Hello/We Are Happy
Country: Uganda
Lyrics:
We are happy, we are happy on this day. (4x)
Hello Molly, hello hello
More info:The Abayudya of Uganda are a small community of about 500 Luganda-speaking Bagandans who have been practicing Judaism for over 80 years. Abayudaya community members Rabbi Gershom Sizomu and his brother JJ Keki wrote these two welcome songs that are combined here into one.
The Abayudaya have recorded four CDs of African-Jewish music, including
Shalom Everybody Everywhere and Abayudaya: Music from the Jewish People of Uganda.
Atas Atas
Country:Algeria
Language:Arabic
Lyrics:
Atas atas amimmi, atas atas aylli (2x)
Atatas mimmi atimghour yalli (2)
Atas atas amimmi.
Go to sleep my baby sleep, go to sleep my little sweet (2x)
One day you’ll be grown and out on your own
But always in my arms you will have a home. (2x)
Go to sleep my baby sleep.
More info:
You’ll find "Atas Atas" and other Algerian music at http://mousiqadiyalna.hautetfort.com.
Diarra Loro Lora
Country: Burkina Faso
Language:Dioula
Lyrics:
Diarra loro lora, diantissera diarrala
Diarra loro lora, diantissera diarrala
The lion’s market is there and you can go if you dare,
The lion’s market is there and you can go if you dare.
More info:
Thanks to Mama Lisa’s World for the lyrics and melody.
Kikalama
Country: Guinea
Language: Malinke
Lyrics:
Kikalama kikalama kikalama, kikalama kikalama kikalama,
kikalama, kikalama, kikalama kikalama kikalama!
More info:
The performance of "Kikalama" by the Kante Facelli Ensemble on Smithsonian Folkways’ excellent Africa: The Voices and Drums of Africa is a mix of Malinke and Susu. In Malinke, “Kikalama" means, roughly, “"know who you are; and what you do do not lose control of yourself ...." Thanks to Guinean master kora player Prince Diabate for the translation.
A Hiyeni
Country: Mozambique
Language: Shangana
Lyrics:
A hiyeni va camarada (4x)
Everyone come along now (4x)
Bananas are in the village (4x)
Everyone come along now (4x)
Our friends are in the village (4x)
Everyone come along now (4x)
Music class is in the village… (4x)
More info:
“A Hiyeni" is a celebration of the communal villages popular in Mozambique in the years surrounding the country’s mid-‘70s struggle for independence from Portugal. You can find this song on the Smithsonian Folkways’ Music of Mozambique.
Thinantsha
Country: South Africa
Language: Zulu
Lyrics:
Thina salulutsha (4x), sisebatsha (4x)
We’re young, we are the youth, we won’t give up.
More info:
The youth of South Africa sang this anti-Apartheid anthem, found on Smithsonian Folkways’ This Land is Mine: South African Freedom Songs, to mark their defiance of the Afrikaner government and their determination to succeed in their struggle for equality.
Awa Yombei
Country: The Gambia
Language: Mandinka
Lyrics:
Awa yombei, yombei yo!, Awa yombei, yombei yo!
Walk around now
Awa Yombei, yombei yo! Awa yombei, yombei yo!
Many thanks to Delyth Dallimore for this video of “Awe Yombei".
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Do Do Ki Do
Country: Cameroon
Lyrics:
Do do ki do, ti na baba (3x) Do do do ti la so la so
More info:
Many thanks to Nyanga Melissa of the Minnesota African Women’s Association for making this song available on Mama Lisa’s World.
Jama
Country: Ghana
Language: Akan
Lyrics:
Ma sho la, ma nu nu, Grammy ee dza nke’ote(4x)
Go backward, go forward, I’ll only go with Grammy (4x)
More info:
From Ivan Annan’s Ghana: Children and Play: Children’s Songs and Games.
Kavuli Tutu
Country: Kenya
Language: Swahili
Lyrics:
Kavuli (Tutu) (8x)
Click your sticks…! (Tutu) (8x)
Hop your sticks…! (Tutu) (8x)
More info:
From David Nzomo’s Children’s Songs from Kenya.
Arsomo Baba
Country: Morocco
Language: Arabic
Lyrics:
Arsomo baba, arsomo mama, bil alwan, bil alwan (2x)
Lily paints her mother, Lily paints her mother, all in red, all in red (2x)
More info:
Thanks to Mama Lisa’s World for the words and melody to this song.
Sensenzina
Country: South Africa
Language: Zulu and Xhosha
Lyrics:
Sensenzina (4x)
What have we done?
