Peacekeepers

Follows Ethiopian peacekeepers deployed thousands of miles from home under UN blue helmets. The lyrics are built from real accounts: the dust, the checkpoints, the children who wave at armored vehicles, the phone calls home that never last long enough. Each verse tracks a different deployment — South Sudan, the Central African Republic, Somalia — places where peace is a job description, not a guarantee. The Afrobeats production carries a soldier's heartbeat: steady, determined, far from the dance floor but still rhythmic.

[verse 1] Blue helmet, brown skin, standing in the dust Ethiopian soldier doing what he must Thousands of miles away from Addis Ababa Keeping peace in places where the peace don't wanna Rwandan regiment patrolling Congo road Carrying the weight of somebody else's load The world make war and then they call on us To stand between the bullets, stand between the fuss Security Council sitting comfortable and clean Sending African bodies to the war machine Mali, South Sudan, the Central African ground Every mission that's the hardest, that's where we are found But when the cameras roll and the medals shine They forget the names, they forget the time We gave standing in the rain with a rifle and a prayer Keeping peace for a world that don't even care [chorus] Keep the peace we never had Far from home, fighting for a foreign land Keep the peace we never had African soldier, blue helmet and Keep the peace we never had The world makes war, we the healing hand Keep the peace we never had Who gon' keep the peace for our own land [verse 2] Letter home to mama, say I'm doing fine But the truth is heavy, weighing on my mind I left my children growing, missed their first step Keeping peace in a country while my own heart wept The casualties they counting, most of them are ours African blood watering somebody else's flowers They call it noble service, call it duty and pride But nobody ask the soldier what he feel inside Patrolling through the village when the night is long Humming to myself my grandmother's song Wondering if the world will ever find its way Or if we gon' be peacekeepers every single day Ironic how the nations with the biggest guns Never send their children, always send our sons But we go, because the uniform means something still Even when the world is breaking our will [chorus] Keep the peace we never had Far from home, fighting for a foreign land Keep the peace we never had African soldier, blue helmet and Keep the peace we never had The world makes war, we the healing hand Keep the peace we never had Who gon' keep the peace for our own land [bridge] Amani, amani, that's all we ever wanted Peace for the world but at home we're haunted Send us to the fire but forget our name African peacekeeper carrying the flame One day we go lay this burden down One day peace gon' find our own town [chorus] Keep the peace we never had Far from home, fighting for a foreign land Keep the peace we never had African soldier, blue helmet and Keep the peace we never had The world makes war, we the healing hand Keep the peace we never had Who gon' keep the peace for our own land [outro] Keep the peace we never had Keep the peace we never had Blue helmet in the dust Keep the peace we never had Bring our soldiers home Keep the peace we never had