To celebrate the 20th anniversary of this iconic song I made this lyric video. The English translation is in the description.
I'm not a native speaker of Yoruba or Fon so forgive me if my lyrics and translations are off.
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Yoruba & Fon:
Refrain:
Agolo! (lead), Agolo x8 (backup)
Agolo! (lead), Agolo x8 (backup)
Agolo! (lead), Agolo x8 (backup)
Agolo! (lead), Agolo x6 (backup)
Chorus:
Mo ri o ri o, Olajumoke nilo.
Olajumoke. Olajumoke nilo. x4
Verse:
E ma ṣe foya rẹ ni
Ife fun gbogbo aye
E ma ṣe gbagbe ife
Ife fun ilẹ baba wa
Ife aye ilẹ
Igbadun fun aye/wa eh
Ife aye ilẹ
Igbadun fun aye/wa eh
Chorus x2
Verse
Agolo x32 (backup)
Chorus x4
Verse
Agolo x32 (backup)
Agolo! x2 (lead)
Ire, ire x3
Ife aye
Ire, ire
Ife, ire x3
Chorus x4
Mo ri o ri / Mo ri oore x3
Chorus x2
Mo ri o ri / Mo ri oore x3
Chorus x2
Ife, ire x4
Chorus x1
Ife, ire x4
Chorus x2
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English Translation:
Refrain:
Agolo! (lead), Agolo x8 (backup)
Agolo! (lead), Agolo x8 (backup)
Agolo! (lead), Agolo x8 (backup)
Agolo! (lead), Agolo x6 (backup)
Chorus:
I found/see It (Eureka), For a bright future we need to cherish her (Mother Earth).
Let's cherish her for a bright future. For a bright future we need to cherish her. x4
Verse:
Don't worry yourself
Love the earth gives to us all
Don't forget (the/to) love
Love the land of our ancestors
Love the earth
Enjoy life / For our own delight
Love the earth
Enjoy life / For our own delight
Chorus x2
Verse
Agolo x32 (backup)
Chorus x4
Verse
Agolo x32 (backup)
Agolo! x2 (lead)
Blessings, blessings x3
Love the earth
Blessings, blessings
Love, (and) blessings x3
Chorus x4
Eureka / I've found grace x3
Chorus x2
Eureka / I've found grace x3
Chorus x2
Love, (and) blessings x4
Chorus x1
Love, (and) blessings x4
Chorus x2
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A simplified translation is:
I just felt the spirit of Love and Tenderness passing by my window.
Please, don't despair.
Remember the love that Mother Earth is offering to us.
If we are generous with her, she will make our future prosperous.
Love, Life, Mother Earth
Love, Life, Motherland
Let's appreciate all the gifts she is giving us.
UNEP Nairobi, 20 November 2009
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Released in 1994, the album Aye was produced by David Z at Prince's Paisley Park Studio in Minneapolis and by Will Mowat at Soul To Soul studio in London. It includes the single Agolo which gave Angelique her first nomination to the Grammys.
The wonderfully catchy "Agolo", a driving dance number whose lyrics tackled global environmental issues head on went on to become one of the most popular hits of Angélique Kidjo's career. The video directed by French director Michel Meyer was Angelique's first nomination to the Grammy Awards. it was mixing traditional visual elements from Beninese culture with hi tech special effects and was broadly broadcasted all other the African continent and the world.
Kidjo.com
Kidjo says, "Aye is a long story. After Logozo, I decided I had to have a baby. We were lucky that nature said yes. In the middle of Logozo, I got pregnant, and it gives you a voice like nothing else in the world can. I wish I could have that voice all the time. 'Agolo' came to me just like that. One day I was putting my garbage out and thought how two days before, the garbage can was empty and now it's full. We're talking about nuclear waste and pollution, but we are consuming like hell. I realized, 'Oo la la, I have to back up and go inside and find a way of bringing my contribution for the sake of mother nature and for my daughter coming into this world."
Billboard 23 May 1998
Kidjo says of the track: "It's a song I play all the time, it's a song I love. I wrote it when I was pregnant, and I started thinking about all the garbage we consume... and I realised the way we consume affects this planet. I wrote the song Agolo which means "please". The song is about the need to give more love to the mother earth in order for her to carry us a long way, us and the next generations. Please let us be careful."
BBC World Service 07.03.02
"Agolo" in Fon language means "move out, make room" and announces the coming of a voodoo spirit. Agolo, the song, is a celebration of Mother Earth. It is a song of hope, a call to the good powers of nature and more particularly to Aidohouédo, the great rainbow snake, the messenger of love and tenderness who coils around the four cardinal points.
Prix Ars Electronica 1995
phillikesit ;)
