Impi

Impi! wo 'nans' impi iyeza (Here comes the army)

Obani bengathinta amabhubesi? (Who can touch the lions?)

All along the river Chelmsford's army lay asleep

Come to crush the Children of Mageba

Come to exact the Realm's price for peace

And in the morning as they saddled up to ride

Their eyes shone with the fire and the steel

The General told them of the task that lay ahead

To bring the People of the Sky to heel

Impi! wo 'nans' impi iyeza

Obani bengathinta amabhubesi?

Mud and sweat on polished leather

Warm rain seeping to the bone

They rode through the season's wet weather

Straining for a glimpse of the foe

Hopeless battalion destined to die

Broken by the Benders of Kings

Vainglorious General and Victorian pride

Would cost him and eight hundred men their lives

Impi! wo 'nans' impi iyeza

Obani bengathinta amabhubesi?

They came to the side of the mountain

Scouts rode out to spy the land

Even as the Realm's soldiers lay resting

Mageba's forces were at hand

And by the evening the vultures were wheeling

Above the ruins where the fallen lay

An ancient song as old as the ashes

Echoed as Mageba's warriors marched away

(Written by Johnny Clegg)