Canto Para Oxum (Oro Mi Maió)

When I was a child
My mother used to sing to me
A song in Yoruba
She sang for me to sleep
A very beautiful song
That your father taught you
Brought from slavery
And sung by your grandfather
It was like this

Oro mi má
Oro mi maió
Oro mi maió
Yabado oyeyeo
Oro mi má
Oro mi maió
Oro mi maió
Yabado oyeyeo

This very old song
From the time of slavery
The suffering blacks
Sang and cheered their hearts
Imprisoned in those slave quarters
Dancing ijexá
That very beautiful song
With verses in Yoruba
It was like this

Oro mi má
Oro mi maió
Oro mi maió
Yabado oyeyeo
Oro mi má
Oro mi maió
Oro mi maió
Yabado oyeyeo

I sang when I was a child
I became a man and I didn't forget
That Yoruba song
That doesn't leave me
It's like this

Oro mi má
Oro mi maió
Oro mi maió
Yabado oyeyeo
Oro mi má
Oro mi maió
Oro mi maió
Yabado oyeyeo

And God is the sea
God is the greatest
God is the greatest
Helped me to overcome
And God is the sea
God is the greatest
God is the greatest
Helped me to overcome