K’Naan - “Waving Flag” @ Nokia Theater, NYC 5-11-07
Posted on February 16th, 2009 by highvoltage84 in K'Naan, Live Music Downloads
K’Naan may not be a household name just yet, but the young emcee out of Somalia made a splash on the hip hop scene when he released The Dusty Foot Philosopher back in 2005. Its been a long wait, but he’s finally back with the release of Troubadour next week. K’Naan has been performing one song on the album, “Waving Flag”, for many years and I was glad to see it finally find an official release on the new record. However, I was a bit surprised to see that the album version has been drastically changed, with new lyrics and a very differnet tone. I’m not quite sure how I feel about that, and the live version will always be way more powerful to me. So, as many of you havent heard this alternate version, here’s your chance to give it a listen/download. He starts performing all the lyrics acapella so you can focus more closely on the story, then goes into the rendition with his band. Definitely dont miss this one, and if you havent heard either of his albums yet, you’re missing out on some incredible international hip-hop music.
Bonus Video:
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yeah i like this verison lyrical better for sure!! peace
yeah i Total agree with you i LOVE the orginal! and im so upset i cant find it any where to down load it, i tried downloading if off your page here and it wont work! if you could tell me where u found it i would be greatly happY!
yeah i Totally agree with you i LOVE the orginal! and im so upset i cant find it any where to down load it, i tried downloading if off your page here and it wont work! if you could tell me where u found it i would be greatly happY!
You right click and save on the “download” link
glad to see a post about this. i was really bummed to hear the new album as i had been waiting for a studio version of this song since i first saw him perform it. its ok, but nowhere near the original in my humble opinion: overproduced, not as powerful lyrically (I always liked the shoutout to T dot), and–most importantly–doesn’t really drop the beat during the chorus the way he does in the live version.
Thank you for posting this- this version is SO much more powerful. god forbid they let the man put out the song that was so raw and true. I tried to find the original lyrics everywhere but couldn’t. Hence, the following feeble attempt, please correct anything that you can pick up that I didn’t.
Chorus: When I get older, I will be stronger, they’ll call me freedom just like a wavin’ flag x2
I was born to throne stronger than Rome, but violent prone- poor people zone - I got my own ‘pop-pop’ for chrome (?)shot off a bone(?)/ Mogadishu streets- nobody preach (breach?), nobody eat, nobody sleep/ I had my friends- fallen pursuits- 4 ghetto youths- hole in our shoes/ we roam the streets- Mohammed leans, Crybaby sneers, Me, Crooked ears/ it’s too much heat, lets go to beach and meet some cheek/ but it gets deep- we turned a corner- deadly aroma- technical roller- 2 tank controllers/ they fire on us and kill my 2 friends- Mohammed oozes from where his roof is, I got some bruses, Crooked is useless, these dudes are ruthless, Crybaby move quick/ we jumped the wall and make it to home- and I’m still in shock when the door is opened- my mamma hits me, then pulls and kiss me “you want to die, I want to cry” but Chorus x When I get older… and then it goes back 3x.. when I get older…wavin’ flag x
Get off the plane, feeling insane- me and my brother, sister, and mother- and then it hit me, rigt in the kidney: where are my friends and why aren’t they with me? but I will make it and (?) refuge strictly (?) remember how we heard about New York City? Well that’s where I am, we moved to Harlem - until the INS gave us a problem- we had to sneak up into the (?) T town (?) - Toronto heats up, police got me cuffed/ that was the 90’s I started writin’ -open mic syphon, ’til my skills brighten/ if it wasn’t bling bling, then it ways (?) N’sync - I started thinking, remember singing x Chorus x
There’s another recording of the same version on NPR’s live concert website. They recorded it at SXSW 2009, and K’naan’s performance there is better than this one, to my mind. It’s the last song in the set, at around the 19-20 minute mark.
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=101430586
try this http://radio3.cbc.ca/#/concerts/Knaan-2009-02-24 great concert. He also has a page with some studio stuff on it. Gotta love the CBC.
When I get older, I will be stronger, they’ll call me freedom just like a wavin’ flag x2
Can I get to help you singing?!
When I get older, I will be stronger, they’ll call me freedom just like a wavin’ flag
One more time!
[Chorus]
I was born to a throne, stronger than Rome
But Violent prone, poor people zone,
Where I got grown, I got my own,
‘pop-pop’ for chrome, shot off the bone
Mogadishu streets - nobody preach,
Nobody eat, nobody sleep
I had my friends, fallen pursuits,
4 ghetto youths, hole in our shoes
We roam the streets- Mohammed leans,
Cry baby sneers, me crooked ears
It’s too much heat, lets go to beach and meet some cheek
But it gets deep, we turned a corner,
Deadly aroma, technical roller, 2 tank controllers
They fire on us and kill my 2 friends
Mohammed oozes from where his roof is, I got some bruses,
Crooked is useless, these dudes are ruthless, cry baby move quick.
We jumped the wall and make it to home and I’m still in shock when the door is opened, my mamma hits me,
Then pulls and kiss me “you want to die, I want to cry” but
[Chorus]
Born to a throne…
[Chorus]
And then it goes back 3x
[Chorus]
And then it goes back 3x
Get off the plane, feeling insane- me and my brother,
Sister, and mother and then it hit me, rigt in the kidney:
Where are my friends and why aren’t they with me?
But I will make it and refuge strictly
Remember how we heard about New York City!
Well that’s where I am, we moved to Harlem - until the INS gave us a problemWe had to sneak up into the T-town, toronto heats up, police got me cuffed
That was the 90’s I started writin’ -open mic syphon, ’til my skills brighten
If it wasn’t bling bling, then it ways N’sync
I started thinking, I remember singing
When I get older, I will be stronger, they’ll call me freedom just like a wavin’ flag
And then it goes back 3x
And then it goes when I get older, I will be stronger, they’ll call me freedom just like a wavin’ flag
And then it goes back 4x
Come on! singing along!
When I get older, I will be stronger, they’ll call me freedom just like a wavin’ flag
And then it goes back 3x
And then it goes when I get older, I will be stronger, they’ll call me freedom just like a wavin’ flag
And then it goes back 3x
And then it goes…
Yeah!..