Dry Your Tears Afrika
Music by John Williams
Inspired by the poem “Dry your tears Afrika” by Bernard Dadié (1967)
The lyrics are in MENDE a west African language spoken primarily in Liberia and Sierra Leone.
Amistad is a 1997 historical drama film directed by Steven Spielberg based on the notable mutiny in 1839 by newly captured Mende slaves who took control of the ship La Amistad off the coast of Cuba, and the international legal battle that followed their capture by a U.S. revenue cutter. It became a United States Supreme Court case of 1841.
Morgan Freeman, Nigel Hawthorne, Anthony Hopkins, Djimon Hounsou, and Matthew McConaughey had starring roles. David Franzoni's screenplay was based on the book, Mutiny on the Amistad: The Saga of a Slave Revolt and Its Impact on American Abolition, Law, and Diplomacy (1987), by the historian Howard Jones. (from Wikipedia)
Dry Your Tears, Afrika
Your children come back to you
Out of the storms and squalls
Of fruitless journeys
---------------------------
Bee ya ma yee ah,
bee len geisia bee gammah.
Bee ya ma yee ah,
bee len geisia tee yamanga.
Baa wo, kah ung biah woie yaa.
Baa wo, kah ung biah woie yah, yah.
Oo be ya ma yee ah,
bee len geisia tee yamanga.
Mu ya mah mu yeh,
Mu ya mah mu yeh,
Mu ya mah mu yeh, Afrika.
Mu ya mah mu yeh,
Mu ya mah mu yeh,
Mu ya mah mu yeh, Afrika.
Bee ya ma yee ah,
bee len geisia tee yamanga.
Mu ya mah mu yeh,
bee len geisia bee gammah.
Oo bee ya mah yee ah
Bee len geisia tee yamanga.
Mu ya mah mu yeh,
Mu ya mah mu yeh,
Mu ya mah mu yeh, Afrika.
Mu ya mah mu yah,
Mu ya mah mu yah,
Mu ya mah mu yeh, Afrika.
Be ya mah yee ah,
bee len geisia tee yamanga.
Be ya mah yee ah,
bee len geisia bee gammah.
Mu ya mah mu yeh,
Mu ya mah mu yeh,
Mu ya mah mu yeh, Afrika.
Mu ya mah mu yeh,
Mu ya mah mu yeh,
Mu ya mah mu yeh, Afrika.
Mu ya mah mu yeh,
Mu ya mah mu yeh,
Mu ya mah mu yeh, Afrika.
