Omar Musa
Omar Musa - Oh Child of Mine
Omar Musa — "Oh Child of Mine" (Official Video)
Video by Harry Hunter at Entropico
VFX by Oscar Brooks-Luscombe
Makeup by Ramsena Jay
Clothes by Jude Designs
Music credits:
Music produced / mixed by Papertoy
Mastered by Lachlan Carrick
Recorded by Kojo Ansah
Bass guitar - Sam Shepherd
Guitar - Josh Kreusler
Piano - Joel Trigg
Backing vocals - Caiti Baker
‘Oh Child of Mine’ is an exploration of generation, resilience, recovery, and “papering up the cracks in my soul with gold leaf.” “This song is about how rock bottom doesn’t necessarily have to be a trapdoor, but can be a trampoline,” explains Omar. “It’s about finding gold in the shadow, and a reminder to myself to be brave, despite the million fears I wake up with each morning. I hope that it gives listeners the strength to face their own fears, demons, and addictions. I’m so proud of it.” Produced by Papertoy and recorded with Kay Ansah (AKA Citizen Kay), the creation of the song felt like a close-knit family affair. ‘Oh Child of Mine’ is an anthem both joyous, poetic, and profound, with a hook that you can’t get out of your head
Connect with Omar Musa:
INSTA: https://www.instagram.com/omarbinmusa/
OFFICIAL WEBSITE: https://www.omarmusa.com.au
LINKTREE: https://linktr.ee/omarmusaqbn
SPOTIFY: https://open.spotify.com/artist/4Ih6lKbUbCLASxmgLNvme5?si=VFqZYsWfRjuZHsVHbB2NtQ
WORLD TOUR DATES
July 14th — Kota Kinabalu, Malaysia
July 23rd — Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
August 3rd — Norwich, UK
August 4th — Brighton, UK
August 5th — London, UK
August 9th — Nottingham, UK
August 20th — Edinburgh, UK
August 26th — Edinburgh, UK
September 1-3 — Amsterdam, Netherlands
September 9 — Munich, Germany
September 22 — Toronto, Canada
September 26 — Montreal, Canada
Oct 27-31— Lagos, Nigeria
More info on tour: https://www.omarmusa.com.au/post/world-tour-dates
LYRICS:
Chorus:
Oh child, oh child.. oh child of mine, oh child of mine
Oh child, oh child.. oh child of mine, oh child of mine
Verse one:
I can never quite say what I’m trying to say —
I speak to my grandma I’m broken Malay.
Digging deep for a poem that’s inside of my veins,
Then a smile says everything I’m trying to convey.
See her eyes glowing with a special kinda knowing —
Now I’m overflowing with the gratitude and poems.
But each day I wake with a deep sense of fear,
Crazy how it finds a new form to reappear.
Dear listener, do you feel it too?
Do you feel my pain, do you hear my truth?
Insecurities, they tear me apart —
Even pre pandemic I was wearing a mask.
Very strange days in the time of the plague,
Like an off-key melody forever replays
Then I think of something that my grandmother would say —
“Dear child, you shall not be afraid.”
Chorus
Verse two:
I’m not sure if I believe in God.
All I know is that I’m not him, and that I beat the odds.
Stay sober, one day at a time,
Then I bow to the page like I pray at a shrine.
Wine into water, lemons into lemonade,
Shadows into gold turn the pain into a serenade.
Same guy came of age in the post 9/11-era, lost, full of rage.
Somewhere, my crescent moon got dim,
Swallowed up by sin, the juice and the gin.
Meet up with my friend playing with his new son —
He discovers the world with new eyes through him.
A brand new perspective. “Life is hectic,” he says,
“but his laughter is infectious”, he says,
“what a blessing,” he says, I drive away and wonder —
What kind of lessons did I teach my parents when I was younger?
Will I ever have my own kids?
I nearly did, I speak to em sometimes in my dreams.
I say, “little one, come what may —
Dear child, you shall not be afraid.”
Chorus
Spoken breakdown:
This might be the realest thing I ever wrote.
This might be the last thing I ever write - you never know.
So I give you every fibre every ounce of my spirit
Every time I put pen to page and I make it count — I make it vivid
Verse three:
I’m not religious but the spirit feels holy.
I walk towards the light slowly, take a deep breath,
Throwing flowers on the grave of the old me,
Paper up the cracks of my soul with the gold leaf.
I was living in hell, nearly bid farewell,
nearly killed myself in the Song Hotel,
That was five years back, but I broke that spell —
Now I’m swimming from the bottom of the well.
From the dark somehow I found clarity,
The armies at war found solidarity
Through the beauty of music, in this moment,
We are all so different, but make a singularity.
It’s never too late for us to atone, or make amends,
My friend, we’re never truly alone
I say, my friend, we can be a part of the solution —
A small act of kindness can be a revolution.
Let the earth revolve, the lost souls evolve
The coral reef regrow, the bloody tears dissolve,
in potholes we sew flannel flowers to bloom,
through the fire and snow, stories yet to be told...
I feel the rain on my face —
Tomorrow isn’t promised so I live for today.
This is possibly the very last thing I’ll ever say -
Dear friend we shall not be afraid.