[Intro]
Four thousand
Four thousand rounds of bullets
Ready to break black bodies again
Four vulturous
Four vulturous mortuary vans
And whose hands, whose hands have blood?

[Verse 1]
Contradictions fill the skies
“Batho Pele, Batho Pele,” they vow
Big-bellied politicians mutter ’bout how you’ll be remembered
The street names echo your fame, misused freedom songs your names
Your blood trickles down broken drains
Sometimes in vain

[Chorus]
You see, the cush of your youth was blood, guns and revolutions
Bullets in the air now
Tear-gas in your hearts
You see, the cush of your youth was blood, guns and revolutions
Fists in the air now
Tear-gas in your hearts

[Post-Chorus]
Oh yeah mama
Yeah mama
Baleka mama
Oh baleka baba
Baleka baba
Nants’ i-mellow yellow
[Verse 2]
You died with nothing still, although museums are filled
With stories of your ill-rewarded heroic deeds
The gaze of the martyrs falls heavy on our wills
Thick in the throats of youthful self-inflicted guilt

[Chorus]
You see, the cush of your youth was blood, guns and revolutions
Bullets in the air now
Tear-gas in your hearts
You see, the cush of your youth was blood, guns and revolutions
Fists in the air now
Tear-gas in your hearts

[Post-Chorus]
Oh yeah mama
Yeah mama
Baleka mama
Oh baleka baba
Baleka baba
Nants’ i-mellow yellow

[Verse 3]
You raised your calloused hands, for a share in your own land
Your blood flooded the foothill, onto wealthy hands
The gaze of the sons and daughters falls heavy with bloody questions
Thick in the lies of allies bound by miners’ blood
[Chorus]
You see, the cush of your youth was blood, guns and revolutions
Bullets in the air now
Tear-gas in your hearts
You see, the cush of your youth was blood, guns and revolutions
Fists in the air now
Tear-gas in your hearts

[Post-Chorus]
Oh baleka baba
Baleka baba
Nants’ i-mellow yellow
Oh baleka
Oh baleka baba
Baleka baba
Nants’ i-mellow yellow

[Bridge]
Jikel’ emaweni siyahamba (Jikel’ emaweni siyahamba)
Jikel’ emaweni siyahamba (Jikel’ emaweni siyahamba)
Jikel’ emaweni siyahamba (Jikel’ emaweni siyahamba)
Jikel’ emaweni siyahamba (Jikel’ emaweni siyahamba)
Siyahamba bo siyahamba
Siyahamba bo siyahamba
Noba ningasidubula emqolo thina sithe siyahamba bo
Sihamba bo siyahamba
[Outro]
Four thousand
Four thousand rounds of bullets
Ready to break black bodies again
Four vulturous
Four vulturous mortuary vans
And whose hands, whose hands have blood?