Ilelele (All the Kids in the House)

COUNTRY: India
LANGUAGE: Adi? Abor?

All Around This World welcomes kids to class during the South and Central Asian season with this rocking song found on the Smithsonian Folkways recording, “Songs of Assam, Uttar Pradesh, and the Andamans” (listed as “Abor No. 4”).

All Around This World’s lyrics:

Ilelele leh ee ang (4x)

Look at all the kids in the house today (2x)
Look at all the kids who have come to play
How many kids are in the house today? (2x)
How many kids have come to play?

The original roughly means, “Many people from the outside are our guests this evening. The people from our village have also gathered.. So you girls sing loudly and entertain the assembly here with whatever they want to hear.”