Janelle Monáe

Released: December 9, 2016

Songwriter: Chad Hugo Pharrell Williams

Producer: The Neptunes

[Verse 1]
I've walked around
Just about all my life
Slept on park benches
Many many nights

Even remember the days
I had nothing to eat
But someone to love me
Is all I need

[Pre-Chorus]
What we gotta do, me and you
We have to change our selfish ways
No matter who else does
We have to rise, rise above
Come together in love

[Chorus]
But isn't this the world?
The place that we call home, home
But if this is the world
Then why do I feel alone?

[Verse 2]
On top of living this life
Of love without
I've been ignored
And talked about

It's not the riches
That I live to see
But someone to love me
Is all I need

[Pre-Chorus]
What we gotta do, me and you
We have to change our selfish ways
No matter who else does
We have to rise, rise above
Come together in love

[Chorus]
But isn't this the world, the world?
The place that we call home, home
But if this is the world
Then why do I feel alone?
(Why do I feel alone)

But isn't this the world? (Isn't this the world)
The world
The place that we call home (Isn't this the world)
Home
But if this is the world
If this is the world (Isn't this the world)
(Isn't this the world?)

[Outro]
Oh, what a wonderful world (Isn't this the world)
Isn't it...
Isn't it...
(Isn't this the world)

Janelle Monáe Robinson was born December 1, 1985. The daughter of a janitor mother and a truck-driving father, she was raised in Kansas City, Kansas. Being from a hard-working family and a musically bland city, Monáe has always highlighted the under appreciated and the outsider.

After studying across the country at different performing arts schools, she met Antwan “Big Boi” Patton (of Outkast) in Atlanta, Georgia. Her career began to take shape under the guidance of Big Boi and later, Sean “P. Diddy” Combs.

Her first breakthrough EP was 2007’s Suite I (The Chase). Critical acclaim followed and was reinforced with her 2010 album, The ArchAndroid. She completed her android-themed trio of albums with her highly-anticipated follow-up, The Electric Lady, in 2013. Her latest album – Dirty Computer – was released in late April 2018 and is her most personal and artistically ambitious album yet.

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