Version 1
Info
Kye Kye Kule (pronounced “chay chay koolay”) is mostly likely originally from Ghana. There are many different spellings: “Kye Kye Kule”, “Che Che Kule”, “Shay Shay Kooley”, “Che Che Koolay”, “Che che Cole”, etc. (source)
Lyrics - Akan
Che che koolay (echo)
Che che kofee sa (echo)
Kofee salanga (echo)
Kaka shee langa (echo)
Koom ma-dye-day (echo)
Lyrics have no specific meaning.
Version 2
Lyrics - Akan
Kye kye kule (echo)
Kye kye Kofi nsa (echo)
Kofi nsa langa (echo)
Kaka shi langa (echo)
Kum adende (echo)
Kum adende, Hey!
Lyrics have no specific meaning.
Pronunciation
Chay chay koolay (echo)
Chay chay ko-feen-sah (echo)
Kobe sah-lahn-gah (echo)
Kah-kah hee lahn-gah (echo)
Koom ah-den-day (echo)
Koom ah-den-day, Hey!
Motions
Phrase 1 – Pat head 4 times
Phrase 2 – Tap shoulders 4 times while twisting torso from side to side
Phrase 3 – Put hands on hips, continue to twist torso
Phrase 4 – Tap knees
Phrases 5 & 6 – “kum” = tap ankles, “addenda” = tap waist, “hey” = hands up over head
See also
- folk songs from Ghana
- motion songs
- call & response songs
- songs with sixteenth-eighth-sixteenth note patterns
- songs with one chord (version 1)
- version 1 source: Silver Burdett Music, Book 2, Silver Burdett Company, 1981
- version 2 source: Let Your Voice Be Heard! Songs from Ghana and Zimbabwe, Abraham Kobena Adzinyah, Dumisani Maraire, Judith Cook Tucker, 1986
YouTube
- Song with chords (PDF)
- MIDI file
- Listen to the song
2 thoughts on “Che Che Koolay”
This is a body identification song.
Hands on your head
Hands on your shoulders
hands on your waist
Hands on your knees
Hands on your ankles
Great! Thanks for sharing!