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This is a wedding song. The women in on the bride’s side sing this song as they walk toward the groom’s house. It celebrates the glory of the family. (source)
Lyrics - Bambara
(Folk song from Ivory Coast, Cote d’Ivoire)
Alu nakan de, alu nakan de so diyara.
Alu nakan de, denbaw nakan de so diyara.
Ka wari di dolu ma ka wari di dolu ma
dolu bololankolon be.
Alu nakan de, denbaw nakan de so diyara.
English Translation - The joyful house
The announcement of your arrival brightened the house,
The announcement of your arrival of the mothers brightened the house,
To some we give money, to some we give gold, some leave empty-handed,*
The announcement of your arrival of the mother to the house.
*This refers to the fact that some children are treated differently. (source)
See also
- Country: Ivory Coast (Cote d’Ivoire)
- Harmony: chords I & V
- Meter: 4
- Scale: major
- Rhythm: ties
- Source: Songs from the Baobab: African Lullabies & Nursery Rhymes, Chantal Grosléziat, The Secret Mountain, 2011
YouTube
- PDF of song with chords
- MIDI file
- Listen to the melody
