PRELUDE
They taught us to believe
that power must be loud.
That strength must be hard.
That whoever speaks the loudest must be the strongest.
But water does not shout.
Water flows.
Water nourishes.
Water changes everything.
Yèyé Ọ̀ṣun…
Ọ̀ṣun o!
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INTRO
Ọ̀ṣun, Yèyé Ọ̀ṣun,
Sacred river, mother of sweetness.
Ìfẹ́, ẹwà, ìbímọ̀, ọ̀pọ̀—
Love, beauty, fertility and abundance.
But there is more beneath the sweetness.
Ọ̀ṣun kì í ṣe ẹwà nìkan.
There is wisdom inside the sweetness.
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Verse 1
Ọ̀ṣun represents the power of water,
the power of nurturing,
the power of love and diplomacy.
She reminds us that not every battle
needs a sword.
Sometimes patience wins.
Sometimes kindness opens a door
that force could never open.
Omi l’ọ̀nà, omi l’ìyè.
Water finds a way.
She represents fertility and the continuation of life,
the nourishment that allows families and communities to grow.
She represents feminine strength—
not strength that must imitate hardness,
but strength that knows when to flow
and when to stand firm.
Ọ̀ṣun ń kọ́ wa pé
adùn àti ọgbọ́n lè máa rìn pọ̀.
Sweetness and wisdom can walk together.
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Verse 2
Then they reduced Ọ̀ṣun to beauty.
“She is only beauty.”
“She is only romance.”
“She is only jewelry and sweetness.”
They saw the river
but ignored the wisdom of the river.
They saw femininity
and mistook it for weakness.
They saw sweetness
and forgot that water can reshape stone.
Wọ́n rí omi,
ṣùgbọ́n wọn kò rí agbára inú omi.
They made us think that softness
means a person cannot be powerful.
But our ancestors knew better.
Omi lè rọ̀,
ṣùgbọ́n omi lè gbé ohun tí òkúta kò lè gbé.
Water can be gentle
and still carry tremendous power.
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Verse 3
We forgot the power of diplomacy.
We forgot how to settle conflict
without turning every disagreement into war.
A ti gbàgbé sùúrù.
A ti gbàgbé ìfẹ́.
A ti gbàgbé ìbáṣepọ̀.
We began to measure beauty only by appearance.
We began to mistake kindness for weakness.
We forgot to respect the rivers
that give life.
We abandoned the wisdom of nurturing
and started celebrating only domination.
And we forgot something beautiful:
You don't always have to fight the world
to change the world.
Sometimes…
You just have to flow.
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CHORUS
Yèyé Ọ̀ṣun! Ọ̀ṣun o!
Sweet river, flow!
Kí ire máa ṣàn bí omi,
Kí ayé mi dùn bí oyin!
Love in my heart, wisdom in my tongue,
Let abundance find its way to me.
Ọ̀ṣun, jẹ́ kí n mọ̀
bí omi ṣe ń ṣẹ́gun òkúta.
Soft but powerful,
Sweet but wise.
Omi l’ọ̀nà!
Omi l’ìyè!
Ọ̀ṣun l’adùn!
Àṣẹ fún ìfẹ́!
Àṣẹ fún ayọ̀!
Àṣẹ fún ìrẹ̀!
Yèyé Ọ̀ṣun…
Àṣẹ!
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OUTRO
Ọ̀ṣun…
We remember the river.
Not only its beauty,
but its lesson.
Sùúrù. Ìfẹ́. Ọgbọ́n. Ìbímọ̀. Àpọ̀n.
Patience. Love. Wisdom. Life. Abundance.
May we learn to be strong without becoming hard.
May we learn to be gentle without becoming weak.
Kí omi má bà a gbẹ nínú ayé wa.
Let the river continue to flow.
Yèyé Ọ̀ṣun…
Ọ̀ṣun o…
Àṣẹ.