-
Human Rainbow
-
Talk To The People
-
Too Early For The Sky
-
I Call Your Name
-
Take My Heart Away
-
The Waiting
-
African Shadow Man
-
Dance Across The Centuries
-
Joey Don't Do It
-
Siyayilanda
Human Rainbow
Baleka uzohaqwa!
(Escape before you are injured!)
Uwahaqwa!
(Too late he is injured!)
Webaba sicel'impilo
(Father, give us life, save our lives)
At the end of all bloody human storms
As the last embers and flames glow
We peer up into the wounded sky
And search for the human rainbow
And in the fading light I wonder why
We can never free it from the sky
Wangitshela lendaba
(You have told me of this thing)
I can see it, but never be it, until I free it
From the sky
Chorus
Same old human story
The saddest winds do blow
While we are trapped in the language of dark history
Underneath a human rainbow
An angry young man draws in the air
Political equations
But time corrupts the fruit they bare
And leads to more desperation
While in the sky -- it's a trick of the light
Shine the colors of all creation
Chorus
Ngizokutshela!
(I will tell you, that's how it is).
Same old human story
Same old human story
Talk to the People
There's a brawl in a lonely whites only bar
A lekker groove in a classy shebeen
Someone betrayed in a government car
A silent movement on the stock market screen
A watchman playing on a Zulu guitar
A white soldier's blues in camouflage green
A migrant worker who's come too far
A sailor aground in a submarine
Chorus
Phendula wendoda
(Answer, Mister)
Lendlela sizofika kanjani
(This way, how will we arrive?)
Talk to the people
Walk through the country
Listen to the children
Do you know the dreams they dream at night
Only you, only you can see me
Only you, only you can free me
Only you breathe life into the land
Touch me with your healing hand
There's a township mongrel on the scrounge
A tribal feud in a municipal 'pound
A squatter with an ox but no land to plough
A shipment of A.K.s on the underground
A throw of the dice on a Soweto train
A waiting knife if you should win the game
A human rights lawyer with a torture claim
A union activitist never ever seen again
Chorus
Phendula wemadoda
(Give the answer...)
Talk to me
God hear the children
God save the country
God hear the people
God bless the dreams they dream at night
Chorus
Too Early for the Sky
I nearly disappeared into the mouth of a crocodile
I nearly touched the rain deep in the heaven on high
I could have been a sad piece of news on the radio
But you remembered me 'cause you know I'm not ready to go
Oh halala, I'm home, looks like I made it, Oh halalo
Oh halala, oh halala, ngasinda, Oh halalo
Chorus
I'm too early for the sky
Wenkunkulu wami wangisindisa mina
(Oh my Lord, you spared me)
Somewhere some grey computer nearly closed my file
This could have been the last time I ever saw you smile
The darkest night nearly swallowed up my eyes
But you remembered me 'cause I'm not ready for the sky
Oh halala, I'm home, looks like I made it, Oh halalo
Oh halala, oh halala, ngasinda, Oh halalo
Chorus
I Call Your Name (Ngibiza Igama Lakho)
Oh no, you've gone again
I feel like Daniel in the lion's den
Stone cold in the afternoon
So alone in the empty room
They say that four walls do not a prison make
I'm trying to find a way out but there seems no escape
When I feel the hidden power that lies inside your sound
Like the ghost inside the atom that spins it round and round
There's magic in some words, some things you can't explain
That conjures up that feeling of the sun inside the rain
Chorus
When the wind is blowing like a lonesome train
I reach out and touch you and I call your name
When the night is lonely and I fear the coming day
I reach out and touch you
And I call your name -- ngibiza igama lakho
Oh no, don't let the sun go down
I'm so low, I feel underground
There's no easy road and no easy way
To say the things I have to say
'Cause I know that time is a distance and distance is a space
I've come so far to find you, it's you I can't replace
When I feel the hidden power that lies inside your sound
Like the ghost inside the atom that spins it round and round
There's magic in some words some things you can't explain
That conjures up that feeling of the sun inside the rain
Chorus
Take My Heart Away
Chorus
Take my heart away (repeat)
To be the sound of wild geese calling
To be ten seasons in a night
To dance the sun beyond the tides of war and peace
To put silence stained by crimes to flight
I need to heart-break-loose-the wind
Dedela umoya wami, Baba
(Set my spirit free, father)
Chorus
To see your eyes shine like two desert stars
To see life burning with a mission
To break the empty circle of living and dying
To leave a child with a vision
I need to heart-break-loose-the wind
Dedela umoya wami, Baba
(Set my spirit free, father)
Chorus
Sing me the songs that won the battle
Sing me the first and the last man's glory
Sing me the songs that taste of freedom
Thread me through with your sacred needle
Liyeza, liyeza, liyeza ilanga lami seliyeza
(It's coming, it's coming, my day is coming)
The Waiting
Chorus
Here we stand waiting on the plain
Darkness has taken the last outpost of the day
Somewhere gunships hunt their illusive prey
And I know inside you feel the same way
The sky in your heart is so grey
And the jackals howl inside
I see you walking with your head down
Tomorrow is always betrayed
By too much hope displayed
So you take it as it comes now
Ngempilo yami yonke
(With all my life)
I'm waiting, I'm waiting
Chorus
Here we stand waiting on the plain
Darkness has taken the last outpost of the day
Somewhere gunships hunt their illusive prey
And I know inside you feel the same way
Ngempilo yami yonke
(With all my life)
Kudala ngilindele
(So long I've been waiting)
You've learned to live inside the space
That connects each link of chain
And you say you've got some peace of mind now
But I know you're waiting all the same
With an ache that has no name
When you feel the fresh breath of the invisible wind
Ngempilo yami yonke
(With all my life)
Waiting, I'm waiting
I will undo these chains
Ngizowakhumula amakhethanga
(I will undo these chains)
Chorus
African Shadow Man
If you come to my house
I will show you something to see
It's a picture of a man
I used to be
But these days I'm running through the dark
Like a blind man -- what's happened to me?
