Biko, A Reprise in Honor of Ahmaud Arbery

Steven Biko became an Anti-Apartheid martyr after he was beaten to death by police in South Africa in 1977.  Peter Gabriel wrote a song about it in 1980 which I have revised to apply to Ahmaud Aubrey, who was unjustly murdered in Georgia this past February. Sadly, only the name and place needed changing (and it also applies just as easily to Breonna Taylor and George Floyd).

Let Ahmaud's name become the new rallying cry heard across the country in a stand against unjust violence directed towards Blacks and other minorities.

Biko (Reprise)

Original lyrics by Peter Gabriel from his third solo album

Ngomhla sibuyayo
Ngomhla sibuyayo
Ngomhla sibuyayo, kophalal'igazi!

February 2020
Brunswick Georgia, weather fine
It was business as usual
With Black lives on the line

Oh Ahmaud, Ahmaud, Ahmaud Arbery
Oh Ahmaud, Ahmaud, Ahmaud Arbery
Yihla moja, yihla moja
The man is dead
The man is dead

When I try and sleep at night
I can only dream in red
The outside world is black and white
With only one color dead

Oh Ahmaud, Ahmaud, Ahmaud Arbery
Oh Ahmaud, Ahmaud, Ahmaud Arbery
Yihla moja, yihla moja
The man is dead
The man is dead

You can blow out a candle
But you can't blow out a fire
Once the flames begin to catch
The wind will blow it higher

Oh Ahmaud, Ahmaud, Ahmaud Arbery
Oh Ahmaud, Ahmaud, Ahmaud Arbery
Yihla moja, yihla moja
The man is dead
The man is dead

And the eyes of the world are
Watching now, watching now

Senzeni na? Senzeni na?
What have we done? What have we done?
Senzeni na? Senzeni na?
What have we done? What have we done?

Biko on YouTube

Translations:

Ngomhla sibuyayo, kophalal'igazi - When we return, there'll be perfect silence

Yihla moja - Come spirit

Senzeni na? - What have we done?