Soul Cries

If I could show you what my home really meant

In the time before hellfire swallowed it

You'd get a sense that nothing's permanent

Even here, things could go so quick

Humankind, I think we're all so sick

But in the rubble still beauty exists

It's been a war in my homeland for more than

I've been alive, all them years combined

Even in times of peace it was lies

Under the surface some tribes werе denied

I always knew wе had a sense of false pride

But the stolen land, and the lost lives

Were something new to me

I used to see the country beautifully

But never truthfully

Youthful and free, you could say naive

Child of the east, raised in the west

They only tell you bout their best and leave out the rest

Who got sacrificed, who got left

And who's still suffering yet

Lake Tana sunsets where my soul cries

I've been longing for this moment for my whole life

And I've been wanting all our people to be alright

But I'm feeling like I'm getting hit from all sides

Addis nights, rocking mics in the stage lights

I've been longing for these moments for my whole life

And I've been wanting all our people to be alright

But I hear them bullets flying now from all sides

You could tell a tourist by the scuffs on they shoes

On dirt roads they haven't learned how to move

I'm far removed from knowing what's true

About a country where the news is only one view

But I know enough to know I don't know enough

And neither does anyone who's not in the midst

Of a region where they're in danger of getting hit

Ethiopia has never been a monolith

We got Oromo and Amhara and Somali folks

We got Tigrayan and Sidama and Gurage folks

Indigenous nations, at least 80 more of those

Growing up I only knew about who stayed close

Lived 30 years before the day I ever came home

And who we met then helped me heal my soul up

It wasn't the same country my folks spoke of

Now there's a reckoning of what we know to be us

Lake Tana sunsets where my soul cries

I've been longing for this moment for my whole life

And I've been wanting all our people to be alright

But I'm feeling like I'm getting hit from all sides

Addis nights, rocking mics in the stage lights

I've been longing for these moments for my whole life

And I've been wanting all our people to be alright

But I hear them bullets flying now from all sides

Tigray

I dream of returning to you next time to stay

And reclaiming what was lost when I first fled

I dream of who I might've been holding hands

With who I've become, inspired and in solidarity

I dream of the spirit of my mother, long buried

Rising in recognition and impossible reunion

I dream of chasing my brothers, gathering

And keeping them safe, whole and alive

I dream of climbing to Grandma's roof

To get a closer look at God

I dream of us, blessed and brave

I dream of us, festive and free

I dream and dare

Expect