More info:
Many thanks to Mama Lisa’s World for providing the melody and lyrics for this anti-Apartheid song. In its original context, “what have we done?" implies “what have we done to deserve Apartheid?"
Whose Legs Are These?
Country: The Gambia
Language: Wolof
Lyrics:
Ki tanki tanki tola
Molly la Molly la kong kong kong worass
Whose, whose, whose legs are these?
Molly’s legs, Molly’s legs, watch Molly shake them.
More info:
Many thanks to Delyth Dallimore for this video of “Whose Legs Are These?".
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Up in the Moon
Country: Ghana (and Scotland?)
Language: Ga
Lyrics:
There is a girl up in the moon, up in the moon up in the moon,
There is a girl up in the moon her name is Adaline.
Adaline (4x), her name is Adaline.
Nuu ko yeh nyontsele mi, nyontsele mi, nyontsele mi,
Nuu ko yeh nyontsele mi, n’atseo leh Adaline
Adaline (4x), her name is Adaline.
More info:
This song, from Ivan Annan’s Ghana: Children at Play, originated as the Scottish folk tune, “Aiken Drum." Somehow it worked its way over to Ghana where the man in the moon, "Aiken Drum," became "Ataa 'dondo," giving us a good example of how culture floows freely back and forth around the globe.
Tse Tue Kule
Country: Ghana
Language: Ga?
Lyrics:
Tse tse kule (tse tse kule)
Tse tse kofi sa (tse tse kofi sa)
Kofi salanga (kofi slanaga)
Kaka chi langa (kaka chi langa)
Kum ade ne (kum ade ne) (4x)
More info:
From Ivan Annan’s Ghana: Children at Play. Annan describes the lyrics of this song as “nonsense syllables," though it really must mean something….
Kipenzi Changu
Country: Kenya
Language: Ki-swahili
Lyrics:
Kipenzi changu uchangamke, sasa mimi wako
Nikakupenda, na kukutunza mpaka kufu kwangu
Oh my darling I’ll always love you more than you’ll ever know
And though the days may be long my darling I’ll never let you go.
More info:
A wedding/marriage song by Kenyan guitarist and songwriter, David Nzomo, found on Smithsonian Folkways’ African Rhythms: Songs from Kenya.
Happy Birthday
Country: Morocco
Language: Arabic
Lyrics:
Sana hilwa ya gamil, sana hilwa ya gamil,
Sana hilwa ya Molly, sana hilwa ya gamil.
Thanks so Mama Lisa’s World for the lyrics and melody to this Moroccan version of “Happy Birthday."
He Motsoala
Country: South Africa
Language: Suthu
He motsoala (4x)
My mother traveled to Pretoria to sign the license for my wedding day (2x)
More info:
Pete Seeger and the Song Swappers reworked a traditional South African song into “He Motsoala" for their Bantu Choral Folk Songs recording.
Ntate Jake
Country: South Africa
Language: Tswana
Ntate Jake, Ntate Jake, a o sa robala, a o sa robala,
Tshipe e a lela, tshipe e a lela, ding dong del, ding dong del.
Father Jacob, Father Jacob. Are you still sleeping?, Are you still sleeping?
The bell is ringing, the bell is ringing. Ding dong dell, ding dong dell.
More info:
Thanks to Mama Lisa’s World for this South African version of “Frere Jacques."
Tulo Tulo
Country: Uganda
Language: Luganda
Lyrics:
Tulo tulo kwata amwana, bwoto mukwate nga olimulogo, ssebo wulila ? (2x)
Njagala ngendeko kumazina nzine kundongo, nkyuse kubulamu obulamu
Tulo tulo kwata amwana, bwoto mukwate nga olimulogo, ssebo wulila ?
Tulo Tulo, go to sleep my pretty baby, dream sweetly through the night (2x)
In your dreams you'll dance in moonlight, in your dreams you'll soar through the starry sky
Tulo Tulo, go to sleep my pretty baby, dream sweetly through the night.
More info:
A lullaby from the Grammy-nominated Ugandan-Jewish CD, Abayudaya: Music from the Jewish People of Uganda. Many thanks to Moses Sebagabo for the Lugandan lyrics.
Goodbye/We Are Happy
Country: Uganda
Lyrics:
We say goodbye but we’re not sad because of all the fun we had
We are happy, we are happy on this day...
More info: We will be singing this “good-bye" song every season. In many African cultures there is an emphasis on positivity, or at least the appearance of positivity, that is unfamiliar to most Americans. In that spirit, this "good-bye" song is a celebration of the good times we had when we were together.
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