COUNTRY: Trinidad
LANGUAGE: Bhojpuri
Found on the Alan Lomax recording, “Caribbean Voyage: East Indian Music in the West Indies,” this is a song Trinidadian women of Indian descent–and there are many–sing to their babies. The original song is about the Hindu god Krishna (“Kanhiaya”) whose mother rocks him to sleep in a cradle made of sandalwood.
Lyrics of All Around This World version:
Jhulo, jhulo, Kanhaiya palna
Rock baby, rock, gonna rock you to sleep
In your sandalwood hammock with silk woven deep
Rock baby, rock, gonna rock you to bed
And now that you’re sleeping a kiss on your head
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