Yoo (Meh)

[Intro - vinyl crackle, needle drop, doo-wop voices alone, extended, humming softly before easing into the first line, at least 8 bars]

Shoo-bop... shoo-bop...

mmm... take me back...

shoo-bop... shoo-bop...

take me back...

[Verse 1]

No message, no beep, just a knock at the door,

"can she come out and play," nothing more,

bicycle tires spinning dust in the street,

scraped knee, no camera, just a friend and my feet,

we made up the games with whatever we found,

[Backing] shoo-bop, shoo-bop, take me back down.

[Chorus]

Take me back, take me back,

[Backing] shoo-bop, take me back,

to the days when waiting still had a name,

take me back, take me back,

[Backing] shoo-bop, take me back,

before every silence felt like shame.

[Verse 2]

One phone in the parlour, everybody knew the ring,

Papa always answered it first, funny thing,

a letter took weeks, we waited by the door,

[Backing] wait for the mailman, wait, wait, wait some more,

missing you then meant I really missed you,

couldn't watch your little green light to see if you were through.

[Chorus]

Take me back, take me back,

[Backing] shoo-bop, take me back,

to the days when waiting still had a name,

take me back, take me back,

[Backing] shoo-bop, take me back,

before every silence felt like shame.

[Verse 3]

But make I no lie, e no be all sweet,

that time carry pain wey still dey for street,

don't take me back to every law,

don't take me back to every pain,

keep the doors that we kicked open,

I don't want those chains again.

[Bridge]

I don't want yesterday,

I just want the thing that yesterday knew,

five people in one room today,

five different worlds each holding a screen,

we're looking down when we should look up,

we're missing the eyes that used to hold us in between.

[Dance Break - full danceable groove, trumpet and saxophone trading with Afrobeats percussion, at least 24 bars]

[Chant]

One record, one room,

everybody found the groove,

one record, one room,

dance the way we used to move,

[Backing] shoo-bop, dance with me,

one record, one room, one melody.

[Final Chorus]

No, don't take me back—

[Backing] bring it back...

bring it back, bring it back,

[Backing] shoo-bop, bring it back,

knock on a door, look me in the eye,

write the letter, don't rush the reply,

bring it back, bring it back.

[Outro]

Keep tomorrow,

bring the best of yesterday with us,

[Backing] shoo-bop... bring it back...

keep tomorrow,

[Backing] mmm... shoo-bop...

keep tomorrow.