Take me back

Sweet ancestral song
On breezy and cool evening song
By gifted griots men and women
Who's kindred knowledge dispel omen
Who's voice incites men to action
And they do more than there portion

Take me back! Take me back!

Take me back in time
When children sang in rhyme
Of old tortoise tricky deeds
Of eating the hares proceeds
When as our fathers say
Under the bread-fruit-tree there was way

Take me back ! Take me back!

Take me back to that land
Where children sat on sand
Round the fire beneath the fluttering palm
Listening with attention glued and calm
To the bravery of their forebears
Who fought every battle without fear

Take me back! Take me back!

Take me back to those ages
That were boundless with sages
Away from this modern madness
Let my distraught soul find recess
In their words with wisdom replete
That I may once more be complete