Kanye West and James Blake are dusting off ghosts from 2022 with Through the High Wire, a leaked gem from their shelved WAR sessions, and it lands like a tightrope walk over fame’s drop—wobbly steps between confession and chaos that you can’t look away from.
Clocking in at nearly six minutes, this one’s a brooding alt-hip-hop exhale, all James Blake’s signature electronic haze and No I.D.’s subtle soul chops weaving under Kanye’s stream-of-consciousness bars. The beat simmers with piano echoes and sparse synths, building to those falsetto choruses that feel like they’re unraveling in real time. Lyrically, it’s Kanye at his most unguarded: wrestling loneliness amid the spotlight (“I admit I’m lonely, I admit they want me”), flipping ego trips into pleas for release (“Let me out this moving car”), and nodding to Jay-Z’s protective vibes while owning the drama. Blake’s hooks add this ethereal pull, turning personal fallout into something almost spiritual—like wildfire whispers shifting stories until glory crumbles. The creative spark? Pure trio alchemy, born from late-night Wyoming vibes post-Donda 2, chasing raw vulnerability over polished hooks.
WAR was this intimate collab dream with mentor No I.D., cooked up in spring 2022 as Kanye’s next pivot—nine tracks of fame’s fractures, loss (shoutouts to Virgil), and quiet reckonings. The lineup’s tight: openers like What I Would Have Said at Virgil’s Funeral set the mournful tone, mid-album heaters such as Quiet and Bobby Digital dig into isolation, then it crests with All in Love before this wire-walk tension, wrapping on This One Here. Snippets teased on a May Parti stream had insiders like Insurge and yougotonemore confirming its heat, but the full thing surfaced via leaks on December 13—no official drop from Def Jam or YZY yet, just fan-fueled fire on YouTube and Genius. Folks are piecing it together there, with early transcripts blowing up in the comments.
For Kanye, this leak hits mid-2025 storm: fresh off WW3’s April controversy and Bully’s visual rawness, it’s a reminder of his blueprint days—teaming with Blake (post his own soul-searching runs) and No I.D. to strip back the noise. WAR shows Ye circling old wounds with fresh eyes, evolving from bombast to these fragile bridges that make the falls hit harder.
Dive into the Through the High Wire lyrics below and unpack its raw narrative. Don’t miss other WAR tracks for more of Kanye West & James Blake’s fragile-wire confessions.
| Lead Vocals | Kanye West & James Blake |
| Songwriter | Kanye West & James Blake |
| Background Vocals | James Blake |
| Music Producer | James Blake |
| Label | Kanye West |
| Song Language | English |
| Copyright © | Kanye West |
Lyrics of Through the High Wire by Kanye West & James Blake
[Intro: James Blake & Kanye West]
I Don’t Know What To Believe
But I Know People Love A Story
And The Whispers Change
Change ’til We All Fall, All Fall From Glory
Like Wildfire (I’ma Need A Sunset ‘fore I Start)
Rides On The Wind, Through The Wind
(I Don’t Really Want That For The Part, Haha, Yeah)
Through The High Wire (I Can’t Help It, I Had Played A Part)
Through The High Wire (Acting In The Sunna For The Cart)
[Verse 1: Kanye West & James Blake]
Maybe Put The Horse Before The Cart, Huh
Maybe Put The Step Over The Chart, Huh
Maybe Put The Ego Over Heart
Funna Funna, Telling For A Lore
Pelle Pelle Straight From Milan (Through The High Wire)
I Ain’t Playing, Huh, I’ma Need A Sunset ‘fore I Start
Fire For The Park (Through)
Somethin’ In The Corner, Somethin’ In The Lark (Through)
Shopping For The Nuh, Dunna Bags, Zoning (Through The High Wire)
Wunna Sunna Zoning, Promise, That Is On Me
Always Got Me Moming, Sunna Got Me Owning
(You Know, Know, Know, Know, Know)
I Know I’ve Been Lonely, I Was Sad, Been Lonely
I Admit I’m Lonely, I Admit They Want Me
I Admit They On He, I Can’t Even Be Phony
I Can’t Even Be Churning, I’m Got Tadic On He
I’m Gon’ To Turn The Back For, Back In Act And On He
Back And Forth The Nunna (You Know, Know, Know, Know, Know)
Lap It For The Bottom, Running For The Mind
I’m Running For The—
[Chorus: James Blake]
And We Know You Are Here Too When We Hear Your Call
Sometimes I Wonder If We Know Anything At All
I Know You Are Here Too When We Hear Your Call
Sometimes I Wonder If We Know Anything At All
Through The High Wire
[Verse 2: Kanye West & James Blake]
I Was Waiting To See, And I Finally Saw (Through)
And It’s Finally Gone, And I ‘member Now (Through)
Just Before The Dawn, For The Shining Road (Through The High Wire)
Brightest I’ve Been On (Through The High Wire)
I Was Waiting To See, And I Finally Saw (Through)
Now It’s Shining Darkest, Before The Dawning (Through)
And I Found It Lonest, Beautiful Morning (Through The High Wire)
Feelin’ ‘live On It, Worry What I Wanted (Through The High Wire)
I Ain’t The Type To Blame, I Had Fair Warning
Been In Red On It, Been In Red For A Bit, Yeah (Through)
Blind On It, From My Here On (Through The High Wire)
I Had Fair Warning, From My Earphone (Through The High Wire)
Now I’m—
[Verse 3: Kanye West & James Blake]
Jay-z Said He Tryna Protect Me, I Said, “I Wanna See My Mama” (Through)
Showing Dishonor, Tryna, Tryna, Tryna Elect Me (Through The High Wire)
I’m Made For The Drama, Iphone For The Commas
Thought Life Dunna Dun For For The Met Me
Then I Thought He’s On Somethin’ That Done Somethin’ Dumb Where They Set Me
I Ain’t Never Heard Of Nobody That Said They Were Mad That They Met Me
I Ain’t Never Heard Of Nobody That Said They Were Mad That They Met Me
Like Thug, I’m Never Going To Jail
I Know Me, I’m Never Going To Fail
Take A Chance, And I’ll Fall For Now
And You Ain’t Had A Snowball’s Chance In Hell
Well? Let Me Out Them Now
Let Me Out This Next Stop, Let Me Out This Moving Car
I’m A Diamond, Do We All?
Leading Us On Who We Are, All The Kind I Knew We Are (Through The High Wire)
It’s A Whole Movie, Huh? It’s A Whole Movie, Huh?
Pass Off, We Moving On, That’s How We Moving On
Good When We Moving On, Good Kid, We Do It Wrong
That’s How They Do Me, Huh? That’s How They Do Me, Huh?
(Through The High Wire)
That’s How You Do Me, Huh? Oh
Let Me Out This Moving Car
Let Me Out This Moving Car
[Outro: James Blake]
Through The High Wire, Through The High Wire
Through, Through
Through The High Wire, Through The High Wire
Through, Through
Through The High Wire, Through The High Wire
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