Verse 1:
[C] [G] [Am]
I was the only one who witnessed my homecoming
[G]-[F] [G] [F] [G] [C]
So I asked myself: Brother Joseph, how've you been?
[C] [G] [Am]
Then I met an old man who knew me as a boy
[G]-[F] [G] [F] [G] [C]
(I) said, Father, where've the people, where've the homesteads gone?
[F] [G] [Am]
And he said, Son, I'll be old until I die now
[F] [G] [F] [G] [C]
And then I will join our people in the sky
[F] [G] [Am]
I am not the one to ask the reasons why
[G]-[F] [G] [F] [G] [C]
Your brothers and your sisters have been scattered in the wind
Chorus:
[C]
And he said old eyes (mehlomadala)
[Am]
You've got old eyes, boy (mehlomadala)
[F] [G] [C]
You've seen much too much for one so young
[G]-[C]
He said old eyes (mehlomadala)
[Am]
You've got old eyes, boy (mehlomadala)
[Dm] [F] [Am]-[G]
Child, from whence have you come?
Verse 2:
[C] [G] [F] [C]
When I left that mountain land so gold and green
[Am] [G] [F] [G] [C]
I was a sturdy sixteen years
[C] [G] [F] [C]
Work was hard and the wage was low
[Am] [G] [F] [C]
And the seasons passed me by one by one
[F] [G] [Am]
And I dreamed, Maria, you would wait for my return
[F] [G] [F] [G] [C]
We'd build a home upon the rock, beneath the smiling sun
[F] [G] [Am]
But as the old man used to say when I was young
[F] [G] [F] [G] [C]
People come and people go, but the mountain still remains
Zulu chorus:
[C] [Am]
And he said mehlomadala, mehlomadala
[F] [G] [C]
Ang(i)sakwaz(i) wemganam(i)
[G]-[C] [Am]
He said mehlomadala, mehlomadala
[Dm] [F] [Am]-[G]
(U)qhamkaphi wena wemganam(i)
(instrumental break...)
Repeat English chorus...
Repeat Zulu chorus...
End.
Meaning of Zulu words:
mehlomadala : old eyes (mehlo = eyes, madala = old)
ang(i)sakwaz(i) : I don't know you anymore (i.e. it's been a long time since I saw you)
wemganam(i) : my friend (wemngani = friend, wami = my)
uqhamkaphi wena : where are you coming from i.e. where have you been (uqhamuka =
you coming, kuphi = where, wena = you)
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(thanks to Cameron for his musical ear and Thembinkosi for the Zulu words!)
Website for Johnny Clegg, one of the Juluka founder members, is www.johnnyclegg.com
