The Desert Knows My Name

Verse 1

Under the fig tree shade

By the river winding slow

My grandmother hummed

A melody from long ago

Her hands traced the oud strings

Like rivers trace the sand

Pre-Chorus

Ya habibi ya habibi

Come and walk with me tonight

Ya habibi ya habibi

Through the lanterns and the moonlight

Chorus

The desert knows my name

Whispers it to the wind

The desert knows my name

Calls me home again

Oh-oh-oh

Rah-rah-rahala

Verse 2

Coffee in a copper cup

And stories in her eyes

She spoke of distant lands

Beneath the velvet skies

I asked her once again

How she learned to sing

Pre-Chorus

Ya habibi ya habibi

Come and walk with me tonight

Ya habibi ya habibi

Through the lanterns and the moonlight

Chorus

The desert knows my name

Whispers it to the wind

The desert knows my name

Calls me home again

Oh-oh-oh

Rah-rah-rahala

Bridge

Sand and silk and saffron

Mint and honey and thyme

Her songs were made of promise

And I carry them in time

Ya habibi

Ya habibi

Ya habibi ya

Chorus

The desert knows my name

Whispers it to the wind

The desert knows my name

Calls me home again

Oh-oh-oh

Rah-rah-rahala