[Verse 1]
Round here
These cannibal kids want to be kings
They don’t see that kindness is courage
Or that sympathy sings
Much louder than violence
They are bitter and drained
Eyes of ice stare from figures of flames
They puff-chested, restless, nameless
They've carried their pain
To the point of being painless
Numb ones, young ones
New latch-keys of London
Soaking up the humdrum
And it makes them want to run from
The state they’re in
Powerless, penniless
Feathers clipped, they find eagles’ wings
In the derelict brotherhood of gang-life
That bang-bang life
That shouts louder than a sarcastic teacher
Clapping hands twice
And staring down a frightened nose
They learned that respect comes from striking a pose
That demands it
But we know respect and fear are not compatible
A long way from bat and ball
They don’t play, they let daggers fall
From blood-soaked fingers
While their siblings lie bleeding in hallways dead
But like wisdom has always said
Blood begets blood and keeps spilling
So the pavements are stained
And our hearts are grief-stricken
[Chorus]
Round here
Cannibal kids want to be kings
But there ain’t no royalty left
Round here
Sirens and the screams float on the wind
And even the street shudders
Afraid of our footsteps
Round here
Cannibal kids want to be kings
But there ain’t no royalty left
Sirens and the screams float on the wind
And even the street shudders

[Verse 2]
While that paranoid panic
Goes seeping through the granite
Of the breeze-blocks
Turning our cities into sheep-flocks
I pity those whose knees knock
The victims of the media machine
Poor souls who’ve forgotten how to dream
You see, that cut-throat mentality's
Encouraged in business
They tell you, to be a successful
You’ve got to step on some necks
So big money is made through that corporate pursuit
They’re selling water and jailing kids for selling couple suits
Please, born into blood-soaked cities of industry
Informed of the savagery
The infamy, barbarity of history
Controlled, contrived, and depressed
And attested, and stressed out and vexed
It’s a message we’ve been fed
So we could propagate their system
Of division, inhibition
Viciousness and contradiction
We were suckled on the milk that they soured
Told the future was ours
And then disembowelled and disempowered
We have been disgraced, deafened and deflowered
Our brains brutalized and our defiance devoured
And so now they’re shooting guns and robbing cats
And trying to claw a little back
But when the whole thing shatters
It always starts with a little crack
And then splinters stretching out for miles
Pointing fingers at sharp suits with crocodile smiles
But it's us, we get the blame
Told that life is all exchange
Told that we are the children of capital
That we are the children of apathy
That we are the children of this rapidly changing reality
But look, I say we learnt it from them
From their rules and their ways
Their legitimate businesses deceive and disgrace
Look we learn it from them
From their rules and their ways
Their legitimate companies deceive and disgrace
While us, we do what we can
Because we live in this place
Where the truth can’t be seen in the face
[Chorus]
Round here
These cannibal kids want to be kings
But there ain’t no royalty left
Cause round here
The sirens and screams float on the wind
And even the street shudders
Afraid of our footsteps
Round here
These cannibal kids want to be kings
But there ain’t no royalty left
Cause round here
The sirens and screams float on the wind
And even the street shudders
Yes, even the street shudders