Shoes and Sounds

Shoes and Sounds

Bata re a dun ko ko ka
Bata re a dun ko ko ka
Ti o ba mo we re
Bata re a dun ko ko ka.

What a song of mockery!
It seem the elders have but lied;
Toiled ruthlessly with our innocence
As children learning to
Tow the path of the elders,
But alas! They have only shown
To us the foolishness in being a child.

Bata re a dun ko ko ka
Bata re a dun ko ko ka
Ti o ba mowe re
Bata re a dun ko ko ka

What a promise!
Like they could see
Into the eyes of the future
And bid it play along in our quest.
 But today, what has happend to the best?

They said
If I took my time
To cross my Ts and dot my Is
That success would come before my eyes
They said if I lived by the rules
And get good grades in schools
My shoes will not drag from its soles
But what is it that have become of these promises?

Emptiness
Like space
Reality
Like the warring sea
And like the ship
In the midst of the tempest
Going through life's test.

Bata re a dun ko ko ka
Bata re a dun ko ko ka
Ti o ba mowe re
Bata re a dun ko ko ka.

Oh! What a shame
Now that reality had dawned
What a pity
How many have waited to be mourned?

Those who never
Took their time
To live by the rules,
Those who never took their brains
To live by the book
Now dance in the four walls of our chambers.
They now have crest of affluence on their chest
They say they are smart
Only the wise can lay claim to the chest.

Bata re adun ko ko ka
Bata re adun ko ko ka
Ti o ba mowe re
Bata re adun ko ko ka

Should I sing this song
To the listening ears of my son?
Should I feed him with the lies
The elders fed us with while growing up?
Should I make a rhyme of such mockery
And let him wobble in vain?

O my son
Let me teach you to be real
To understand your degrees may fail you
To understand that you only need
The mercy of God
Through your life's journey

Let me teach you to understand
That the world is full of deceit
So learn to be contented.

Shoes and sounds
Have nothing in common
They are but a myth
Never to be found in reality
But when truly
You become the best in your field
And success seems to smile on you
Know that there are so many
Who have threaded that path
But their shoes refused to make a sound.

Bata re a dun ko ko ka
Bata re a dun ko ko ka
Ti o ba mowe re
Bata re adun ko ko ka

(C) Ayinla Muyideen Adeleke