we look for the answers
in such a way that it spreads like cancer
might be the calling of our ancestors
Divide and rule becomes a source of reflection
Rainbows around the sun
in the skies of Ethiopia yay a
|
||||
5. |
good feelings
03:50
|
|
||
good feelings
starts by the sound of your laughter
goes on with the smell of your perfume
When you smile it's like
the rays of the morning sun
filling me with the warmth of a summer day
lips so intoxicating
making me want to bring you in closer
eyes like windows to heaven
making me want to go where they lead me
i've got somethin' inside of me
because of you and i like it
and there's nothing
no one could say or do
to take away these emotions
(chorus)
time stops
whenever i'm with you
one day without you
feels like an eternity
when i'm out you bring me
back to my senses
you know how to
put my soul at ease
sometimes it's like
you're reading my mind
understanding me so completely
heart's generous with that loving
give me more than
a man could ever need
i got somethin' inside of me because of you and i like it
and there's nothing no one could say or do to take away these emotions
(chorus)
you give me feelings of joy
feelings of peace
stillness of the heart
things that i truly adore
(vamp)
|
||||
6. |
another friday night
03:10
|
|
||
not on the same page, not even the same book
we got no oil or no fire to make this thing cook
i tried real hard but my patience running low
tried to foot the bill and she ran out the door
what do i do do i follow her out
or do i watch her fade away like food in the mouth
it ain't cute to me not even subtly
the way she carried me it's so clear to see
girls lookin good but they mind ain't ready
adjust ya levels so that the groove stay steady
i'm sitting here and i'm all alone
anutha saturday night in the city
they calling outta turn, lessons they never learn
under my skin like the worst case ofsunburn
i was all smiles but my feelings got hurt
4 years up and running that's a mighty long spurt
don't understand why they don,t understand
cuz i'm the man with the mic in my hand
wise man told me you can't teach the unteachable
specially when you reaching for heights that seem unreachable
girls lookin good but they mind ain't ready
adjust ya levels so that the groove stay steady
i'm sitting here and i'm all alone
anutha saturday night in the city
facebook chat i'm like the mecca don and
i be chatting konjit's til the earning morn
most one's that i like come from across the pond
get my engine's running then so long
when i find myself at memo's like an editor collecting stories
bizu ferenjioooch macking the local shawties
bout to jump up into this lada back to bole rwanda
hisab amchiling and i'm gone, ...uh
girls lookin good but they mind ain't ready
adjust ya levels so that the groove stay steady
i'm sitting here and i'm all alone
anutha saturday night in the city
i'm not talking bout the one's that got their own thing
ideas and visions
givin real talk with precision
keepin it cool without insisting
on nothing but the vibe at hand
i hope you understand that if the shoe don't fit
you don't have to wear it
it's just a story and i felt i had to share it
gotta bounce cuz my taxi just arrived
guess i'll be sitting all alone on yet another friday night
|
||||
7. |
don't know why
04:02
|
|
||
they got me running around this crazy town and
i don't even no why
they got me thinking about the ways around and
i don't even no why
fresh on the block and proceed to text
the easiest one i could get to my bet
network bein busy make it hard to flex
this one on the phone so damn who's next
check the inbox looking for some leads
cuz last nights chats i was planting seeds
soft sales like a busy shop owner
one of these days i'm a find myself on her
this activity is extra curricular
i'm doing it for no reason in particular
i'm just just wildin' out in this ancient land
with a new brand new culture
and a language i don't really understand
i do it cuz i can
and everybody tell you i'm your number one fan
you like a gift under the tree still in the wrapper
but yet i'm steppin out on the scene lookin dapper
somehow they got me
you on the case like a private eye
finding mysterious things next to by my bedside
i been tryin clean it up but they turning into stalkers
late night calls so strange and awkward
you standing by my side and it feels good
you like a ghetto chick , you straight hood
inna africa , you a new breed
let's take it forward eni hed
i been thinking bout the depths of your your loyalty
i can't match it you like royalty
temptation like a mother,it,s probably
the best route for me to see just how to be
cool, calm and collected
got me in the midst of a crazy introspective
and i can't help but think to devour
a brand new conquest every hour
they got me
when i think about it carefully
i can't see nothing better than you and me
we got something that just can't compare
a real connection that's oh so rare
but everyday i'm driving down these roads
and curiosity can bare a load
man is weak when he thinks he's strong
i realize it when you say your gone
|
||||
8. |
relax your mind
04:04
|
|
||
we comin' to rock the spot
and we wanna make sure
that your feeling alright
we comin to catch a vibe
so put your hands in the air
if you're happy to be alive
we comin to make it bounce
gonna try to make it move
til the morning light
we come in the name of love
so relax your mind
and feel free tonight
Just Relax your mind...
