"The Other Shore" Eh… eh… eh… Mbëkël bi dafa set… (la mer est claire ce matin) (il ne sait pas encore)[Couplet 1 — voix seule, kora en dessous] He holds the phone like a window Scrolls through lives that look like light Cities where the streets are even Where the night is safe at nightHe sees the children with their futures Sees the tables full of bread Sees the faces that aren't tired From just trying not to be deadHis mother sleeps behind a curtain His father's cough fills up the room He puts the phone down in the darkness And decides inside the gloom[Pré-refrain — voix qui monte, percussion mbalax entre doucement] He doesn't leave because he hates this land He leaves because he loves his life He doesn't leave because he's given up He leaves because he wants to arriveSomewhere Somewhere[Refrain — mbalax complet, voix Youssou pleine, douleur et soleil mêlés] 🎵 Is the world serious On the other shore Will they open up their arms Or will they close the doorWill I finally sleep Without one eye open wide Is the world serious On the other side 🎵[Couplet 2 — voix plus grave, le voyage commence] He sold the phone to pay the first man The first man sold him to the next Each border has its price in silence Each silence has its price in fleshThe desert doesn't care for dreaming The sun burns prayers into sand He carries names sewn in his jacket Of everyone who held his handThree days without water Two men didn't wake He keeps their names sewn in his jacket For their mothers' sake[Pré-refrain — voix brisée, percussion s'arrête] He doesn't pray for gold or glory He prays for ordinary days A room, a job, a name that's spoken Without suspicion in the gazeJust that Just that[Refrain] 🎵 Is the world serious On the other shore Will they open up their arms Or will they close the doorWill I finally sleep Without one eye open wide Is the world serious On the other side 🎵[Pont — tout s'arrête — kora seule — voix parlée, Youssou N'Dour griot]My grandmother told me the ocean remembers every name of every person who crossed it without choosingFour hundred years ago they crossed it in chainsToday we cross it in rubber and we call it a crisis(silence)My name is Ibrahima I am twenty-two years old I know three languages I can fix engines I can build walls I can workI just want to work(silence)Is that too much to ask of a serious world[Couplet 3 — la mer, la traversée, les dernières heures] The boat holds twice what it should carry The captain disappeared at dawn The children cry then stop then silence The silence is the hardest oneHe thinks of his mother's voice on Tuesday He thinks of the phone he sold for this He thinks of the city in the pixels He thinks he should have known the riskThe coast appears like a rumor Like something God half-promised once Some make it to the sand and tremble Some make it to the sand and don't[Refrain — voix qui porte toute la traversée] 🎵 Is the world serious On the other shore Will they open up their arms Or will they close the doorWill I finally sleep Without one eye open wide Is the world seriousAm I finally On the other side 🎵[Montée finale — chœurs africains entrent, kora, percussion, tout monte]He made it He made it to the shoreAnd the shore said papers And the shore said queue And the shore said wait And the shore said no And the shore said maybe And the shore said not here And the shore said(silence)He sleeps in a camp That has no name In a country That has not decided If he is a person Or a problemHe still believes He still believes He still[Refrain final — voix seule, kora, tout le reste disparaît] 🎵 Is the world seriousI crossed the desert I crossed the sea I left everyone who loved me To be hereIs the world seriousI just want a room I just want a name I just want a morning That feels the same As the mornings In the phoneIs the world seriousOr was the light Just a screen 🎵[Outro — kora seule, trois notes du début, voix très lointaine]Eh… eh… eh… Mbëkël bi dafa set…The sea is still clear this morningSomeone else is looking at the phone(kora s'arrête) (rien)