I've Been Dazed

Album: Kiwanuka (2019)
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Songfacts®:

  • The music for "I've Been Dazed" has a melancholic feel, which led Michael Kiwanuka to write lyrics about his struggles with self-doubt. "I was singing about waking up from the nightmare of following someone else's path or putting yourself down, low self-esteem - the things 'You Ain't the Problem' is defying," he explained to Apple Music. "The feeling is, 'Man, I've been in this kind of nightmare, I just want to get out of it, I'm ready to go.'"
  • The song's gospel vibe reflects Kiwanuka's spirituality. He told Mojo magazine:

    "I'm definitely a spiritual person. I believe in God, it's a large part of my life. A lot of the music that influenced me has a spiritual element. I believe that's what music expresses, whatever music you make – it takes you to somewhere outside of your body. To me, that's a higher thing that's God, and other people might call it the Universe. We're all calling the same thing a lot of different things, if you see what I mean. I love my music to reflect that, and it will always express my upbringing. Gospel is a part of that, as well as rock and roll, soul, jazz."

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