(Intro)(The acoustic banjo plucks a slow, mournful Kalindula rhythm. A deep, heavy bass guitar throbs like a breaking heart.)(Spoken with a breaking voice)Lesa wandi... my family is looking at me to save them.But here I am, just sitting, helpless.Hear my cry...(Verse 1)The sun comes up over Chawama, my eyes are already open Another morning waking up to a ceiling that is brokenI look at my degree inside the drawer, it’s just a paperI applied at every office, they keep telling me "come later"The future we were promised feels so far away and gone They say we are the leaders, but we cannot move alongMy mother’s looking at me, her eyes are heavy with the sorrowShe asks me what we'll eat, I tell her "maybe by tomorrow."(Chorus)Yaba, Lesa wandi, hear my cry tonight! I am drowning in the dark, I am searching for the lightIs this the youth we prayed for? Is this the Zambian dream?My voice is cracking heavy, but nobody hears me screamNalila, nalila, I am crying for some aid Before the final pieces of my broken spirit fade.(Verse 2)I walk down to the roadside just to find a piece of workThe youth are on the corner, pack of cigarettes and toti lurkThey’re drinking out their sorrows just to numb the pain inside Because when hunger strikes you, there is nowhere left to hideMy youth is slipping through my hands, I have nothing to my nameJust trying to survive has become a losing gameMy friends are crossing borders, risking everything to flee Because this soil we love so much feels like a cemetery.(Chorus)Yaba, Lesa wandi, hear my cry tonight!I am drowning in the dark, I am searching for the light Is this the youth we prayed for? Is this the Zambian dream?My voice is cracking heavy, but nobody hears me screamNalila, nalila, I am crying for some aidBefore the final pieces of my broken spirit fade.(Bridge)(The Kalindula bass line slows down drastically. The lead acoustic guitar starts weeping with high-pitched picking.)The leaders in their offices, they don't feel the pain we share We queue up at the clinic but the shelves are always barePanadol is all they give you for a heart that’s tearing wideThey tell you "go and buy it at the chemist right outside"Nshikwete nangu Kacha, my pockets are so bare The system’s suffocating us, it feels so unfairWe voted for a future, we were singing in the streetNow we’re just another statistic walking on bare feet.(Outro)(The banjo slows to a single, fading pluck. The instrumentation dies down.)Lesa, look at your children.We are fading... The youth of Zambia are crying.Is anybody listening?Nalila...Mwebatungulushi... leaders of our land...Help us.(A final, fading vibration of the bass string)