Thembi my African mother Took care of me like no other Instilled in me from youth The desire for honesty and truth And now the ancestors are strong in me I see them in the mountains and in the streams And now the ancestors are strong in me I see them in the shadows and in my dreams And Thembi my African mother Took care of me like no other Instilled in me from youth The desire for honesty and truth And Thembi my African mother Took care of me like no other Instilled in me from youth The desire for honesty and truth And now the ancestors are strong in me (they lie beneath) I see them in the mountains and in the streams (they lie beneath) And now the ancestors are strong in me (they lie beneath) I see them in the shadows and in my dreams (they lie beneath) For my small years Lord I thank you (and I thank you) For my small years Lord I thank you (oh I thank you) For my small years Lord I thank you And I thank you (I thank you) For you give and you give and you give And Thembi my African mother Took care of me like no other Instilled in me from youth The desire for honesty and truth And I thank you