Bara by Massa Dembele

"Bara" means work in Bambara. "Every job has its value!" sings Massa Dembele. Every job should be respected, including the work of musicians. Dembele, born in Nouna in 1989, comes from a family of griots. During his childhood, he often witnessed how griots were not sufficiently valued by society for their work as musicians, historians and storytellers. In Burkina
Faso, musicians often cannot make a living from their work. "Massa is a ngoni player – that is his work," he sings in "Bara". In Germany, too, Massa sings, many jobs are not respected and are poorly regarded, even though they are often hard and strenuous.

Lyrics:

Bara, bara tu maséra
Ni kera ngoni fola ye
Ni kera donglila ya
Ni kera sene kela ye
Massa bi Ngoni fola –  bara tu maséra:
Djelidounbi djeli ala – bara tu maséra
Noumoudon be noumou yanla – bara tu maséra
Oko bara tu ma sera – Tu masera

Work, the time for work has come
If you are a ngoni player – it is time for your work
If you are a singer – it is time for your work
If you are a farmer – it is time for your work
Massa plays his ngoni – the time for his work has come
The griots make their music – the time for their work has come
The blacksmiths forge – the time for their work has come
It is time to respect this work
It is the moment, the moment of work
It has come, come, come