Long ago there was a sound in the night
Kwela man, singing under the street light
A cheap guitar, he gave his sorrow a smile
And he sowed his songs in the alley ways mile upon mile

Ye hum ho la lo Kwela man
Ye hum ho la la Kwela, Kwela
Ye hum ho la lo Kwela man
You gave it your life

Ye hum ho la lo Kwela man
Ye hum ho la la Kwela, Kwela
Ye hum ho la lo Kwela man
You gave it your life

Living low with the Pennywhistle, tea-chest base gang
I followed him home and he danced as he sang
But now he's gone, not even the slightest traces
Of a Kwela song and the street is full of empty spaces

Ye hum ho la lo Kwela man
Ye hum ho la la Kwela, Kwela
Ye hum ho la lo Kwela man
You gave it your life

Ye hum ho la lo Kwela man
Ye hum ho la la Kwela, Kwela
Ye hum ho la lo Kwela man
You gave it your life

Nobody knows, did he survive the winding road?
Did he find a song that took him back to the heartland?
Here I stand, lost in the memory
Of a Kwela man, singing in the long gone twilight

When I followed you home Kwela man
You filled my soul, Kwela, Kwela
When you sang your song Kwela man
You gave it your life

Ye hum ho la lo Kwela man
Ye hum ho la la Kwela, Kwela
Ye hum ho la lo Kwela man
You gave it your life

Ye hum ho la lo Kwela man
Ye hum ho la la Kwela, Kwela
Ye hum ho la lo Kwela man
You gave it your life

Ye hum ho la lo Kwela man
Ye hum ho la la Kwela, Kwela
Ye hum ho la lo Kwela man
You gave it your life

Ye hum ho la lo Kwela man
Ye hum ho la la Kwela, Kwela
Ye hum ho la lo Kwela man
You gave it your life

Ye hum ho la lo Kwela man
Ye hum ho la la Kwela, Kwela
Ye hum ho la lo Kwela man