Unknown Soldier

  
Fela Anikulapo Kuti

Fela: Make you no go when you hear.
Just wait there, make I tell you something

Chorus: Fela you go come again

Fela: I never come again. I stay for far away.
Make you wait till I reach where I dey go

Chorus:  where you dey go? (3 times)
Fela: Make I reach.         

Chorus:  where you dey go? (2 times)
Fela: don't ask me

Chorus:  where you dey go? (2 times)
Fela: Wait and see.

Fela: I say... This thing wey happened, happened for my country.
Nah big-big thing, first time in the whole world.
If you hear the name, you go know.
Goverment magic.
Tell me the name now:

Chorus: Government magic.
Fela: dem go da baru everything;
Chorus: Government magic.
Fela: dem go turn green into white
Chorus: Government magic.
Fela: dem dey turn red into blue
Chorus: Government magic.
Fela: Water dey go water dey come ( 2 times)
Chorus: Government magic.
Fela: dem dey turn electric to candle (2 times)
Chorus: Government magic.
Fela: Goverment magic
Chorus: Government magic.

Fela: I say I dey come... small, small

Fela: Look oh! Look oh!
Chorus: Left, right, left, right…

Fela: one thousand soldiers, dem dey come,
Chorus: Left, right, left, right…

Fela: People dey wonder, they wonder, they wonder
Chorus: Left, right, left, right…

Fela: where these one thousand soldiers dey go ?
Chorus: Left, right, left, right…

Fela: Look oh! Look oh!
Chorus: Left, right, left, right…

Fela: Na, Fela's house: Kalakuta,
Chorus: Left, right, left, right…

Fela: Dem reach the place, dey wait
Chorus: Left, right, left, right…

Fela: Dem dey wait for
Chorus: order
Fela: Yessir

Chorus: Left, right, left, right…

Fela: then sudden this place kwan-kwan, dem they wait
Chorus: Left, right, left, right…

Fela: With dem helmet and them guns and them petrol, and them matches
Chorus: Left, right, left, right…

Fela: Then again.
Chorus: Suddenly

Fela: Fela dey for house, Beko dey there too, dem mama dey too, beautiful people dey there too, frenchman dey there too, press man dey there too, 150 of us dey there too. Then suddenly, suddenly, suddenly..

Chorus: chuku-chuku-chuku, nyema-nyema-nyema, chiggi-chiggi-chiggi

Fela: yes, dem they rape,
Chorus: chuku-chuku-chuku, nyema-nyema-nyema, chiggi-chiggi-chiggi

Fela:  yes, dem they steal
Chorus: chuku-chuku-chuku

Fela:  yes, dem they loot
Chorus: chuku-chuku-chuku,

Fela: yes, dem they fight
Chorus: nyema-nyema-nyema

Fela: yes, some of the women dey rape, yes they fight, yes by force, yes dem they burn, yes dem they burn, yes dem comeout one student's eye, yes dem break some-some head, dem break some-some head

Fela: dem throw my mama, 78 year old mama, political mama,
Chorus: chuku-chuku-chuku, nyema-nyema-nyema,

Fela: political mama, ideological mama, inflationary mama,  ideological mama, political mama, influential mama

Chorus: chuku-chuku-chuku, nyema-nyema-nyema, chiggi-chiggi-chiggi

Fela: dem throw my mama out of for window

Fela: dem kill my mama. dem kill my mama, dem kill my mama, dem kill my mama, dem kill my mama !

Fela: dem carry everybody. dem carry everybody go inside jail.

Fela: Everybody dey inside jail. We dey wait. 27 days. Them lock us.

Press dey shout.
Radio dey ring.
People dey talk:
 
"Them go burn Fela house.
Wetin dis Fela do?
Dis goverment, he bad-oh.
Wetin dis Fela do?
Fela talk about soldiers flooding civilians for streets.
Fela talk about government wasting money for festival.
Wetin dis Fela do?
Dis goverment he bad-oh."

People start to talk-o
government start to shake-o

Then suddenly. Suddenly. Suddenly...

Government bring instruments of magic.
Dem bring enquiry
Dem bring two man: one soldier, one justice
The name of justice: Mr What justice.
The other justice: Major Injustice.

Dem start magic: Dem seize my house. wey they there born. Dem seize my land, dem drive all the people wey live in area: two thousand citizens, dem make them all homeless now .

Dem start magic, Dem start magic.
dem bring flame, dem bring hat, dem bring rabbit, dem conjure, dem bring smoke, dem they fall, dem conjure, spirit catch them. Dem they say:

Chorus: Unknown Soldier
Fela: 921
Chorus: Unknown Soldier
Fela: Government Magic
Chorus: Unknown Soldier

Fela: I get some information for you (2 times)
Chorus: Unknown Soldier

Fela: That my mother wey you kill,
Chorus: Unknown Soldier
Fela: She fought for universal suffrage
Chorus: Unknown Soldier
Fela: That my mother wey you kill,
Chorus: Unknown Soldier
Fela: She fought for universal adult suffrage
Fela: That my mother wey you kill,
Chorus: Unknown Soldier
Fela: She's the only mother for this country
Fela: That my mother wey you kill,
Chorus: Unknown Soldier
Fela: She's the only mother for Nigeria
Chorus: Unknown Soldier

Fela: Which kind of injustice is this?
Chorus: Unknown Soldier
Fela: wetin kind government inside? If na Unknown Soldier
Chorus: Unknown Soldier
Fela: I said, wetin concerned government inside?
Chorus: Unknown Soldier
Fela: If na Unknown Soldier
Chorus: Unknown Soldier
Fela: we get unknown police,
Chorus: Unknown Soldier
Fela: we get unknown soldier
Chorus: Unknown Soldier
Fela: we get unknown civilian
Chorus: Unknown Soldier
Fela: or is it part of unknown government?
Fela: we get unknown police, dem kill nice student
Chorus: Unknown Soldier
Fela: we get unknown civilian, dem go kill 2 soldiers
Chorus: Unknown Soldier

Fela: we get unknown soldier
Chorus: Unknown Soldier

Fela: I say unknown police and then unknown soldier and then unknown civilian or is it part of unknown government?

Fela: them turn green into red,
Chorus: Unknown Soldier

Fela: them turn blue into white
Chorus: Unknown Soldier

Unknown Soldier

>Fela - Unknown Soldier / Coffin for head of state

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