là-bas ya tout. it would appear that in the babtous country
TRANSCRIPT
Là-bas y’a tout
It would appear that in the Babtous country
it is not like being in Bantous country
people say that everything is there; everything is there
the sun does not burn
hunger does not kill
fire is gentle, tame and docile
sometimes it rains water
sometimes it is cotton balls.
I’m not Kounta Kinté But, who are you ?
Who are you ?
I am not Kounta Kinté
Who are you who are you?
I am Africa…the Third World
An African with a dark fate
I am the damned of the earth
I am the red flesh that feeds your barbed wire
this gigantic iron wall
darkened by the blood
of contemporary explorers
never understood and caught in a trap
like those cursed boar
worn out from rushing
worn out from sobbing
I’m not Kounta Kinté But, who are you ?
Who are you ?
I am not Kounta Kinté
Who are you who are you ?
I faced this barrier this huge metal barrier
that leaves one on the brink of society
a symbol of rejection scorn for the less well off
tanned people who are too dark-skinned
to lighten the promised land
I carry inside me the spirits
the souls of 14 000 drowned
14 000 drowned in anonymity
off the murderous coasts
the sparkling palaces
that dazzle you until you are blind
on the opposite bank
I’m not Kounta Kinté But, who are you ?
Who are you ?
I am not Kounta Kinté
Who are youwho are you?
Gibraltar,
you want my hide, you will not get it
your attempts at dissuasion
scarcely intimidate me
I want to see the promised land and I will be there
I will see it because my destiny wants me to be
there
so neither your handcuffs
your insignificant little handcuffs
nor your nasty stretch of salt water
that feeds its sharp toothed sharks
without scruples
even less so your barbed wire that impatiently
awaits
to voraciously bite
what is closest to my skin
Gibraltar you want my hide, you won’t get it
in any case
there it is better than here, people tell me
in any case
there it is better than here, people tell me
It would appear that in the Babtous country
it is not like being in Bantous country
people say that everything is there; everything is there
the sun does not burn
hunger does not kill
fire is gentle, tame and docile
sometimes it rains water
sometimes it is cotton balls.
BANG SING YITING
That’s how life goes
sons who dream of bettering themselves
that’s how death comes
for those who fade in despair
that’s how the child goes
in the depth of wild dreams
bring back happiness, for his dear Mother
Hey Mother, I will remove
the scars of survival on your angel’s body sleep
I will go out, to look for gold
so that you can yet live without remorse
up until death
failing being eternal
Mother, I will go there
in order to be able to manage here
from here it is impossible when misery has taken
you for its target
when it deprives you of the edible minimum
when it aims at you
then riddles you
I will go there
in order to manage our problems
let me try my luck
we have got to get out of this turmoil
Mother, I will go there
it is better than if I wandered here
the others were able to do it, I must succeed too
I have had more than enough of sitting with my
arms folded
you know Mother, here, I’ve really tried everything
the solution can only be elsewhere
with my PhD I am only a tailor
wandering with an obsolete machine
to sew pogos shorts for pittance
Mother bless me, I will make you proud
as sure as I can feel my dignity dying
on a low heat, on a low heat
I must leave because the worst is imminent
you have to choose between never and now
Le destin
What do they care if your life is a failure ?
euthanasied they are, their hearts are no more
beating,
love is getting suck and human beings looking
ugly.
Now, our discomfort is visible,
even in the more introverted oneworld of
intrigues,
extreem intransigence where the look takes first
place.
My life is a failure because, for all I
undertake,
I am in the last position again, if I ever give in,
I hope nobody will be cross with me
so many years, slaving away like a convict,
lugging my distress waiting for the death that's
like
such is life, whether you like it or not,
some are born with a golden spoon in the
mouth,
and grow from Alpha to Omega,
on the other side some are born in the distress,
born in the dryness,
well, all their life long they must take it,
grin and bear it stand the weight of griefs all their
life long
everyone gets its safety in resisting.
