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K'naan is dedicating this song to his mother because she taught him how to be selfless and forgive people for their actions. This is also a reference to 2Pac’s classic track, 2Pac’s “Dear Mama”, which was about how much 2Pac loved his mother.
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Even though the Warlords and Gangsters tried to kill K'naan’s mother she still forgave them.
You would have said I'm working too hard again K'naan – Fatima
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You stands for Fatima. If Fatima was still alive he would have brought her to America and she could have experience the beauty of peaceful parks.
She also would have been around to tell him to relax once in a while instead of putting all his energy into writing raps.
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Fatima came over at the same time she always does, this is important because later in the song he panics due to her missing one of their dates, which as this line shows she never did.
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Giving imagery of what the street would feel like, as it would likely have vendors lining the side, creating the sweet fragrance of flowers and herbs.
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When they are together they have so much fun that it feels like the day will never end, but now that she didn’t show up he has to wait until tomorrow to enjoy himself.
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Swahili is based on Arabic so it isn’t uncommon for children growing up in many African countries to speak both languages, as she did. This also leads into the next line where she says that she loved him in Swahili.
Whose walls hid the blood she was spillin'
Damn you country so good at killin'
Damn you feelin' for persevering K'naan – Fatima
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This translates to: “you are my love and dearest friend”, so she was telling K'naan that she loved him.
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On meeting Fatima K'naan’s rainy day turned into a sunny day.
This is a metaphor that shows the power of their love, as his “rainy” or bad day turned “sunny” or good when he met up with her.
I think we’re overlooking the literal meaning here.
Somalia is in the Horn of Africa and the climate there is rather dry. Many sections of the country experience drought most of the year and in such places it might be hard to get enough water for basic utility.