Fatoumata Diawara was born in the Ivory Coast to Malian parents, but grew up in Bamako in Mali. Kokòrò (“Our Heritage” or “Our Traditions”) is a song standing in defence of the cultural heritage of Mali.
Our Heritage
Let’s not turn our backs to our traditions
Let’s embrace them, be proud of them
Let’s not abandon our traditions
We need to welcome them, like a miracle
Let’s not turn our backs on them.
They want to destroy our traditional values
Because we are Africans
We have lost all our cultural references
Because they see us as slaves
Our ancestors have abandoned us
They want to kill our traditions
Because we are Africans
Our good ways are becoming obsolete.
I bow before our ancestral traditions, mother
I pray to the spirits of our ancestors
I bow before our ancestral traditions.
Why are we not proud of what we are?
We try to look like Europeans, by bleaching our skin
We try to please the Chinese and sell off all of our resources to them
We think that being Muslim means to adopt Middle Eastern dress code
We want to look like Indians by applying their bindi to our forehead
Who will perpetuate Sunjata’s heritage?
I, Diawara Fanta proudly stand up, raise my hand
And vow to carry on the ancestral heritage
Who will live the African way of life in our stead?
We have lost all our cultural references
Copying european culture instead
If we do not respect ourselves
No one else will ever respect us.
Why are we not proud of who we are?
God, we just do not love ourselves enough!
We don’t, we don’t, we just don’t
Why are we not proud of who we are?
I bow before them
By God, I do, Tanba
I bow before them
By God, I do, Tanba
I bow before our ancestral traditions
By God, I do, Tanba
Bow before Tanba
By God, I do, Tanba
By God, I do, Tanba
By God, I do, Tanba
Bow before Tanba.
Our traditions, our heritage
Bow before Tanba.
Here are the lyrics in the original Bambara.
Kokoro
N’kana ban u la
Ehé, an ka sòn u la
Haan, an ka sòn u la
Kana ban u la
Kabako ye, an ka sòn u la
Uum, an kana ban u la.
K’u b’an danbe bò an na
K’anw ye farafinw ye
K’u b’an danbe bò an na
An ka kokòròw bèe tunun’an na
K’u b’an danbe bò an na
K’an ye jòn de ye
K’u b’an danbe bò an na
An ka kokòròw bèe taara k’an to
K’u b’an danbe bò an na, ah
K’an ye farafinw de ye
K’u b’an danbe bò an na
An ka maasèbèya kèr’an bolo dònba ye.
Ne bè, ne bè he, kokòròw sòn, ne ba
Ka kokòròw sòn ne na
N’bè kokòròw sòn.
Mun’an t’an yèrè fè, Ala?
Tubabuya de kad’an ye, k’an farikolow jè
Shinuwaya de kad’an ye, k’an ka dugukolow bèe feer’u ma
Arabuya de kad’an ye, ka fininw biri biri an kun na
Ènduya de kad’an ye, ka tòmininw da da an kun na
Jòn de bèna Sunjata tinyè ta?
Jawara Fanta b’i bolo kòròta le
K’ale bè Sunjata tinyè ta le
Jòn de bèna farafinya kè an nò la
An ka kokòròw bèe tunun’an na
Ko tubabuya
N’an ma bonya d’an yèrè kan
Maa wèrè tèna bonya d’an ka fo ka dinyè ban.
Mun’an t’an yèrè fè, Ala?
An t’an le yèrè fè, Ala !
An t’an, an t’an, an t’an yèrè fè
Mun’an t’an yèrè fè?
Ko ne b’olu sòn oh
Walahi Tanba
Ko ne b’olu sòn oh
Walahi Tanba
Ka kokòròw sòn oh
Walahi Tanba
Ah ah aha ha Tanba sòn.
Ko walahi Tanba
Ko walahi Tanba
Ko walahi Tanba ah
Ye Tanba ah ah Tanba sòn.
Kokòrò, kokòrò, kokòrò, kokòrò
Ye Tanba le hi Tanba sòn.
by Fatoumata Diawara,
from the album Fenfo,
Montuno Producciones Y Eventos, S.L. (2018).
A New Translation by Wilfred Willey.
