Shade of the coast
Walk down this journey of words and feed your mind
Sniff through the cologne of our old pages
strengthen our roots
And celebrate how far long we have sailed through the hands of time.
See they say “heavy is the head that wears the crown”
and once you look deeper, You’ll spot the cracks behind the biggest smiles
So turn through the pages of the smiling coast
And celebrate our fallen heroes
Chant their names and send them glory
For they brought forth the breath of freedom.
In unison bow down in honour of the forgotten queens
Whose names we’ve labelled as less than our history pages
Who embodied and nurtured the founding fathers
Bathed them in hope and gave them wings to fly
Endured the rocky ride
The support system that stayed back stage and made sure the act went well
The sheroes that sent praise when the odds were in our favour.
Brought forth 1965 For The Gambia our Homeland.
Ndah bess boba la Gambia mormeh bopam
Ku neh taka sa ndiga nak, fas aeneh ligaye, johh reww mi arham.
We gave birth to peace and unity
To strength and beauty
To hope and harmony
Deka ba sutura sampeh mbakh
Nyor ko boka nyow sampi fi takh
Yallah bakhna defal nyu talli
Le la nyu fi mam yi lorn
Nyune nyu nyow wacha yorn.
Spent 22years moulding a dictator
Gave tribalism a sit in our midst
And gave up the fight
Dragged the dignity of the founding fathers and mothers down the mud
Injected strength in our index fingers
And now we take turns in the blame game.
Welcome to the coast still trying to get back her smile
Whose people made history
Kicked out a dictator through the ballot
But is still pricking her wounds
And on a race along the lanes of the present and the past.
Her people wear the biggest smiles but embody the deepest wounds
Fanj la maata d fuuf
Jeff d suul
Duma dem y dor dem, my friend maneh wachal c suff.
Then came her brave decendants,
Who toiled and soiled
Coiled and teared
To break the shackles of injustice
Ended the long years of terror
Brought forth light to the darkness she has always known
Freed her voice and spoke to existence the New Gambia.
But again I ask
What is really New here?
All I see is different faces taking us through old pages.
Reintroduce injustice and feed on our old scars
Walk us half a step to the top just to push us down the hands of time
Arrest us unlawful and trigger memories of our dark times
Sharpen our voices just to shut us up before we even attempt to speak.
A government that constantly reminds us that they saved us
We would better be greatful and bow to them
Thank them for liberating us
Sit back relax and watch previous episodes in our new found season.
But again, we liberated ourselves through the ballots
And never shall we light the way to our chains.
We put you in and we still got the key to put you out.
So we’re not asking for you to be just
To hear our cries and fulfill our demands
To honour our plight and respect our rights.
We’ll demand!!
For the power to will has been embedded in each of us.
So as we turn to 1965 again,
Let’s renew our promises as stated in our Nation Anthem
Drop the New before Gambia and take responsibility
Steer the wheels of the country towards the path of change
And better our nation.
Expose our wounds to time and let them heal,
Let the past remain in the past
Delu c lufi mam yi bayi worn
Nekat bena, jappo ligaye rewmi ndah nyo kor boka
Boka ndey ak baye
On this day as we celebrate the founding fathers and mothers
Let’s reflect and act
For “heavy is the head that wears the crown”
You’re a star!!!
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Awesome! Food for thought. Keep shinning girl!
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Born to be brilliant I love you sissy so very much proud of you
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The Gambia our homeland
Keep it going IJ. Proud of you.
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