Can Anyone Help with The Afrikaans Song “Ek borsel my tande”?
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Archive for the 'South Africa' Category
Contents
Posts
Can Anyone Help with The Afrikaans Song “Ek borsel my tande”?
Tuesday, April 21st, 2009Emanuela wrote to me asking about an Afrikaans song:
Hello Lisa,
I’m looking for the full lyrics to the little tune “Ek borsel my tande…” I’ve been singing it to my niece to encourage her to brush her little teeth, but I only know I tiny part of it. I’m wondering whether you might know the entire song?
Many thanks.
Emanuela
If anyone can help with the lyrics to this song, and/or an English translation, please let us know in the comments below.
Thanks in advance!
Mama Lisa
Senzenina – A Zulu Protest Song and Funeral Song
Wednesday, March 11th, 2009This is a protest song and it is traditionally sung at funerals. It was important during the anti-apartheid movement in South Africa. