THIS WAS MADE HERE

(by Meklit + Dan Wilson)

walking
flying
sailing
driving
made it
new shores
hope reign
sky pour
seeds that scatter
songs that shade and shelter
names get braided
as we are
this was made here
this was made here

daydreams
oceans
compass
open
two homes
in strange clothes
let the seams show
translate
pass on
transmission and omission
names get braided
as we are
this was made here
this was made here

years of in between and wander
learn to live within the longing
what an impossible condition
when back home is ever shifting
flung so far beyond our wellspring
but home
is more than a feeling,

it's a belonging
and i 

i’m not going to wait, i'm not gonna
i’m not going to wait, i'm not gonna
i’m not going to wait, i'm not gonna
i’m not going away, way, way....

daydreams
oceans
compass
open
two homes
in strange clothes
let the seams show
translate
pass on
transmission and omission
names get braided
as we are
this was made here
this was made here
this was made here
this was made here
this was made
here

YESTERDAY IS A TIZITA -

• Tizita direct translation = memory
• Also a popular Ethiopian song form, songs of longing and nostalgia
• Also an Ethiopian pentatonic scale/mode, found in both major and minor. 

A person can be a question
A what if
A what might have happened
Behind your eyes, a reflection
No matter your face, your direction
They are a tizita

you just need to hear one
Your troubles
they’ll be far away
ask George Martin bout yesterday
I knew it before I pressed play
this was his tizita

Yesterday is a tizita
Yesterday is a tizita
Yesterday is a tizita

everyone on this planet
we all got it
add it up and it links us
whether or not we want it
you’re no stranger to me
cause you have your tizita

We remember it true
We remember a fog
we get the past right
and we get the past wrong
still it hits us so strong
When we have our tizita

Yesterday is a tizita
Yesterday is a tizita
Yesterday is a tizita

So who would I be if I had stayed
And what kind of Addis girl would I have made.
Look back to another past....

But time only goes in one way
Oh my heart and this weight
Tizita in my fate
Blues by another name
Sweetness inside of the pain

My tizita is a country
I left when i was young
There is unwritten history
And forgotten mother tongue
Memories never made
And others become this song
My tizita   
Became this song
My tizita
My tizita
My tizita

BIRTHDAY SONG

Happy birthday, baby

Oh I thank the momma that made ya
Oh I thank the momma that made ya
Oh I thank the momma that made ya
Happy birthday

Oh I thank the daddy that raised ya
Oh I thank the daddy that raised ya
Oh I thank the daddy that raised ya
Happy Birthday

Oh the years are made of days
And the days were our staircases
We ran them like teenagers
Don’t mind, if your face show your age
Each line you turn the page
we came so far my birthday baby

Happy birthday baby

All your ancestors standing in a line
They brought you to this world
But life has made you mine
All your ancestors standing over you
Wishing you a happy birthday too

WAITING FOR EARTHQUAKES

Rocks are broken

Ground revealed

The fissures spread

The sound, the feel...

Dont look now

Dont play the show

It’s over love

Just let it go....

Land broke off

Fell into sea

Once predicted

Now will be...

The earthquake finally came

Everything shows its form

And everything leans towards home

The breaking point

We all have one

Left of center, right of the storm

Erruptions on the lava land

We’re pushing just to stand on sand

The earthquake finally came

And where were you in all of this?

You’re sailing on the ocean

While I was in the middle

O the fire, the fire was a kind of bliss

An oh, oh that volcanos kiss.

I was waiting for the earthquake  

WE ARE ALIVE

In times I did not have enough

A hole in what I needed

I broke into a cabinet

And opened and I ate from it

And scarcity there was a lack 

Of friends to lend me something love

And all that I can think of now 

Is that I’m glad it’s over

But.....

Hey, Hey We Are Alive

And now the time of fullness come

Fruit in the backyard

Everyone has so much light

Climb the light into the sky

And I could never see so far

The light now is in my eyes

Yeah I can only see the road 

Immediately in front of me

But.....

Hey, Hey We Are Alive

SLOW

The way that people stitch themselves together happens 

Slow, slow, slow 

The way that people stitch themselves together happens 

Slow, slow, slow 

So give me all the clocks in your house 

We can throw them, throw them 

So give me all the clocks in your house 

We can throw them, throw them 

Take the second hand

Break their magnetism 

Bring them all together 

Bury them all together 

Take the ticking sounds 

Write a counter rhythm 

Hide the batteries 

Watch the world go backwards 

So give me all the clocks in your house 

We can throw them, throw them 

We can watch them tumbling now 

In slow motion, motion 

And the order that we wrote down 

Has been broken 

And the logic of love’s underground 

Has it’s moment

WALK UP

walk up

walk up straight through the roof

straight through the hole in the ceiling

take your place in the sky

oh look around at the clouds

that hold you

that hold you

and the birds surround you

the birds surround you

they circle you and make

a tornado from the air

it feels just like you dreamed

just like you dream

oh, your shoulders are clear

they have given up the weights and the knots

the weights and the knots

the weights and the knots

no more gravity around you 

no more gravity

no more gravity

and in a funny way you identify with the

piece of paper you saw

floating down the street

earlier in the day

who knew this

who knew this would be easy

and you suddenly think of the kings

and the poets in the past

and how they must have felt just like this

on a day like this

on a day like this

soleil soleil

i’ve been dreaming, dreaming of the sun

of its lovely, lovely melody

holy queen of sunshine

shine it down on me.

face in the sun and

body in the breeze

my baby bring me sunshine

shines it down on me.

CALL

the heavy, sweet orange

made the branch bow low

once admired from on high

it is ready

for hungry hands

it casts upon you a little spell

its halo grows

and power swells

you are seduced by its call

oh yeah its call

when the dreamer

wants a lover

like the orange

well she, well she dress in

well she dress in color

when the sparrow

wants a lover

she sing her notes

into the ether

she cast upon you a little spell

her halo grows

and power swells

you are seduced by her call

oh yeah her call

now the time

for standing in the middle of the midnight hour alone

it has gone

no more staring at the stars

no more

now the time

for building has come

and love will build itself a house

as tall as the sky

it will sway in the wind

but it will not fall

till the time for falling has come

I WANT TO SING FOR THEM ALL

I grew up listening
To Michael and Aster
Prince and Mahmoud
They both took me there
Took me to that place
That music lets you find
Forget all your troubles
Unburden your mind

Along the way
I found Coltrane and Mary Armeday
And Dr. Mulatu
Guides me in what I do
They all have a place
At my table with me
Singing Ethio-Jazz
In 2017

I want to sing for them all

Leonard Cohen taught me
Words are your currency
And Muluken’s legacy
Was written in melody

They all have a place
At my table with me
Singing Ethio-Jazz
In 2017
 

YOU ARE MY LUCK

Ah ah ah - aaaaaaah
Ah ah ah - aaaaaaah

You're my luck
My rise up
Lightning struck
You are my luck

Since you been mine
I’ve been dreaming in rhyme
Everything just fit

Through struggle we came
No no running away
With you, the strength come quick

My friends they all know
Took your time, you were slow
Would you ever show?

And then you arrived
With your nebula eyes
And we stroll to the future all blazing and bright

You're my luck
My rise up
Lightning struck
You are my luck

You're my luck
My rise up

When I’m sipping my coffee
Gliding down the street
Spring it sway in me

Some burden of heaviness
Gone from the scene
A new woman complete

I know it’s the same, for you
Sweetness it came for you
Tell me what you need

To give and receive
The broken has healed
And the pleasure is falling like leaves from the trees

You're my luck
My rise up
Lightning struck
You are my luck

You're my luck
My rise up

In these monsoon, storming times
When my people try
to look the world in the eye
We get so tired
always high tide
The water climb

I know it’s not enough
To look for shelter
Inside of your love
But finding sanctuary has gotten tough
So I lean, I lean on you

Baby hold me longer
And we can be a harbor
for each other
And we can carry more weight
Carry more weight from this lift that we’ve been given
And we can carry more weight
from this lift that we’ve been given
given

You're my luck
My rise up
Lightning struck
You are my luck

You're my luck
My rise up

You're my luck
My rise up
Lightning struck
You are my luck

You're my luck
My rise up

Memories of the future

And the fireworks roared like lions
And the children woke up from their beds
And the dreamers they became lucid 

While our memories of the future waited 

And the roads found their way to onwards
Shooting stars remembered to fall
And the deserts missed the weight, the weight of the water

 While our memories of the future waited 

If this is an offer, 
then why should we stop here
And are you pretending that you are sure?

Here is something stronger.
Don't gloss it over.
Or are you the past knocking at my door? 

And the painters mixes their pallets
And the drummers beat their drums
But at least the hunters put down their guns.

While our memories of the future waited

And the fireworks roared like lions
And the children woke up from their beds
And the dreamers they became lucid

PLUME

All the afternoons I counted 

Since that one 1pm 

Since you kissed me in your hummingbird mansion 

Oh the feathers oh the feathers 

All the afternoons I counted, 

Folding paper, folding days 

With your bird like hands 

and your forever wingspan 

Sent you flying flying flying. 

No I don't mind mornings or evenings 

Don't mind the middle of the night 

But the hour of longest light 

Send December squeezing. 

Now all the afternoons are passing 

Heading west, speeding through 

Time to find another feather for my plume 

Find another feather for my plume. 

Eagles egrets ibis 

heron robin wren 

sparrows swallows larks 

Eagles egrets ibis 

heron robin wren 

sparrows swallows larks

and doves, doves, doves, doves....

OVERGROWN

Daylight breaking late 

Let's open the garden gate

A strange wind is starting to blow

Follow me past the flowers 

We planted in old seasons

And old hours 

Some of them are still in bloom

oooooooo (chorus)

Was this where we kissed

In the haze of history's hiss

The truth amidst the midst

Your legs, your arms and thighs

Your body's fall and rise

The questions in your eyes

This garden has a spell

Let's look into it's well 

But dont fall inside

ooooooo (chorus)

The path is red

And it winds

The sun, it sharply shines

A little blind

We hope there's nothing for us to find 

In here, in here the mirror's never clear

This garden is overgrown

So walk out the way you came in, walk out the way you came. 

IN SLEEP

Rest me from this logic world 

The cave where I was born 

Slip me under poetry 

A million pages torn 

Let the words wash over me 

The words my soul will keep 

In sleep, in sleep, in sleep

Follow through the tunnels lit with candles low and dim 

Drink the cup, the water, it is filled up to the brim 

Let it overflow my love It’s color dark and deep 

Now sleep, now sleep, now sleep 

Dream yourself a meadow with some rolling golden hills 

Dream yourself a window with some yellow window sills 

Count the falling flowers and the roses we will reap 

In sleep, in sleep, in sleep 

Sing out from the rooftops 

Sing out to the north and east 

Orbit earth in minutes 

Say yes to the wedding feast 

Speak in ancient languages 

While dancers laugh and leap 

Now sleep, now sleep, now sleep 

Rest me from this logic world 

The cave where I was born 

Slip me under poetry 

A million pages torn 

Let the words wash over me 

The words my soul will keep 

In sleep, in sleep in sleep 

FLOAT AND FALL

well the sound of your step

reminded me of the snow

that winter before i left for good

and the knock that you knocked

had an accidental rhythm

you asked me for tea

and i knew you liked it sweet

i remember, with two sugars

i am happy to see you again

the wrinkles when you smile

are like rings upon a tree

you reminded me of plane rides baby

of take-offs and landings

and watching the earth from the sky

well a moment of dark, a moment of light

the memories dance so strange and slow

a moment of darkness and of light

i alight, you alight

we drift and we float and we fall

in the hour before the evening arrives

and the air smells suddenly of the rain

i wait on the step

on the stoop of your house

the house that you grew up in

and the air and the air

turns suddenly cold

and the sky prepares itself for night

i know every person who passes me by

their history is also mine

well a moment of dark, a moment of light

the memories dance so strange and slow

a moment of darkness and of light

i alight, you alight

we drift and we float and we fall

WALLS

be gentle

be gentle, gentle with me

i feel fragile this year

be gentle, gentle with me

and the walls

the walls

i counted ten thousand walls around my heart

cant you see my walls

some are made of cardboard

some are made of clay

some are made of memories

of that sad, sad day

oh i know every single one of my walls

i walk amongst them, in between them, shout from on top of them

i walk amongst them, in between them, shout from on top of my…

some hold bones

like graveyard stones

like fossils in the sea

some are painted red

for mystic me

one has a flower growing sideways

out of a crack

and one day that plant may grow

that wall will crumble, crumble, crumble

they appear and disappear

there’s one that knows when you're not here

it’s when I miss you that I

see right through that wall

but when you’re with me

all I can see is

brick and mortar and mud

why do you, do you

do this to me, do you, do you

do you, do you do?

