Jess Sah Bi & Peter One — Katin (Musique Ivoirienne)

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"Katin" lyrics in Gouro & English translation below:

(Gouro)
Katin Héo Kalé zonaman kabêdjê oh
Katin Héo Kalé zonaman kabêdjê oh
Katin Héo Kalé zonaman kabêdjê oh

Zile kaweman zibo deka hi
Djinanan wi teka le zinh le
Zile kaweman zibo deka hi
Djinanan wi teka le zinh le

Tibé guessan omer, ylé zonanbo
Bedjê olê y mih tôh. Houan oh
Tibe guessan, sah bidjê yé
Ouya bi koh kale fehi lé
Han bouêh ouya bitra ylé glibo
Bédjê ole y mih, toh houan oh
Yeah aho … Yé boah bouinou yeah

Katin Héo Kalé zonaman kabêdjê oh
Katin Héo Kalé zonaman kabêdjê oh
Yé boah bouinou yéah
Katin Héo Kalé zonaman kabêdjê oh
Yé boah bouinou yéah ah zouletchi
Zile kawêman zibo deka hi
Djinanan wi teka lé zinh lé
Tibe guessan Omer ylé zonanbo
Bédjé olê y mih toh houan oh
Tibe guessan, sah bidjê éé
Bédjé olê y mih toh houan oh
Tibe guessan, sah bidjê éé
Ouya bi koh kalé fehilé
Tibe guessan han bouêh zekoua oh
Dôghô lé ko kale fehi ya dou
Han bouêh ouya bi tra ylé Glilé
Bédjê olê y mih toh houan oh
Han Bouêh ouyabi oah … ylé zonanbo
Bedjê olé y mih toh houan yéah aoh
Ye boah bouinou yé kagohan oh
Ye boah bouinou ye kouassi yé

(English)
All together to achieve our goal
Let's rejoice
Oh yes my brothers, it is so
We are looking for a way

When we get it
It will be joy
It will be our happiness
Tibe guessan omer
Show everyone your goal
To honor us
Tibe guessan omer
Tell everyone your word
To honor us
Tibe guessan, sah bi dje he

Ouya bi, let's see, here is our art
Tibe guessan, my friend zekoua
Dohguo, we have the same art
Tibe guessan, my friend zekoua
Dohguo, we have the same art
My friend ouya bi tra,
Say your word to all
To honor us
My friend ouya
Show everyone your goal
To honor us

In the 1980s, Abidjan’s Jess Sah Bi & Peter One became one of the most popular musical acts in not just the Ivory Coast (Côte d'Ivoire), but broader West Africa, eventually performing with a full band to stadium-sized audiences at home and throughout Benin, Burkina Faso and Togo. Although they’d been popular radio and television performers for several years prior, the catalyst for Jess and Peter achieving this new level of stardom was their debut album, Our Garden Needs Its Flowers, recorded and released in 1985.

In contrast with the heaving funk, disco and reggae sounds of the day, Our Garden Needs Its Flowers was a lush fusion of traditional Ivorian village songs and American and English country and folk-rock music. Jess and Peter sang in French, English and Gouro, delivering beautifully harmonized meditations on social injustice and inequality, calls for unity across the African continent, an end to apartheid in South Africa and the odd song for the ladies, all set against lush guitar riffs, rustic harmonica and rollicking feel-good rhythms. Surprisingly, it’s the first time the album has been re-released in a high-fidelity, legally-licensed form.

Jess and Peter had shared experiences of loving and drawing inspiration from the traditional and ceremonial songs they remembered their mothers singing in their respective hometowns of Barata and Ono. In addition, hearing imported country and folk-rock music over the radio in the early ‘70s was a lightbulb moment for both of them. Jess recalls DJs playing Kenny Rogers, Don Williams and Dolly Parton on the radio in the morning, while Peter notes the significant presence Simon & Garfunkel, Cat Stevens, Crosby, Stills & Nash and Creedence Clearwater Revival had in his listening life. Country music and folk-rock weren’t very popular with the general public. But interest was bubbling up within the growing student population, who connected with the protest sentiments expressed by many English and American artists of the era and loved the sound as well.

“It’s very nice music, with very nice harmonies, and it’s different from what you hear every day,” Peter says. “The language was a big barrier though. You had to learn English to understand the songs, and the students were the ones learning English.” Having access to education along with their awareness of growing social and political inequality and injustice made students the perfect audience for folk music in Ivory Coast.