[Verse 1] Morning steam from the coffee tray Incense curls in the quiet room Grandma hums in Amharic Names every saint on the walls
Taxi horns in a dusty jam Goats drift slow by the open gate Kids chase dreams with a plastic ball Barefoot kings in the sun
[Chorus] Ethiopia I carry you Like coffee stains on my hands Ethiopia You’re in my name In every prayer I don’t understand Ethiopia I hear you call From red earth roads to the blue Ethiopia This aching heart Still beats its rhythm for you
[Verse 2] Rain drums hard on the tin roof sheet Muddy lanes turn to rivers fast Mama laughs at the power cut Lights a candle Tells the past
Braids pulled tight on a Friday night New white cloth for the holy day Voices rise in the echoing hall Old songs shaking the walls
[Chorus]
[Bridge] I’ve crossed oceans in metal birds Changed my tongue just to get by But your spice lives on my window sill Your flag in the back of my mind
I call home on a cracked screen glow Hear the market in the line You say “Come when the teff fields grow” I say “Soon ” every time
[Chorus]
Musikstil
Warm, organic Afro-folk groove with hand percussion, krar/rubab-style strings, and soft bass. Mid-tempo sway; verses intimate and story-driven, chorus opens with gang vocals and claps like a crowded family table. Sprinkle subtle traditional flutes and call-and-response ad-libs; vocal sits upfront, slightly gritty, with a communal singalong outro.