About two-thirds of the way through “Bofou Safou”—the opening track on Amadou & Mariam’s forthcoming album La Confusion—the song sheds its buzzy synths and bouncing-rubber-ball bass line to make way for a central message delivered by Mariam Doumbia in a blend of French and Bambara, the national language of Mali.
Translated into English, Doumbia sings: To be born and to die for nothing is not good. / You have to work in life. / You can’t cross your arms in life. / You have to make yourself useful in life.