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Stalemate
Fela Kuti Lyrics


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I explain,
Two heavy brothers dem sit down inside sun, dem the sweat,
Dem the share one bottle of beer between dem self.
Den one fine lady cum meet dem say brother abge buy me one bottle of
Beer na, dem go look dem self, look the woman,
Look dem pocket look dem suffer for Africa, dem go say stalemate.
I explain,
Two women bring argument 2 u, wer start from dem gossip,
Dem want make u give dem answer into dem gossip argument,
Or make u settle the matter wer u no knw the beginning or the end.
I explain,
Two hustlers come meet you dem wan hustle you,
And you self don see all the beginning and end of
The hustle they wan fall you. You go say hmmm stalemate.
...Instrumental ...
(End)

Overall Meaning

The lyrics of Fela Kuti's song "Stalemate" present a metaphorical representation of a situation where there is a standstill or a deadlock between two opposing forces. The song starts by referring to two men who are sitting in the sun and sharing a bottle of beer. A beautiful woman approaches them and asks them to buy her a bottle of beer. However, they hesitate and look at each other, then at their pockets and notice their poverty. They are stuck in a stalemate, unable to buy the woman a drink.


Kuti's lyrics then move on to address two women who bring an argument to the listener, starting with gossip. They demand a resolution to the argument, but the listener is unable to provide an answer. The listener is in a stalemate, unable to resolve the conflict. The final verse of the song addresses two hustlers who approach the listener, attempting to swindle them. The listener already knows their tactics, and as a result, the hustlers are stuck in a stalemate, unable to move forward in their deception.


The lyrics of "Stalemate" convey that there are situations where opposing forces are unable to make progress or reach a resolution, thus leading to a standstill. Kuti's metaphorical examples are relatable, and the song's message of powerlessness is reinforced by the instrumental section at the end of the song.


Line by Line Meaning

I explain,
Fela introduces his explanation of the song.


Two heavy brothers dem sit down inside sun, dem the sweat,
Two men are sitting in the sun, sweating.


Dem the share one bottle of beer between dem self.
They are sharing one bottle of beer between themselves.


Den one fine lady cum meet dem say brother abge buy me one bottle of Beer na, dem go look dem self, look the woman, Look dem pocket look dem suffer for Africa, dem go say stalemate.
A woman approaches them and asks for a beer, but they realize they have no money and cannot buy her one, leading to a stalemate.


Two women bring argument 2 u, wer start from dem gossip, Dem want make u give dem answer into dem gossip argument, Or make u settle the matter wer u no knw the beginning or the end.
Two women bring an argument to you that started from gossip. They want you to take a side in their argument, but you don't know the beginning or the end of the issue, leading to a stalemate.


Two hustlers come meet you dem wan hustle you, And you self don see all the beginning and end of The hustle they wan fall you. You go say hmmm stalemate.
Two hustlers try to scam you, but you see through their tricks and know the end result, leading to a stalemate.


...Instrumental ...
The music continues instrumentally.


(End)
The song has come to an end.




Writer(s): Fela Anikulapo Kuti

Contributed by Jonathan F. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
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Comments from YouTube:

@yaminhaniyah2979

I was reading the synopsis about this song and why it was made. Fela "Baba" Kuti was truly an amazing talented revolutionary strong musician. He use to endure a lot. His music is a legacy that you can not stay away from. Truly an intelligent man. Black President, RIP. Glad I found out about him in my lifetime.

@miababy3927

Ok

@moerome1880

Been listening to Fela over 30 years. People used to come around bewildered when I played Baba Kuti. Must be the infectious beat and riddim.

@aworan02

Baba 70 RIP, I saw him perform live, he is by no means the 8th wonder of the world!

@thembangwenya6251

The horns ....ever powerful. ...mesmerizing

@blacksigma4243

Themba Ngwenya
You and felas horns ehn😂

@bgockel

Absolutely amazing on all levels.

@kunlekosoko1664

Rest in Peace to this great man of Africa, Ameen. Arise ooh Africa and do the needful things close the gap between the rich and the poor and make Africa great.

@yorubalessons

Black Presido! I love you so much, Fela. Yeah, yeah!

@erictalkington5674

I'm definitely subscribing to this channel. I love Fela, been jammin his tracks for almost 10 years now. I love that no one I've ever met has ever even heard of him and yet I've turned several people onto him and they love him too. I love that thanks to the algorithm YouTube has been suggesting a bunch of great tracks from him I somehow have never even heard of let alone heard. I have known quite a bit of Fela for a long time and to find so many albums and tracks that I have never heard of is wonderful and to top it off you have a TON of facts about him and things he was going through and about his music. This has to be one of the best channels on YouTube period. I don't know how many people are subscribed to it, but regardless of the number it's still far too low. Many many more people need to hear Fela, especially people who are mostly only into new music so they can see what an actual artist was really like and give them something to compare this world of plastic music and so called "artists" of today. Nothing today could stack up against this. He's not the only one, BB King and James Brown (especially since James and American funk was a huge influence on Fela) Curtis Mayfield and Jimmy McGriff and Parliament/Funkadelic and many others. I'm only 38, I was born in 1981 Chicagoland USA and many my age, younger and even some older but mostly my age and younger, I "should" be into a bunch of bullshit music like them, but I have taken advantage of the fact that I live near one of the blues capitals of the world and also the home of house music and have dug deep into older music. If I never heard another song that came out after 1996 I'd be perfectly happy. If I NEVER heard a song that came out after 2000 again, it would be too soon. There are MAYBE 10 post-2000 songs that I like and that's about it. Thanks MTV for not only ruining music, but television also as they had the first "reality" show that they even called the real world which it was anything but the real world lol. Ironic, just like their first music video played was Video Killed the Radio Star. Like they didn't know what they were doing. Literally MTV singlehandedly brought down the music world AND the television world. Fuckers.

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