In Ghana in the 1950s, Teddy Osei (saxophone), Sol Amarfio (drums), Mamon Shareef and Farhan Freere (flute) played in a highlife band called The Star Gazers. They left to form The Comets, with Osei's brother Mac Tontoh on trumpet, and scored a hit in West Africa with their 1958 song "Pete Pete." In 1962 Osei moved to London to study music on a scholarship from the Ghanaian government. In 1964 he formed Cat's Paw, an early "world music" band that combined highlife, rock and soul. In 1969 he persuaded Amarfio and Tontoh to join him in London, and Osibisa was born.
The name Osibisa was described by the band members as meaning "criss cross rhythms that explode with happiness" but it actually comes from "osibisaba" the Fante word for highlife. Their style influenced many of the emerging African musicians over the last forty plus years.
Welcome Home
Osibisa Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Come on back when you're ready to know
You are always welcome home
You've been kept on for much too long
Stand up please and say I am free
Don't forget you are welcome home
On this happy trip back to the Promise Land
All will be happy again
Come with me
On this happy trip back to the Promise Land
All will be happy again
You've been gone it's an empty home
Come on back when you're ready to know
You are always welcome home
Come with me
On this happy trip back to the Promise Land
All will be happy again
Come with me
On this happy trip back to the Promise Land
All will be happy again
Welcome home...
Come on back, come on back, come on back...
The lyrics of Osibisa's "Welcome Home" speak about a person who has been away from home for too long and is now being invited to come back. The opening lines, "You've been gone it's an empty home, come on back when you're ready to know, you are always welcome home," indicate that this is a heartfelt plea for the person to return home. The song speaks about a sense of emptiness that results when someone is away for too long, and the longing to be with loved ones again.
The line "you've been kept on for much too long" suggests that the person has been held back by something or someone, and they need to stand up and declare their freedom. The song then makes a promise that if the person returns home with the singer, they will be happy again. The lines "come with me on this happy trip back to the Promise Land, all will be happy again" indicate that the singer is willing to accompany the person on their journey back home.
What makes this song particularly poignant is that it speaks to a universal human experience that transcends race, nationality or culture. Everyone, at some point in their lives, experiences the joy of coming back home after a long time. The song encourages people who are far from home not to forget that they are always welcome back.
Line by Line Meaning
You've been gone it's an empty home
The absence felt in this home is because you have been away for some time
Come on back when you're ready to know
Return only when you are prepared to understand what has been missed in your absence
You are always welcome home
No matter how long you stay away, this home will always have a place for you to return to
You've been kept on for much too long
The captivity that has held you is too great and has gone on for too long
Stand up please and say I am free
Summon the courage to stand tall and declare that you are finally free from whatever has held you captive
Don't forget you are welcome home
Even after being away for so long and facing such struggles, remember that this home is still open to you
Come with me
On this happy trip back to the Promise Land
All will be happy again
Join me on a journey to a place of hope and joy where everything will fall into place and happiness will be restored
Welcome home...
With open arms and hearts, we welcome you back to this home
Come on back, come on back, come on back...
We implore you to return, to come back to this place where you belong
Contributed by Stella E. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
@eveseyeworld6427
You’ve been gone it’s an empty home
Come on back when you’re ready to know
You are always welcome home
Welcome home
You’ve been kept down for much too long
Stand up please and say I am free
Don’t forget you are welcome home
Welcome home
Come with me
On this happy trip back to the Promise Land
All will be happy again
Come with me
On this happy trip back to the Promise Land
All will be happy again
You’ve been gone it’s an empty home
Come on back when you’re ready to know
You are always welcome home
Welcome home
Come with me
On this happy trip back to the Promise Land
All will be happy again
Come with me
On this happy trip back to the Promise Land
All will be happy again
Welcome home
@TheDellRichardson
I'm actually the guy singing the vocals on this track, so glad people still like it.
@amandafuramera6786
thank you Dell. love it.
@vladimirtubic6060
You'd be surprised how and where people still keep discovering these songs! For one, I introduced my little brother to Osibisa...Thank you for the music.
@brianjacobs247
Dear Mr. Richardson.. I have listened to this song for 47 years and it is still fresh and inspiring. Osibisa ! back when music meant so much....You guys made REAL music..... Thank You, Sir!
@stephenjeffrey9734
fabulous music - I was a prog rocker in the 70's and put osib isa with the zeppelin and floyd - GREAT BAND GREAT MUSIC
@stephenjeffrey9734
fabulous music - I was a prog rocker in the 70's and put osib isa with the zeppelin and floyd - GREAT BAND GREAT MUSIC
@dr_eghan
Ghana airport company should be playing this song nonstop at Kotoka airport
@jenniferboateng1004
ikr
@rebeccawilliams5575
I honestly would’ve cried. Such a lovely song I play when I’m missing Ghana
@yahelisrael6958
I'm African American woman living in Ghana and it's beautiful to listen to this song here in Ghana where we was taken from