Long ago there was a sound in the night
A Kwela man singing under the street light
With a cheap guitar he gave his sorrow a smile

And he sowed his songs in the alley ways mile upon mile

Chorus


Ye hum ho la lo Kwela man
Ye hum ho la lo Kwela man

Ye hum ho la lo Kwela man
You gave it your life


Living low with the pennywhistle-tea-chest-base-gang
I followed him home and he danced as he sang
But now he's gone

Not even the slightest traces
Of a Kwela song
And the street is full of empty spaces


Chorus


Nobody knows did he survive the winding road
Did he find a song that took him back to the heartland
Here I stand lost in a memory

Of a Kwela man singing in the long gone twilight

Chorus


When I followed you home Kwela man
You filled my soul, Kwela Kwela

When you sang your song Kwela man
You gave it your life
Ye hum ho la lo Kwela man

Ye hum ho la lo Kwela man
Ye hum ho la lo Kwela man
You gave it your life