Lyrics
Verse 1
Passport
Dusty bags
Stamped with a heavy seal
I am leaving home tonight
The concrete hums
Under the mining drills
Sophiatown stays behind
Wait
I hear them
Church sisters humming loud
Voices lifting
Above the police sirens
Clandestine
Dark
We dance
I carry the marabi bounce
In my marrow
In my blood
Chorus
Oh Mama Africa
They cannot lock the song away
No they cannot lock the song away
We are singing through the wire
We are singing through the fire
Defiant joy
Defiant joy
Verse 2
Greenwich
Cold air
Folk guitars and smoke
Harry says keep the click
Qongqothwane
The beetle in the road
Magic in the tongue
Watch
My hands move
Tapping on the wood
A New York stage feels like a township hall
One mic
One soul
Stretched across the ocean blue
My mother's face
In the front row of my mind
Always
Always there
Chorus
Oh Mama Africa
They cannot lock the song away
No they cannot lock the song away
We are singing through the wire
We are singing through the fire
Defiant joy
Defiant joy
Bridge
From the village to the stadium
Conakry drums beating fast
Lagos calling
Harare calling
Johannesburg calling
The exile ends in a shout
I am coming home
I am coming home
I am coming home
Chorus
Oh Mama Africa
They cannot lock the song away
No they cannot lock the song away
We are singing through the wire
We are singing through the fire
Defiant joy
Defiant joy
Outro
Pata pata
Touch touch
The spirit never breaks
It only bends to the light
Walking back
Through the gate
Free at last
Free
Mama is home
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