Abulia and Akrasia Lyrics

[Verse: Spoken Word]
These are my demands
I renounce wholeheartedly
In this extreme abjuration
That which I repudiate so vehemently
Adamantly unrepentant
Implacable and intractable
I abdicate with inexorable pleasantry
In this solemn refutation
This most earnest repudiation
I shall not negate
That which I state irrevocably
But I do it so gently
That you cannot resent me
For this humble request of my company
So with time left permitting
And while we're still sitting
May I please have another cup of tea?

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About

Genius Annotation

“Abulia” refers to a lack of will or initiative and can be seen as a disorder of diminished motivation, whereas “Akrasia” is described as a lack of self-control or the state of acting against one’s better judgment.

In an interview, he said about the track:

This is a strange one, because there’s this vocalist named C.W. Stoneking, who was the vocalist on that song. I just love his voice so much. He was in New York, and I asked if he could come down, and he said he could, so I wrote this poem for him to recite. It was basically me trying to find as many words as I could that I wanted to hear him say, because I love his speaking voice. How can I make the most complicated poem about wanting a cup of tea? That became my goal.

Q&A

Find answers to frequently asked questions about the song and explore its deeper meaning

What did Jack White say about "Abulia and Akrasia"?
Genius Answer

This is a strange one, because there’s this vocalist named C.W. Stoneking, who was the vocalist on that song. I just love his voice so much. He was in New York, and I asked if he could come down, and he said he could, so I wrote this poem for him to recite. It was basically me trying to find as many words as I could that I wanted to hear him say, because I love his speaking voice. How can I make the most complicated poem about wanting a cup of tea? That became my goal.

via Global News, March 25, 2018

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