"Takoumba's Last Evening Sun"

[Melancholic slow country ballad in the style of Kenny Rogers, warm husky male voice, storytelling, emotional, sad and reflective, acoustic guitar, weeping fiddle, steel guitar, soft desert atmosphere, very slow tempo, heartfelt and sincere]

[Intro - soft spoken or hummed]
In a quiet town where the desert meets the sea… This is the story of a man who chose to stay…

[Verse 1]
Born in Sidi Ifni where the Atlantic winds blow cold
A town that time forgot, with dreams that turned to stone
No jobs on the horizon, no projects coming through
Just young men waking up to skies of endless blue
No chance to rise, no seat at any higher table
Just the same dusty roads and the same old fable

[Pre-Chorus]
They talked about tomorrow, but tomorrow never came
So one by one they whispered… it’s time to change the game

[Chorus]
This is the life of Takoumba, son of a wounded land
Where hope gets swallowed by the sea and by the sand
He stayed behind with his old guitar and a heart full of rain
While all his friends took to the water, chasing life in vain
Oh Takoumba… my Takoumba

[Verse 2]
His whole generation packed their bags in the dead of night
Climbed on fragile boats beneath the pale moonlight
Searching for the work, the hope, the future they never knew
Risking every breath just to see a dream come true
Some never reached the other shore, lost beneath the waves
But Takoumba stayed, singing what the ocean couldn’t save

[Chorus]
This is the life of Takoumba, son of a wounded land
Where hope gets swallowed by the sea and by the sand
He stayed behind with his old guitar and a heart full of rain
While all his friends took to the water, chasing life in vain
Oh Takoumba… my Takoumba

[Bridge]
The Tuareg know his name, the Songhai hear his call
But back in Ifni the streets stay silent, nothing changes at all

[Final Chorus - slower, emotional]
This is the life of Takoumba, a man who chose to stay
Holding the broken heart of Ifni every single day
Every note a quiet prayer for the brothers who sailed away
The desert gave him his story… music became his only way
Oh Takoumba… forever Takoumba

[Outro - fading]
Oh Takoumba… my Takoumba…
In Sidi Ifni… where the desert meets the sea…

Melancholic slow country ballad in the style of Kenny Rogers, warm husky male voice, storytelling, emotional, sad