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The Way Back Home (ft Mukamuri)

from A Travel Guide For The Broken by Synik

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There's a clip that went viral on Zim social media some years back where an elderly gentleman was in the rural areas and he was trying to expressing in Shona but he was struggling and speaking with a very thick American accent. This clip left me wondering what it must be like for someone who returns 'home' after a lifetime abroad.

lyrics

We walking blind and our faith ain’t strong
We just stumbling along on the way back home
Tryna heal but this pain ain’t going
We just stumbling along on the way back home
I had prayed that this day would come
And now I’m stumbling along on the way back home
Let it be that my shame ain’t showing
Don’t wanna be turned away on the way back home

He stares into a still lake his reflection perfectly clear
Sees how time has etched lines in his visage over the years
And his eyes are heavy from all the things they’ve had to witness
But they are shrewd though, on the surface appear as listless
Sees the boy he was, hidden under his father’s ghost
They’ll be reunited soon, he feels his time is close
The day’s chill holds him closely
Before he flies out, there’re some people that he must go see
That Nigerian man who lives in the opposite building
The Ugandan mother who lost her son when cops killed him
Goodbyes are never easy but this is the way
They had become his family in this land so far away
From the red soil where feet and dust rose to drums beating
Calloused hands approached the same bowl when they were eating
Will he remember what to say
When the musicians of the chief gather around and start to play

We walking blind and our faith ain’t strong
We just stumbling along on the way back home
Tryna heal but this pain ain’t going
We just stumbling along on the way back home
I had prayed that this day would come
And now I’m stumbling along on the way back home
Let it be that my shame ain’t showing
Don’t wanna be turned away on the way back home

The drive to the village gives him time for his mind to replenish
With sublime visions from a life he relinquished
Stories around the fire while his mum cooked some spinach
With the stars bringing light from the distance
He glances out the window, the skyline looking different
He’s now far from the grind where you rise just to scrimmage
He was young when he arrived as an immigrant
With only his dreams and the fire and drive to achieve em
Became a slave, remembering his parents sacrifice
Woita chiremba mwanangu, tinokuda isu
The years passed as he studied and worked
While made to feel like the colour of his body is cursed
Was it the shame or pain that made him never return
Didn’t have his papers yet on the days that he learned
That his parents had joined those who watch over the clan
Could only send money asking about the progress and the plans
A lifetime ago but now he is finally back
Goes from tar to dust road and then that long winding track
He walks straight into his uncles embrace
The people gather to see this familiar stranger’s face
Sees the smiling eyes of a childhood friend
Filmy now, but reminds him of the times they spent
But these eyes are free from the heaviness of his own
See he had never flown from the only home that he had known
With some close kin he makes his way to site
Two crosses rising defiant casting shadows in the light
He had paid for the caskets, never got to pay respects
Now he holds a scale weighing what he gained and his regrets

We walking blind and our faith ain’t strong
We just stumbling along on the way back home
Tryna heal but this pain ain’t going
We just stumbling along on the way back home
I had prayed that this day would come
And now I’m stumbling along on the way back home
Let it be that my shame ain’t showing
Don’t wanna be turned away on the way back home

Zvino uchandiziva sei
Zvino uchandiziva sei
Zvino uchandiziva sei
Zvino uchandiziva sei

And I hear her say, how will you remember me
And I answer, how could I forget you,
Though I left you, you never left my heart

credits

from A Travel Guide For The Broken, released March 10, 2022
Featuring : Mukamuri,
Arrangement and production : Gas Lab
Additional vocals : Aurra Kawanzura
Saxophone : Juan Klappenbach

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Synik Lisbon, Portugal

Synik is a hip-hop artist from Zimbabwe currently living in Portugal.

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