These days I'm searching for a sign
In the badlands -- oh give it to me
Chorus
African shadow man tell me the future if you can
Tell it to me
There's magic in your hands
Touch my life and set me free
African shadow man
I am a refugee
In a world that once was mine
Hunting my tomorrow
On the edge of time
But these days I'm running through the dark
Like a blind man -- what's happened to me?
There days I'm running from a tribe in the badlands
Oh set me free
Chorus
African shadow man tell me the future if you can
Tell it to me
There's magic in your hands
Oh touch my life and set me free
African shadow man tell me the future if you can
Tell it to me
I don't need a Cadillac
To take me where I have to be
It feels alright, it feels alright to me
It feels alright, it feels alright to be
An African
E-ye hum-o-hum-hum-oh
Chorus
African shadow man show me the future if you can
Tell it to me
There's magic in your hands
Oh touch my life and set me free
African shadow man tell me the future if you can
Tell it to me
I don't need a Cadillac
To take me where I have to be
A shadow man
Dance Across the Centuries
It's a world of "hang on to what you've got"
It's a world of "do or die"
I know you never take it serious
And you keep your head up high
I know you'd like to speak to the manager
Oh baby, so would I
I never made this crazy world anyway
I never made this one way ride
Chorus
For some life offers nothing more
Than a struggle or a war
A magnum hidden in your drawer
You walk away... you want to
Dance across the centuries
Dance across the sea of time
Dance a living memory oh
Dance you want to let your spirit shine
Every dog wants to be a fat cat
Every mouse to be a dog
It's not easy, I can tell you
Trying to see through the fog
Funny how some of us live it up
While others just survive
I know you do what you can
But all you ever do is time
Chorus
Yaguka lenkunzi emnyama
(The black bull has grown old)
Kade ihlaba ithetha amalala
(Long and well it has fought and argued)
Yaguka lenkunzi emnyama
(The black bull has grown old)
Guka 'sithembe kade wawudlelwa
(My gating mat grows old, well has it served me)
(All things must pass and change)
Chorus
Joey Don't Do It
She rises for work early each day
She's tough and she's straight and her words never ricochet
The wounds that you gave her she wears like a bouquet
It's crazy, Joey, how she loves you come what may
And though you have gone she defends you like a lion
She says you're just going through some kind of phase
Strange talk of deserts, Hong Kong and red wine
Of kissing the moon in some beat up old plane
Chorus
Joe-Joe-Joey don't do it
Don't walk out into the night
Mus' ukuthatha ngamawala awuthula-nje
(Don't fly off the handle, take it easy)
Joe-Joe-Joey don't do it
Love can give you wings to fly
Mus' ukuthatha ngamawala awuthula-nje
(Don't fly off the handle, take it easy)
Joe-Joe-Joey don't do it
Awuthulanje
She loves the dreamers, but not the schemers
She loves the contradictions, but not the lies
She says every home ever built was built on tears
And she's not scared of crying but she is of wasted years
So she'll wait like a ship anchored beyond the harbour
And if there is no place to dock she'll head for the sea
And I don't know if you know but there's nothing much harder
Than facing a part of yourself which you know might have been
Chorus
Joe-Joe-Joey don't do it
Don't walk out into the night
Mus' ukuthatha ngamawala awuthula-nje
(Don't fly off the handle, take it easy)
Joe-Joe-Joey don't do it
It'll be different in the morning light
Mus' ukuthatha ngamawala awuthula-nje
(Don't fly off the handle, take it easy)
Joe-Joe-Joey don't do it
Awuthulanje
Just look around
Do you know where you're going
Such a sad seed I see you sowing
There is nothing to be found in the wind that's blowing
Just an empty sound, Joey don't do it
Chorus
Joe-Joe-Joey don't do it
Don't walk out into the night
Mus' ukuthatha ngamawala awuthula-nje
(Don't fly off the handle, take it easy)
Joe-Joe-Joey don't do it
Love can give you wings to fly
Mus' ukuthatha ngamawala awuthula-nje
(Don't fly off the handle, take it easy)
Joe-Joe-Joey don't do it
Awuthula-nje
Siyayilanda
Chorus
Siyayibamba siyayilanda
Ngithibamba siyayilanda
Sithibamba siyayilanda
Fetch it siyayilanda
(We are fetching our future, grabbing our tomorrow)
Repeat
Human figures in a dream
Heard them singing -- Siyayilanda (we are fetching it)
You've got to get up
And carry on sing this song -- Siyayilanda
There's a mean machine
Tear the bone clean, tell you
Where I've been -- Siyayilanda
Eat, sleep on your feet
You're going to speak -- Siyayilanda
Chorus
A falling star in the night
Comfort the weeper -- Siyayilanda
You turn to the left and you turn to the right,
Losers, keepers -- Siyayilanda
Hold me close I'm trapped in
A night of seasons -- Siyayilanda
A new sun rising up ahead
Coming your way -- Siyayilanda
Chorus
I can feel it in the air
My day is coming nearer
My day's a little nearer
All songs written by Johnny Clegg
(African Shadow Man and Dance Across The Centuries written
with Keith Hutchinson)
All titles published by Sweet
'n Sour Songs Ltd.
(C) 1988 EMI Records Ltd.
