The King & I
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This song is a haunting, deeply emotional piano ballad in the spirit of classic early Elton John, confronting faith, power, and abandonment with raw honesty and poetic intensity. The narrator speaks directly to a distant, indifferent “King,” challenging authority, hypocrisy, and silence in the face of real human suffering — a dying friend, a bitter brother, and the loneliness of unanswered prayers.
The atmosphere is sparse and chilling at first, then enriched by a mesmerizing guitar break that heightens the drama before dissolving into an eerie, reflective outro.
Stark, courageous, and emotionally gripping, the track offers a major artist a profound, theatrical showcase that blends vulnerability, anger, and spiritual questioning into a timeless, unforgettable performance piece.
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Album track
About this song
- Released
- 2026-02-08
- ISRC / SKU
- AU-K4L-23-00134
- Appears on
- Manifesto
Read lyrics
I know you're there
I know you can hear me
You're not foolin' anyone at all
But what do you care
Up in your tower?
You’re waiting for someone to call you a King
Someone to laugh when you're joking
Someone you can dominate
Someone who feels guilty for something
You're the King of the castle
And though it’s a farce it’ll do
I’ve got a friend
She’s riddled with cancer
Every night she throws her prayers away
How do you sleep?
And why don't you answer?
You must be some kind of kinky old ghost
Sad and sadistic and deaf as a post
Mad as the world that you made
A fraud and devoid of a sensitive bone
You’re a sad lonely pauper
Has nobody taught you to feel?
And my brother Big John
Man he's so bitter
A tortured mind and blind in his left eye
He says when he's gone
You'll have him to answer
He'll tear down your old pearly gates
Beat up Saint Peter and all of his mates
’Cos he'll have nothing to lose
I'd be afraid if I were you
He's coming to get you
I wouldn't elect to be in your shoes
Why don’t you tell me are you there?
Can’t you hear or don’t you care?
Too busy playing solitaire?
We’re waiting here but you’re nowhere
Ooh ooh ooh
I know you can hear me
You're not foolin' anyone at all
But what do you care
Up in your tower?
You’re waiting for someone to call you a King
Someone to laugh when you're joking
Someone you can dominate
Someone who feels guilty for something
You're the King of the castle
And though it’s a farce it’ll do
I’ve got a friend
She’s riddled with cancer
Every night she throws her prayers away
How do you sleep?
And why don't you answer?
You must be some kind of kinky old ghost
Sad and sadistic and deaf as a post
Mad as the world that you made
A fraud and devoid of a sensitive bone
You’re a sad lonely pauper
Has nobody taught you to feel?
And my brother Big John
Man he's so bitter
A tortured mind and blind in his left eye
He says when he's gone
You'll have him to answer
He'll tear down your old pearly gates
Beat up Saint Peter and all of his mates
’Cos he'll have nothing to lose
I'd be afraid if I were you
He's coming to get you
I wouldn't elect to be in your shoes
Why don’t you tell me are you there?
Can’t you hear or don’t you care?
Too busy playing solitaire?
We’re waiting here but you’re nowhere
Ooh ooh ooh
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