About this song
Franco cracks the whip (chicotte) at an ungrateful protégé who now sings against him. Give it up, kid — no one believes you. He lays out the debt owed: he found the man half-dead, "rotting and stinking," and made him what he is in OK Jazz. Now he's branded an enemy simply for refusing to fund a truck. If any money is owed, Franco says, let it be settled — oh, how wicked the world is.
Muana oh Muana
Kid, oh kid
Tika tika nionso ozali ko loba na noko nayo
give up all this talk against your uncle
Oyo nde soni oh
it's a disgrace
Muana oh Muana
kid, oh kid
Tika tika nionso ozali ko raconter na kombo ya noko
give up all these tales you tell in your uncle's name
Sala nde mosala
go and do some work instead
Muana oh Muana
kid, oh kid
Tika tika nionso ozali ko yembela nga butu moyi
give up all this singing against me day and night
Bako ndima yo te oh po bayebi yo
no one will believe you, because they know you
Muana oh Muana
Kid, oh kid
Tika tika nionso ozali ko loba na noko nayo
give up all this talk against your uncle
Oyo nde soni oh
it's a disgrace
Muana oh Muana
kid, oh kid
Tika tika nionso ozali ko raconter na kombo ya noko
give up all these tales you tell in your uncle's name
Sala nde mosala
go and do some work instead
Muana oh Muana
kid, oh kid
Tika tika nionso ozali ko yembela nga butu moyi
give up all this singing against me day and night
Bako ndima yo te oh po bayebi yo
no one will believe you, because they know you
Nga nayebi oh oh oh
I know it, oh
Boko tongo ngai partout
you badmouth me everywhere
Likolo ya mosala
over a work matter
Nayebi mbongo na yo na leyi te
I don't recall ever taking your money
Ngai pe nayo to suani te
you and I never even quarrelled
Zala na ngai reconnaissant Mive témoin
be grateful to me — Mive is my witness
Na bikisa yo na liwa
I saved you from death
Nani abungi likambo yango
who could forget that?
Opolaki olumbi solo oh
you were rotting and reeking
Obimaki nde soyi ya mobesu
you were drooling helplessly
Okomaki ebembe ya l'état
you'd become a walking corpse
Na supportaki bosoto yango
I put up with all that filth
Lelo ngai franco ennemi, lokuta nayo
today I, Franco, am the enemy — what a lie
Okutaki ngayi na Ok jazz
you found me in OK Jazz
Na komisa yo ndenge ozali
I made you into what you are
Lelo olobi ngayi ennemi
today you call me an enemy
Po naboyi osomba camion
because I refused to buy you a truck
Ya ko mema nkoni na zando
to haul firewood to the market
Franco suki pembe na Ok
Franco, grey-haired now in OK Jazz
Sukisa sukisa kombo na ngayi
stop, stop dragging my name around
Oyembi ngayi mingi nayoki
you've sung about me plenty — I've heard it
Olobi que yo nde associé
you claim you were the partner
Okeyi osali ata ba comptes te
you left without even doing the accounts
Po oyeba mbongo na leyi yo
to see how much of your money I supposedly took
Soki niongo na futa epayi okeyi
if I owe you a debt, I'll pay it wherever you've gone
Oh que le monde est méchant
oh, how wicked the world is
Na bikisa yo na liwa
I saved you from death
Nani abungi likambo yango
who could forget that?
Opolaki olumbi solo oh
you were rotting and reeking
Obimaki nde soyi ya mobesu
you were drooling helplessly
Okomaki ebembe ya l'état
you'd become a walking corpse
Na supportaki bosoto yango
I put up with all that filth
Lelo ngai franco ennemi, lokuta nayo
today I, Franco, am the enemy — what a lie
Sukisa sukisa kombo na ngayi
stop, stop dragging my name around
Oyembi ngayi mingi nayoki
you've sung about me plenty — I've heard it
Olobi que yo nde associé
you claim you were the partner
Okeyi osali ata ba comptes te
you left without even doing the accounts
Po oyeba mbongo na leyi yo
to see how much of your money I supposedly took
Soki niongo na futa epayi okeyi
if I owe you a debt, I'll pay it wherever you've gone
Oh que le monde est méchant
oh, how wicked the world is