The world we knew is all changed now,
Our lives simply not what they were.
My mind, once numb, is awake at last
And my soul is beginning to stir.
All around me a million throats sing
The unfastened songs of our dreams.
'In the mind of age dwells the hope of youth.'
Life never is just what it seems.

chorus:
We know what you want for us, Papa.
We know what you want us to do.
We know what you want for us, Papa.
We know and we look out for you.

in Wolof:
Yow yaak mana yem
Domou Adama la gnou

Naka nga mana takaweedi ma teukkoo.
Gni ngui djeul sougnou khel
Sougnou khalat djokh seytane.
Te dougnou dougnou dougal loudoul si fitna ak thiono.

Nagnou gnaan ci yala mi mana sopi nit man koo defar.
Mou weulbati sougnou khel
Deupeule sougnou khol.
Sougnou ko defe
Dina gnou jubo
Te sou bouba
Fitna yi wagne kou.

You're a man just like me, friend.
How can you dispute what I say?
Why do we so often play into the hands of
The evil that stands in our way?
Is it to thicken the plot of a tale,
A tale that is mankind's to tell?
Is it to guarantee once and for all
That we descend straight into hell?