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From the Kikuyu Hymnbook
A Gikuyu nationalist song from Kenya, from the days of the Independence struggle. Karari Njama describes how these songs were…
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The Day Kenyatta Was Arrested
A Kikuyu song from Kenya referring to the arrest of Jomo Kenyatta in October 1952. Jomo Kenyatta was the leader…
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Which is the Better for Me?
A Somali song from the days of Turkish rule. The singer’s ironically compares his troubles — the Mahdi making war,…
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Leaving Town
A Dinka song from South Sudan. The singer can’t wait for morning so he can leave the town he abominates…
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Lime of the Forest
A love song, translated from Amharic, the language of government in Ethiopia, spoken originally by the Amhara people of the…
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The Refugees
A Dinka song from South Sudan. It describes the plight of refugees who fled into Zaira in the 1960s from…
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Hark How the Music Thunders
A Chopi song from southern Mozambique. This song is taken from one of the Chopi Migodo (sing. Ng’godo). These are…
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Kambili the Hunter
Kambili is a Mandinka epic poem of the Wasulu hunters of Mali. The small excerpt published here is from a…
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The Otumfuo of the Ashantis
A poem sent to us by Adjei Agyei-Baah on the theme of the Ashanti royal house. The Ashanti people live…
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Who Will Throw Goat’s Dung at Me?
A Nandi children’s song from Kenya, a humorous word-chain that links together all aspects of the children’s future life. See…
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