(Haiya! Mbona ulitupandisha gari ambayo haiendi, dereva, eh)
(Gari inaenda mama, wacha kelele)
(Eh, tushuke kwanini hamkusema gari iko mbaya)
(Kama huna gari yako, you buy your own)
(Sasa mbona unak-, nyinyi watu mna madharau sana)
(Eh, shuka, eh turudishie pesa)
(Wacha tuagize gari ingine)
(Mnatoa watu mbali mnabembeleza halafu kushuka mnaleta mitihani)
(My money is gone, my pocket too now)
(I can't find mine, please, umefanyaje mama)
(It's long gone)
(Now, sioni, I can't see it now)
(All my documents are gone, oh, no!)
♪
Matatu, matata
You leave home in the morning
It's time to go to work
You wish to board a taxi
But you do not have a cent
Your neighbor lends you bus fare
Hopin' soon you'll pay it back
And so you board a mini-bus
And it's time for hell to break loose again!
They pack you like sardines
And they will squeeze you to the seat
Another man picks your pocket
And takes your bus ticket home
They shout at you and call you names
You wish you didn't board
But the angry boss will never understand!
As the driver takes the corner
There's a pothole on the road
So he swerves but hits a cyclist
Who's peddling against the time
No one keeps the traffic rules
No one seems to understand
That any time someone could die
From the madness and the selfishness we see, oh-oh
They pack you like sardines
And they will squeeze you to the seat
Another man picks your pocket
And takes your bus ticket home
They shout at you and call you names
You wish you didn't board
But the angry boss will never understand, yeah!
Okay, guys it's your turn
Come on Allan, play that thing!
♪
Oh, yeah
It's a mini-bus ride
♪
They pack you like sardines
And they will squeeze you to the seat
Another man picks your pocket
And takes your bus ticket home
They shout at you and call you names
You wish you didn't board
But the angry boss will never understand!
They pack you like sardines
♪
(Wewe mama kama hutaki kusonga, nunua gari yako)
♪
(Beba na hamsini, eh, beba na hamsini, beba na hamsini)
♪
(Buru kobole, Buru kobole, Buru kobole)
(Jeri, Jeri, Jeri, Jeri na ten-ten, Jeri na ten-ten)
(Ingia, ingia, ingia; dereva anashuka hapa mbele)