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