THEY SOLD THE MOTHERLAND [Intro – Spoken] Listen Africa… This is not the time to sleep. This is the time to remember who we are. The blood of Sankara… The fire of Lumumba… The dream of Gaddafi… The cry of every African child still suffering on the richest land on Earth. [Verse 1] From Dakar to Bamako, Children cry where the gold still glow, Diamonds leave in a foreign plane, But mama still walks in the rain. They built palaces in Paris lights, While villages sleep through hungry nights, Africa rich, but the people poor, Chains still knock on the colonial door. They changed the flag but kept the code, Kept the currency, kept the load, CFA hanging on our neck, Future stolen check by check. Young men drown in the desert sand, Trying to flee their own rich land, How can the soil of kings and queens Still bleed beneath foreign regimes? [Pre-Chorus] Oh Africa… Wake from sleep, The wounds of history cut too deep, If we don’t rise, If we don’t stand, They’ll auction off the motherland. [Chorus] They sold the motherland For dinner with kings, For foreign suits And diamond rings, But the youth are rising Like thunder and flame, Pan-African blood Cannot be tamed. No more chains In invisible form, No more silence Dressed as reform, From Senegal To Congo’s cries, Africa lives… Africa rise! [Verse 2] Ousmane Sonko spoke fire In the lion’s den, Told the truth They fear again, “Take back the mines, Reclaim the sea, Africa must be truly free.” But every voice That shakes the throne, Soon walks the road Of standing alone, The system smiles While sharpening knives, Playing chess With African lives. The youth believed A change had come, Drums of freedom Started to drum, But power dances With hidden hands, Even revolutions Sink in sands. Beware the leaders Bought abroad, Who kneel for favors Before their gods, They speak of peace While nations fall, And sign away The wealth of all. [Bridge] Remember Lumumba’s tears, Remember Sankara’s final years, Remember Gaddafi’s broken dream, How Africa split at every seam. History repeats When youth stay blind, Colonialism changed Its design, No longer boots And guns alone, Now debt and banks Become the throne. France may leave the flag behind, But still control the African mind, Through contracts signed In secret rooms, While African hope slowly consumes. [Final Chorus] Africa rise, Your time is near, Do not let them Rule by fear, Teach the children Truth and pride, Not how to run… But how to fight. No foreign hand Will save our name, No puppet leader Breaks these chains, The future lives In African youth, In unity, Courage, And fearless truth. From the streets of Dakar tonight, To every land where freedom fights, The ancestors are calling loud: “Stand for Africa… Make us proud.” [Outro] One continent… One people… One destiny… The gold is ours. The oil is ours. The future is ours. Africa… Will rise again.