[Intro - Percussion & soft horn pad]
(Beat: light congas, shaker, low bass pulse)
Ooh—ah! Sam on the road, from Isoka to Mafinga
Call-and-response: (Lead) Pasaka mwa lalembapo — (Crew) Eh-yo, eh-yo!
[Verse 1]
Sunrise cracks the red-dirt road, steam from the maize, a new load,
Women with woven baskets, market bell calling in code.
Mango stall, dusty tires, laughter sticky sweet like sugarcane,
Children race the lorry past — their shout becomes the refrain.
Sam walks with a small radio, songs folded in his coat,
Sings the names of places, tells the hills the notes he wrote.
Every face a drumbeat, every hand a song to send,
From Isoka’s dusty market to Mafinga’s green-fedend.
[Pre-Chorus]
(Short, rising) Let the horns answer, let the backing voices flow,
A little call, a little push — now take it to the show.
[Chorus — Hooky, concise (6–8 syllables) + response]
Lead: Pasaka mwa lalembapo (4 beats)
Crew: We sing, we go! (2 beats)
Lead: Pasaka mwa lalembapo
Crew: Together — whoa!
[Post-Chorus - chant with percussion break]
(Shout) Eh-yo! (stomp-stomp) Eh-yo!
(Horn stab) Bring it back, bring it back — pasaka! (short clap accents)
[Verse 2]
Market shade — the women trade, names roll quick like morning rain,
A boy sells sweet akara, an old man remembers the train.
Mafinga hills like patchwork quilts, terraces holding every seed,
Grandmothers count the stars and hum the songs of better deeds.
Sam hums a line about the road that brought him to this crowd,
How his father taught him harmonies, his mother taught him proud.
He hands a tune to a farmer, he swaps a chorus for a smile,
The village folds the melody and carries it a mile.
[Pre-Chorus]
(Harmonies lift) Let the drums say yes, let the maracas tell the time,
We move in simple patterns, syncopated hearts in rhyme.
[Chorus]
Lead: Pasaka mwa lalembapo
Crew: We sing, we go!
Lead: Pasaka mwa lalembapo
Crew: Together — whoa!
[Bridge — contrasting, intimate, harmonic turn]
(Strip percussion; soft acoustic guitar, single trumpet solo)
Verse-style: There was a boy with two shoes and one song to borrow,
He slept beneath the mango tree and dreamed of tomorrow.
Sam’s voice, a warm lantern, lighting midnight on the road,
He learned to stitch the village grief into a hopeful ode.
Now when the bus clatters past and the market bell rings free,
You hear his voice in the alleys — a promise, like a key.
[Arrangement Note — build]
(Bring drums back full, add horn stabs on the downbeat, backing choir echoes)
[Chorus — big, layered]
Lead: Pasaka mwa lalembapo
Crew: We sing, we go!
Lead: Pasaka mwa lalembapo (call)
Crew: Together — whoa! (response)
[Call-and-Response Breakdown]
Lead: Sing the road! — Crew: Sing the road!
Lead: Hold the flame! — Crew: Hold the flame!
(Horn stab) Sing the road — hold the flame — pasaka! (percussion fill)
[Outro — emotional, gradual fade]
Lead (soft): From Isoka to the green of Mafinga, songs keep carrying us home,
Crew (soft, layered): Pasaka mwa lalembapo — we sing, we go — we’re,
