Niger

[Intro] Nee-zhair, land of Niamey, wind over the Ténéré [Verse 1] In the heart of West Africa, the widest land of all, four-fifths of it Sahara, where the golden dunes stand tall, the great river bends through Niamey, pirogues gliding in, the Aïr Mountains rising dark where the desert winds begin. The Ténéré, a sea of sand, where a lone tree stood for years, the bones of ancient giants from a hundred million years, Agadez and its mud minaret, the Tuareg silver cross, salt caravans from Bilma on the camel's patient back. [Pre-Chorus] Hausa, Zarma, Tuareg, Fulani, Kanuri too, many peoples, one horizon, under skies of burning blue [Chorus] Nee-zhair, heart of the Sahel, guitar humming in the evening light, tende drums and the imzad calling, a thousand stars across the night [Verse 2] At In-Gall the herders gather for the Cure Salée, Wodaabe dancers at the Gerewol, painted faces on display, millet in the granaries, market days in Zinder town, tea poured high and frothy as the evening sun goes down. In the W park the elephants and buffalo roam, at Kouré the last wild giraffes of the west still make their home, independence in nineteen sixty, a young and hopeful day, and a nation of the young still finding its own way. [Chorus] Nee-zhair, heart of the Sahel, guitar humming in the evening light, tende drums and the imzad calling, a thousand stars across the night [Bridge] When the rains come to the Sahel, the whole land turns to green, the river rises, rice fields shine, the brightest ever seen, the desert guitars keep singing what the sand has always known, patient as the camel, strong as the wind that's blown. [Final Chorus] Nee-zhair, heart of the Sahel, guitar humming in the evening light, tende drums and the imzad calling, a thousand stars across the night [Outro] Nee-zhair, land of Niamey, wind over the Ténéré