Shadow man

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

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

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

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

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)

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

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

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

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 awuthulanje

(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 awuthulanje

(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 awuthulanje

(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 awuthulanje

(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 awuthulanje

(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 awuthulanje

(Don't fly off the handle, take it easy)

Joe-Joe-Joey don't do it

Awuthulanje

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