Verse 1:
C G Am
I was the only one who witnessed my homecoming
G-F G F G C
So I asked myself: Brother Joseph, how've you been?
C G Am
Then I met an old man who knew me as a boy
G-F G F G C
(I) said, Father, where've the people, where've the homesteads gone?
F G Am
And he said, Son, I'll be old until I die now
F G F G C
And then I will join our people in the sky
F G Am
I am not the one to ask the reasons why
G-F G F G C
Your brothers and your sisters have been scattered in the wind
Chorus:
C
And he said old eyes (mehlomadala)
Am
You've got old eyes, boy (mehlomadala)
F G C
You've seen much too much for one so young
G-C
He said old eyes (mehlomadala)
Am
You've got old eyes, boy (mehlomadala)
Dm F Am-G
Child, from whence have you come?
[ Tab from: https://www.guitartabs.cc/tabs/j/juluka/old_eyes_crd.html ]
Verse 2:
C G F C
When I left that mountain land so gold and green
Am G F G C
I was a sturdy sixteen years
C G F C
Work was hard and the wage was low
Am G F C
And the seasons passed me by one by one
F G Am
And I dreamed, Maria, you would wait for my return
F G F G C
We'd build a home upon the rock, beneath the smiling sun
F G Am
But as the old man used to say when I was young
F G F G C
People come and people go, but the mountain still remains
Zulu chorus:
C Am
And he said mehlomadala, mehlomadala
F G C
Ang(i)sakwaz(i) wemganam(i)
G-C Am
He said mehlomadala, mehlomadala
Dm F Am-G
(U)qhamkaphi wena wemganam(i)
(instrumental break...)
Repeat English chorus...
Repeat Zulu chorus...
End.
Meaning of Zulu words:
mehlomadala : old eyes (mehlo = eyes, madala = old)
ang(i)sakwaz(i) : I don't know you anymore (i.e. it's been a long time since I saw you)
wemganam(i) : my friend (wemngani = friend, wami = my)
uqhamkaphi wena : where are you coming from i.e. where have you been (uqhamuka =
you coming, kuphi = where, wena = you)
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(thanks to Cameron for his musical ear and Thembinkosi for the Zulu words!)
Website for Johnny Clegg, one of the Juluka founder members, is www.johnnyclegg.com
