RHYTHM SAFARI

WOMAN BE MY COUNTRY

 

Here we stand on the edge of the day

Faces melting in the African rain

So many seasons of silent war

So many drowned before they reached the shore

Nothing is clear to me any more in this sad and strange landscape

I’ve got no defense, I’ve got no attack

I can’t leave, I can’t stay and I’ve got no way back

Hard to deal with the way things have been

I can’t lie but the truth is so extreme

 

Chorus:

Woman be my country, ‘til my country can be mine

Hide me deep inside your borders in these dark and troubled times

Remember me my innocence before I drowned in a sea of lies

Woman be my country, ‘til my country can be mine

 

Too many seasons of quiet rage

Too many young people just wasted away

Too many futures hanging in the balance

Too much owing nothing left to pay

A lonely flag flutters in the breeze for the hardened hearts

who still want to believe

 

Am I the witness or am I the crime

A victim of history or just a sign of the times

Across my heart questions and shadows still fly

But in the dead of night I know where the answer lies

 

Chorus:

Woman be my country ‘til my country can be mine

I have no flag, I sing no anthem, I no longer carry an armalite

Bathe me in your sweet rivers, anoint me with your touch and smile

To your colours I give my allegiance, I lay it on the line

 

Ngikhathele ngifile wena weqat’ izwe

(I am dead tired of you who causes friction in the land)

Ngikhathele ngifile zindaba zakho

(I am dead tired of you, and your matters)

Yash’ imizi yobada

(The homes of my fathers are burning)