Listen to the drummers as they drum
Listen to the voices as they sing
Clap your hands and blow your whistles loud
Listen to the voices as they praise
Thin'abantu
Thina sizwe
Thin'abantu s'khuthaz'uzwano
Thin'abantu
Thina sizwe
Thin'abantu s'khuthaz'uthando
They point up and down and they hit the ground
In aspiration to be united with the earth
Dancing for both the living and the silent
The paradise is not in the sky
This is the dances of the ancients (Thin'abantu sinozwano)
The paradise is not in the sky
This is the dances of the ancients (Thin'abantu sinozwano)
Thin'abantu
Thina sizwe
Thin'abantu s'khuthaz'uzwano
Thin'abantu
Thina sizwe
Thin'abantu s'khuthaz'uthando
Thin'abantu
Thina sizwe
Thin'abantu s'khuthaz'uzwano
Thin'abantu
Thina sizwe
Thin'abantu s'khuthaz'uthando
Thin'abantu
Thina sizwe
Thin'abantu s'khuthaz'uzwano
Dances of the Ancients
I say listen to the drummers as they drum
Listen to the praise poems from the poets
Clap your hands and blow your whistle
Ushaye ivududu kanye nempempe
Lift your feet high above the sky
Ushaye umgxivizo nomdebulo
Let your feet touch the ground and let the earth resound (Thuthuka, thuthuka Africa)
Resound to remind our ancestors in the underground world
To convey messages to uMvelinqangi (Thuthuka, thuthuka Africa)
We dance as we sing and we sing as we dance
Dancing for both the living and the silent
The paradise is not in the sky (Thin'abantu Thina sizwe)
But in the underground world of ancestral Africa
Listen to the beat (Thin'abantu Thina sizwe Thin'abantu s'khuthaz'uzwano)
Listen to the feeling
Dance to the central symbol of creation uMvelinqangi
This is the dances of the ancients
This is the dances of the ancients (Thin'abantu)
Thina sizwe
Thin'abantu s'khuthaz'uzwano (siph'uthando)
Siph'uthando
Siph'uzwano
Siph'uthando
Lalela Africa (Thuthuka, thuthuka Africa)
Oh mamela
Listen to the drummers as they drum
Listen to the voices as they sing
Clap your hands and blow your whistles loud
Listen to the voices as they praise
Listen to the drummers as they drum
Listen to the voices as they sing
Clap your hands and blow your whistles loud
Listen to the voices as they praise
Listen to the drummers as they drum
Listen to the voices as they sing
Clap your hands and blow your whistles loud
Listen to the voices as they sing