Out witcha girls
you're looking good
i see you move
just like you should
with that futuristic
exotic beauty
you know my name
i know your range
don't have to play
rules of these games
let me tell you what we're doing
(Chorus)
i'm doing fine
walking the streets
fresh off fm
the meet and greets
i'm so happy with
what we're doing
but i gotta go
to rehearsal
beats in my mind
keepin' me on time
you could say
we show and provin'
(Chorus)
i said a lotta folks come in the spot with high expectations
typically the new generations
i'm in this joint like a teen sensation
walking bole road from the radio station
high school chicks be like,"are you kenny allen"
and i be like,"yes i am" with a school boy smile and
grown and sexy chicks be honking their horns
but i got the iTouch in my ears and the mirror shades on
it ain't like i'm out here tryna be cool,
i'm just out here representing 202
i said, it ain't like i'm out here tryna be cool,
i'm just out here representing 202
(Chorus)
|
||||
9. |
|
|||
if they never latch on to this funky sound
i'll still be standing on solid ground
gotta gift in this, stay swift with this
music makin journey, global people learnin
never in a hurry, i keep a fire burning
clocks stay turning, like butter i be churning
with a smooth vibe transfer
groove is the answer
at times i get lost in the rhythm of dancers
as they rock and they roll into the late night hours
most of them beautiful like fresh cut flowers
can't pick em all, choose beats instead
cuz that is the way a brother earns his bread
to all the haters in the room u betta recognize
we continue to move as we organize
you can say what you want but you can't block
cuz we gone rock we gone rock
and you can't stop
you got the title of promoter but what you promotin
same old dudes who be barely coastin'
they non original rehashing my old stuff
that i rehashed myself to define my known self
if you ask on the streets everybody knows it
cuz i stay on the grind, you see my picture on posters
global to atlas, gerji to lancha
bole to piassa, even shashemane rastas
we soar and we glide to a state of nirvana
jolly, uptown, getting down in arada
got the 251 Band mashing up the bandstand
brothers in music, cats who really understand and
to all the haters in the room u betta recognize
we continue to groove as you criticize
you can say what you want but you can't block
cuz we gone rock we gone rock
and you can't stop
you can't stop the rock
living in the 251 let's rock the spot
ethiopian thoughts, abyssinian dreams
on the top of the rock
letting off my steam, yup
abyssinia, yes abyssinia
if i was gone, i would surely be missing ay
she's so bright, make my eyes so blind
ET girl hot, wanna press rewind
making my music, mind revolution
when we on stage we be wildin' and lotion'
my inspiration comes from a lifestyle
wake up in addis wait 'til the lights out
take my break, go to the south-side
might get a beer and i'm gone' smoke outside
never gone' stop, hard like a rock
here in ethiopia until the clock stop
verse 4 going out to the loyal fans
who be showing brothers love when they shake and dance
whether they wearing the t's or copping cd's
it's a blessing to know that we spreading peace
in this land so magical and mystical
a real chance of a lifetime, a miracle
and if you see me walking down the street, don't hesitate
to say wassup cuz i really do appreciate the family
stay cool quite candidly
when cats can't standing me
they blacklist banning me
chances not handing me
just not fond of me
while others i don't know taking pictures and they tagging me
to all the haters in the room u betta recognize
you continue to lose when you minimize
you can say what you want but you can't block
cuz we gone rock we gone rock
and you can't stop
|
Kenny Allen Washington, D.C.
Kenny Allen is a singer/songwriter/multi-instrumentalist/producer based in Washington, DC.
Streaming and Download help
If you like Kenny Allen, you may also like:
Bandcamp Daily your guide to the world of Bandcamp