GRANPA! WHO MISLEAD YOU? - GABBERTS

[Spoken Intro] Grandpa… Can I ask yuh something? All these years… Who teach we our history? And more importantly… Who leave out de rest? Band… [Verse] My mother tongue is English My mother tongue is French My mother tongue is Portuguese Go sit down pon dat bench! And learn yuh Spanish history You African descendant Your whole background is primitive Why yuh so reluctant? To follow me into slavery Be proud of de language I speak De language of colonisers Dat render yuh own tongue weak [Chorus] Grandpa, who mislead you? Who tell you dat lie? Why yuh still swallowing Dat poisoned pie? Grandpa, who mislead you? Tell me why, oh why? History hidden in darkness Now it coming to de light [Verse] Don’t yuh know dem nice slave masters Saved us from disaster? We was backward people Living in bushes after Never learn to read nor write From birth down to de grave Till Europe came and rescue we And make we civilized slave Grandpa… Who tell yuh dat story? Who paint dat picture so? Because every page I reading Say de opposite I know [Chorus] Grandpa, who mislead you? [Verse] When they hold we against we will And chain we hand and feet And pack we in de belly of ships Like cargo for de street Dat journey wasn’t mercy Dat journey wasn’t grace It scatter generations And erase many a place Yet somehow through de suffering Through every lash and scar Our people kept remembering Exactly who dey are [Chorus] Grandpa, who mislead you? [Verse] We was not bush people Nor people without name We had cities, schools and kingdoms Long before Europe came Universities and libraries Knowledge flowing free Mathematics, science, medicine Across de continent you see And what about de Moors, Grandpa? Yuh ever hear dat tale? North Africans crossing Europe Helping knowledge set sail [Bridge] Who taught astronomy? Who taught philosophy? Who preserved de books For future generations to see? Who carried learning Across de Mediterranean Sea? Sometimes de student become de teacher Dat is history [Verse] Dem hide all dis from yuh, Grandpa And bury it in de wall Throw a crooked curve ball And hope de truth would fall So yuh might conclude Slavery wasn’t all dat bad And forget de civilizations Our ancestors once had But truth have a habit It don’t stay underground Sooner or later Lost stories get found [Chorus] Grandpa, who mislead you? Who tell you dat lie? Why yuh still swallowing Dat poisoned pie? [Verse] Africa got hundreds of languages Hundreds of ways to speak Hundreds of songs and proverbs Dat time can never weaken Yoruba, Twi and Igbo Mandinka and Wolof too Pieces of dem still living Inside me and inside you So learn another language Learn another song Because knowing where yuh come from Can never make yuh wrong [Final Verse] I love de tongue I speaking English part of me But I don’t have to lose myself To understand history I can honour where I standing And still know where I start Africa lives in memory Africa lives in heart Caribbean is de journey Africa part de root Knowing both together Makes understanding true [Final Chorus] Grandpa, who mislead you? Who tell you dat lie? Why yuh still swallowing Dat poisoned pie? Grandpa, who mislead you? Tell me why, oh why? History hidden in darkness Now it coming to de light Grandpa, who mislead you? Time to open up yuh eyes Because truth is stronger Than a thousand old disguise [Outro] Wake up Grandpa… Wake up… Learn a little Yoruba with me… Loosen yuh tongue in every town… Show dem dat yuh free… Show dem yuh proud… Of Africa… Africa… The Mother of Civilization…