A good way of life, I don't know it, beautiful towns,
even less,
I struggle for life success, I look at sites, but I am no
more excited,
my life is a sitcom, the more I live, the less men
are surprised,
I pray that my people get on well. This is my hesitating life story,
will I pay the price for so many faults done ?
like a horse nobody backs bets on ?
I am induced to say that life is a bitch,
for all his favours, you have to pay the price.
How many men like me set themselves goals
and life forced them to follow Satan's work.
My life is a failure, henceforth you know it,
the same don't wait for the death, if your own life is,
claim your failure,
whimpering isn't my forte, I implore God and I come
back stronger :
People is born alike, maybe they live
differently,
but they die alike, each get his own fate they tell
me, hell !
Why our own fate is so mean the hard labour, we
know it as teenagers,
I'll blaspheme if I tell you I was found of it. From now,
I intend going forward.
Destination : the top, with hell or high water, coming
ahead of the fate,
ruling it as I please, moving mountains like
Moses the prophet.
Even if I know that this life is not easy,
my choice is to face cutting words and all kinds
of insults
I started like a baby, on all fours, ten years later I
didn't change of course.
To go to that point, it took me time.
My course, you know it, is obstacle course.
MAGIE MAGIE
Magie magie hou haaaa here they are
they exchanged their wands for magic
speeches
magie magie hou haaaa here they are
they guarantee us the dream without the fear of
disappointment
Magie magie hou haaaa here they are
they exchanged their wands for magic
speeches
magie magie hou haaaa here they are
they guarantee us the dream without the fear of
disappointment
Let’s shut our doors to the incarnate lie to personified
demons
they exchanged their wands for magic
speeches
let’s flee from them
they are at the origin of the exodus of our
intellectuals great experts for exodus of capital
you have to capture them early on distinctive sign
too rich to be saints
they do not sing but they want our voices
it is complicated because they don’t want to see us
They don’t care, power makes them mad, mad
They don’t care, power makes them mad, mad
You know that here on earth everything can be negotiated even worse
everything can be forged these penguins with unclear speeches
down with these tight-rope walking elephants
down with these snakes with a smarmy voice
down the masses will survive a little stunned, it
is true,
dream merchants torturers making people
starve
DOUNI KIIDAM
In this contradictory cruel, uncertain world you will be
born
and you will prepare for the other world, beyond
there are few who live bearing in mind the great
tomorrow
and more and more frequently there are those who take the other path
maybe life is beautiful but it is also short lived
each medal here on earth has a reverse side to it
death reminds us each time that she calls one of
ours and
at the cemetery the spade makes the distance grow
let everyone be prepared because for God
everyone will answer the roll call
happy, unhappy we will all pay in cash
from the man of over one hundred to the babe of
less than a year
because everything that lives dies every soul here on earth shall know pain
and death
poetical extract from the book of saints but pathetic
death is a great bridge that links the earth to
heaven
a hyphen between this world on earth and
beyond
but too contaminated by the vice of this worn out
world
we forget the creator and only dream of girls
those who lead us away from the path traced by
the Father
drawing us towards the sins of the flesh like honey
attracts flies son
travel in the direction that illuminates you
banish the one that humiliates you
your tomb is creeping up
the angel of death is watching you from the top
of his tower
in his sights any mortal awaits his turn
for him it’s routine son
the wheel of fortune turns son
Love
Look for love, love love Let’s look for love, love,
love
Sing love, love, loveLet’s sing love, love, love
Love buried by this world
In a tomb; and the bomb
This is my earth, earth, earth. It is my Mother’s
This is my earth, earth, earth. It is my Father’s
And our frontiers of misery, our bad luck
And our frontiers of misery, our salary
And our colours of misery, our bad luck
Look for love, love love Let’s look for love, love,
love
Sing love, love, loveLet’s sing love, love, love
In the innocent eyes of our children, In the frail hearts of our women,
In the bulging chest of our men, In the swollen chest
of our men
Look for love, love love Let’s look for love, love,
love
Sing love, love, loveLet’s sing love, love, love
Let’s look for love, always