Esther Idza – Generation Lyrics

Grey generation
Our elders say we are a lost generation, one with nothing to show for our existence.
For our grandparents fought for Kenya’s independence,
And our parents laid the foundation for the prosperity of our nation,
But what have we accomplished?

Like barren pieces of land filled with water craving cracks, they compare us to.
They call us an accursed lot with no comprehensible future too.
With memories so shallow, and with irresponsibility tattooed in the deep of our black skin,
We have forgotten the essence of who we are.
We are a grey generation.

We are a grey generation.
We have succumbed to the beast that came to subdue our culture and heritage.
We have given up our ways to the Western world and spit on our ancestor’s graves.
We have no soul left, not a grain of African substance in us.
We have turned away from our parent’s ways and insisted on treading paths that have never been charted out before.
Bobbing our heads to a tune so different to the one they are used to sway to,
They are frustrated.
We have forgotten the essence of who we are.
We are a grey generation.

But of course we are a grey generation!
We mix black and white to create a hue of grey that aptly defines who we are.
We seek the good in the white and squeeze the bad out of the black so that we can mold a world that will suit us.

We refuse to be limited by dogma and other people’s expectations of us, and we create a completely different channel through which the river of our lives can flow through.
We abandon retrogressive customs that were engraved into the minds and lives of our ancestors.

We shun the degradation of an African woman and place her in an equal place as her male counterpart.

We refuse to judge people based on their tribe as opposed to seeing what they can bring to the table,
We have not forgotten the essence of who we are.
We are a grey generation.

We are a grey generation.
We are modern, not colonized.
We are not afraid to follow our inner voices, and with the tenacity and spirit that dwells in an African’s blood, we go straight for what we want.
And we will raise our voices and speak for Africa, for it is home.
We will revel in the depth of our grace and in the thick of our lips.
We will not bow to the expectations of another people but we will create a new destiny for ourselves.

We will adore the values that our elders have taught us and hand them down to our children.
Yes, we still have soul.
And African substance is what makes us laugh even in the most difficult of times.
We have not forgotten the essence of who we are.
We are a grey generation.

We are a grey generation.
We can be fine on our own, but we still need your guidance.
We need you to understand the meaning of compromise.
For there can hardly be absolute blacks and whites in this thing, there can only be shades of grey.

And no, we are not a lost generation.
The skies have changed and priorities have shifted, and we know change is never comfortable,
What was important for you back then may not important for us now but that is not the point.
We are not without accomplishments; we are exploring ourselves and the world around us.
And no,
We have not forgotten the essence of who we are.
We are a grey generation.