Shaking The Tree Lyrics

Lyric discussion by PaliSteve 

Cover art for Shaking The Tree lyrics by Peter Gabriel

Women's rights come to Muslim Africa (ending the tradition of female circumcision) and the world in general.

YEAH!

"We are shaking the tree" -- shaking people out of their complacency about traditional gender roles. PG is the greatest!

Does anyone know the meaning of the opening words that sound like "boka la hey, boka la hai?" Is it also Somali, or just Peter's invented language? ;)

@PaliSteve According to PG the opening lyrics mean "if we had known, if we had only known".