can walls have roots

or branches like a tree

i don’t know how deep this goes

you got to help me, help me, help me

please, please, please

SWEET OR SALTY

Sweet or salty baby?
A shake or a cube
or both to get the best of life,
Drink the cup in a dimly lit room.
Sit down to watch the band play
See if they can make us feel our love more intensely

Then after it's over
Will we fight or moan?
Will we lemon or honey? 
Will we roam?
Drive onto the highway
To feel the breeze
Stay out until dawn to see

The sunrise 

Sweet or Salty baby?
Oh forget what I said,
It's both, and we have got to wrap that truth around our heads.
I don’t want diamonds
Cause I know
They just carbon arranged in a particular way
Living things are more beautiful

I'm thinking forever has got to include,
That you might feel restless
And I might feel it too.
But if we know one thing, 
then we won’t blow our fuse.
Because we can always walk in each others’ shoes

Till the sunrise 

Woke up in a panic
Wondering, would you be gone?

See I had fallen asleep in your front seat
And you were standing there and waiting for the sun

Oh the sky was pale and dusty rose and steely grey.
The workers on the early shift, they glanced our way.
You were staring at me like you would never let me slip away

Then after it's over
Will we fight or moan?
Will we lemon or honey? 
Will we roam?
Drive onto the highway
To feel the breeze.
Stay out until dawn just to see. 

The sunrise, the sunrise, the sunrise. 

SUPERNOVA

Where did you come from?
Where did you grow those bones?
Midnight is a mirror
Look up, your reflection falls

All the pieces collected
From debris left behind
Now gravity is possessing me
Electromagnetic mind

Remember when you'd fly without wings
How you loved how you loved
to feel the falling
Cross the universe on a string
And start over, 
Ove - eh - er 

Cause everything that we are was made in a supernova
Everything that we are was made in a supernova

In me stardust is living
One billion years gone by
So who is going to stop me
When it’s my time to fly 

No ordinary girl
And you, a cosmic sailor with an appetite for earth
We wrap ourselves in this life
We showered down, we settled, from our home in the skies

So watch out
Jump back
And get down
The nebula is rumbling
You better start running
An explosion is coming, 
Coming

Cause everything that we are was made in a supernova
Everything we are was made in a supernova
Everything that we are was made in a supernova
Everything we are was made in a supernova

Where did you come from?

YERAKEH YERESAL

Tertachu asgebuat, lesua zefenulat
Tertachu negeruat, endemenfelegat
Tertachu asgebuat, bezema awediswat
temetalech esua yangeezay berucha

Ye alemeachen kenfoch, tesemeachew dikam
Ye adey abeba dinget seteweta
Bemetenum bihon yiqelal wu  tretwa
Bedewel wubetishin ina dinq

Tineshum Tilekum
Ye raqeh yeresal
Fiqerem tesemtuatal endeh teresachay

Honom yetem alhedech
Ketig qomalech
feetuan teshefafena
titebeqalech egna estamenenqa 

Translation:

call her and let her in, sing for her
call her and tell her we need her
call her and let her in, with your perfect melodies
and she will run

the wings of the world feeling tired
if only the addy abebay (a yellow flower associated with hope and sprintime) peaks out
If it could lessen the weight even just a little
You’d respond to beauty as the sound of a bell...

the small and the big
as they grow further are forgotten
And even love feels like she’s been left behind

but she didn’t go anywhere
she is here
Around the corner
With her face covered
she has waited up till now
until we wake up

call her and let her in, sing for her
call her and tell her we need her
call her and let her in, with your perfect melodies
and she will run

THE HUMAN ANIMAL

Animal, Animal, Animal
From savannah you were born
Two legs, two arms, two eyes and a restless soul

Animal, Animal, Animal
And it's you under the sky
Your feet on the ground
The only way you can reach higher 

Oooooooh, 
the human animal

There's something in us
Just a little bit rough
That longs to run
(Do you long to run?)

