Ancestral Whispers & Echoes

Verse 1

(English)
We walk this land, but we’ve lost the trail,
Footprints faded where the winds prevail.
Names erased, tongues cut short,
What was holy, now sold and bought.

(Patwa)
Dem come wid di Bible and fire fi bun,
Tell we seh fi 'get weh di gods we know.
Now we bow, but to who, mi nuh sure,
A fi dem God, or di spirits before?

Chorus

(Shona & English)
Madzitateguru, munonzwa here?
(Ancestors, can you hear us?)
We cry to the sky, but no one near.
Takanganwa nzira, takarasika,
(We forgot the path, we are lost)
Who do we serve? Who do we fear?

(Patwa)
We jus’ wan know di truth, yuh see?
Who a wi real family deity?
Mi spirit torn in Babylon plan,
Mi reach fi unu wid trembling hand.

Verse 2

(Shona)
Ndiri kupemha, ndiri kushevedza,
(I am praying, I am calling)
Kunei ndinonamata zvandisina kunzwisisa?
(Why do I worship what I do not understand?)
Mvura inotaura asi ndanzwa kudonha,
(The river speaks, but I hear silence)
Chivanhu changu chakavigwa pasi pematombo.
(My tradition buried under stones.)

(English)
Mama says pray — but to whose name?
Is it ours erased, or theirs we claim?
I pour the beer, I burn the leaf,
But am I blessed, or lost in grief?

Chorus

(Shona & Patwa)
Madzitateguru, munonzwa here?
(Ancestors, are you listening?)
Tiri kutsvaga chiedza murima.
(We're searching for light in the dark.)

(Patwa)
Ancestor, if yuh deh pon di breeze,
Blow a likkle sign, put mi soul at ease.
Wi heart a call from long time pain,
Bring di real way back again.

Bridge

(English)
We carry your blood, but not your ways,
Dancing in dark through foreign praise.
We want to remember, we want to know,
The path you walked so long ago.

(Shona)
Dzoka kumba mweya wedu,
(Come home, our spirit)
Tisvikei nerugare, tibatsirei.
(Come with peace, guide us.)

Outro Chorus (All languages)

(Shona)
Munhu haangararame asina midzimu.
(A person cannot live without ancestors.)

(English)
We’re lost children of your sacred land,
Still reaching for your outstretched hand.

(Patwa)
Mi a call pon di ones from before,
Fi show wi di truth, and kick down door.