Skip to content
Cover art for Wavin’ Flag

Song

Wavin’ Flag

K’naan

Troubadour, 2009, English

Lyrics

Pick up to six lines to make a card.

When I get older, I will be stronger
They'll call me freedom, just like a wavin' flag
When I get older, I will be stronger
They'll call me freedom just like a wavin' flag
And then it goes back, and then it goes back
And then it goes back, oh
Born to a throne, stronger than Rome
A violence-prone poor-people zone
But it's my home, all I have known
Where I got grown, streets we would roam
Out of the darkness, I came the farthest
Among the hardest, survival
Learn from these streets, it can be bleak
Accept no defeat, surrender, retreat
So we strugglin', fighting to eat
And we wonderin' when we'll be free
So we patiently wait for that fateful day
It's not far away, but for now, we say
When I get older, I will be stronger
They'll call me freedom just like a wavin' flag
And then it goes back, and then it goes back
And then it goes back, oh
So many wars, settlin' scores
Bringin' us promises, leavin' us poor
I heard them say, "Love is the way
Love is the answer," that's what they say
But look how they treat us, make us believers
We fight their battles, then they deceive us
Try to control us, they couldn't hold us
'Cause we just move forward like Buffalo Soldiers
But we strugglin', fighting to eat
And we wonderin' when we'll be free
So we patiently wait for that fateful day
It's not far away, but for now, we say
When I get older, I will be stronger
They'll call me freedom just like a wavin' flag
And then it goes back, and then it goes back
And then it goes back, and then it goes—
When I get older, I will be stronger
They'll call me freedom just like a wavin' flag
And then it goes back, and then it goes back
And then it goes back, and then it goes—
(Oh)
(Oh) And then it goes—
(Oh)
(Oh)
And everybody will be singing it (Oh)
And you and I will be singing it (Oh)
And we all will be singing it (Oh)
Oh, oh, oh (Oh)
When I get older, I will be stronger
They'll call me freedom just like a wavin' flag
And then it goes back, and then it goes back
And then it goes back, and then it goes—
When I get older, when I get older
They'll call me freedom just like a wavin' flag
And then it goes back, and then it goes back
And then it goes back, oh
When I get older
When I get older
I will be stronger
Just like a wavin' flag
Just like a wavin' flag
Just like a wavin' flag, flag, flag
Just like a wavin' flag

Samples, covers and versions

Interpolated in

Covers

Remixes