We capture this side of us
Hide what is fire
But we’re all made from love

Animal, Animal, Animal
And you want to fly away
From all those voices demanding you to be tame

Animal, Animal, Animal
That don’t mean you can't be kind
But what if a part of you knew how to
Stay wild

Oooooooh, 
the human animal
Oooooooh, 
the human animal

There's something in us
Just a little bit rough
That longs to run
The power of nature
It roar when it face you
But where you think your own roar came from? 

Oooooooh, 
the human animal
Oooooooh, 
the human animal

There's something in us
Just a little bit rough
That longs to run
The power of nature
It roar when it face you
But where you think your own roar came from?

stuck on the moon

If you find yourself stuck on the moon 

the rules are the same 

One foot in front of the other 

Till your body float away 

When your body is floating in ether 

And your mind will join the game 

As your logic slowly leaves you 

Your dreams will show their face 

And your dreams will say la da da 

if your dreams are leading you're living 

And they enter your everyday 

You might find yourself back on the moon 

And there you will stay

If you find yourself stuck on the moon 

The rules are the same 

One foot in front of the other 

Till your body float away

A TRAIN

Meet me on the A train

And we’ll roll down to Brooklyn

Walk down 5th Avenue

Where the Puerto Rican shops used to be

Meet me on the A train

And we’ll rock to the Rockaways

Ital stew on the avenue

The waves follow all the way, all the way, all the way

And it’s all so simple

And it all goes mad

All the answers that you’re seeking

Can be found somewhere on the line

On the A train

Meet me on the A train

And we’ll roll up to Harlem

Stop at the Apollo

Maybe check out a West African trade show

Meet me on the A train

It’s an artery and a vein

The city’s body dont complain

Tomorrow it starts all again, all again, all again

And it’s all so simple

And it all goes mad

All the answers that you’re seeking

Can be found somewhere on the line

On the A train

REST NOW

How are you? 

Are you hungry? 

How was your day? 

Did the world get in your way? 

Did you travel far, walk or run? 

Did you see the end, where the road has come? 

Why dont you rest, rest

Shake off the hours. 

Why dont you rest, rest

Shake off the hours. 

Was it lonely? 

Was it heavy? 

Was it friendly out there? 

Did you wish that you could escape somewhere? 

Did you count the days till summer? 

Did you remember times of wonder? 

Why dont you rest, rest

Shake off the hours. 

Why dont you rest, rest

Shake off the hours. 

It’s nighttime now 

And it’s still warm out 

I think the moon is going to rise. 

Let the quiet fall. 

Like an old friend come to call. 

And we wait, wait now for the sun. 

Yes we wait, wait now for the sun. 

leaving soon

he strum the guitar light

the way he stroke my back

cause he’s shy sometimes

i ask him to dance

but he wont dance

no he don’t know he’s

beautiful

he pull back the veil and

show the color of his heart

it’s blue, so blue

so blue

but yes, i know

you’re leaving soon

well baby no

don’t come so close

you’re leaving

leaving soon.

well baby no

dont come so close

your’re leaving

leaving soon

he take me to the roof

and show me the moon

near full tonight

and there we lay

with my guitar and play

oh lovely

my dear, my dear

so far from here

you’ll be, you’ll be

maybe you can stay with me?

well baby no

don’t come so close

you’re leaving

leaving soon

well baby no

don’t come so close.

you’re leaving

leaving soon

well your eyebrows, they arch softly

like branches toward the water

and your fingertips

they remind me of the moon

time it passes quickly

been years and years already

i am glad you’re leaving

SENT BY YOU

(by Meklit & Quinn)

Sweet southerly wind

Top button unpinned

Salt on the rim

Oceans and love lines

The shape of your eyes

Heart beats and REM sleeps

Floor and the light

Bitter bitter, ooh ooh

Bitter, bitter

Bitter

Bitter bitter, ooh ooh

Bitter, bitter

Bitter

Paper on the walls

Your sketches your calls

I stayed for your voice dear

The bend of the light

The rocket the night

Burning to pieces

Bitter bitter, ooh ooh

Bitter, bitter

Bitter

Bitter bitter, ooh ooh

Bitter, bitter

Bitter

Walked into the room

Too crowded to move

Wearing his sweater

Of Indian wool

Tracing the lines

Cover your eyes

Lover these days

How are the ways

The memory that you do

Sent by you

Sent by you

It was sent by you