Ougadougou

As a lyricist, one will sometimes come across a word
or a phrase which settles in the mind and refuses to
leave. Such was the case when one day I was surfing the
Web and found a city called Ouagadougou, the capitol of a
country called Burkina Faso in northern Africa.
Ou-ag-a-dou'-gou! Bur-kin'-a Fa-so! What marvelous words!
That was over a year ago, and I finally hit upon an idea for them.
(Now I must tell you that Faso is not pronounced as it
is spelled, but rather as Foso, so in order to keep the
rhyme I've altered the spelling. I might also add there is
no language called Burkinese. But there should be.)

I Met Him in Ouagadougou

Somewhere unusual,
Somewhere exotic---
That’s where I longed to go;
I not only found “unusual”
But I also found “erotic”
In a place in Africa
Very few people know.
I met him there in Ouagadougou
In Burkina Foso---
He was playing in a soccer match
And from the start, he made me glow so.
I fell in love in Ouagadougou
In Burkina Foso---
He was big and black and beautiful
And, I might add, a virtuoso.
How glorious it was
Beneath the mango trees---
Though he spoke no English
And I spoke no Burkinese.
It was soon I started gleaning
That language had no meaning
In Ouagadougou
In Burkina Foso.

I then stayed on in Ouagadougou
In Burkina Foso---
He kept on being wonderful
Though the place was only so-so.
And so time passed in Ouagadougou
In Burkina Foso---
They ate rats in sauce at dinner time
And I thought that was de trop so!
How things began to change
Beneath the mango trees---
When he learned some English
And I learned some Burkinese.
Our romance started fraying
Once we knew what we were saying
In Ouagadougou
In Burkina Foso.

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