This is the cry of a people Who were robbed and raped from their homeland And their loved ones A people stripped of their culture Their dignity, their liberty and their rigths And by the cruel and presumptuos Hands of the colonial and imperialistics slavers Were cargoed into the west Where for over 400 years they have toiled and laboured And with their blood, their sweat, them tears and hands They have built the great city of Babylon Only to be paid with the wages of the taskmaster's Whip Torture and death
Oh yea yea! This is my history! Oh yea yea yes! Oh!
We've been down in the valley much too long We've been down in captivity oh so long We've been down in humillity much too long We've been down in slavery oh so long
But we're gonna rise and shine! And win our liberation For now is the time When all nations must be free So rise and shine! Restore your strength and power Waste no more time Remember your history
We've been down in a sufferation much too long We've been down in a condemnation oh so long We've been down in a segregation much too long We've been down in humilliation oh so long
But we're gonna rise! As the morning sun that surrounds you It's international morality time Where mankind must be born anew So rise and shine! For the sake of the younger generations Putting hearts and minds To brotherhood and unity
Oh yea yea yea yea yes! Remember the slavemaster's ship! Remember the taskmaster's whip! Oh yea!
We've been down in the valley much too long We've been down in captivity oh so long We've been down in slavery much too long We've been down in humillity oh so long
But we're gonna rise and shine! And win our liberation For now is the time When all nations must be free Rise and shine! Restore your strength and power Waste no more time Remember your history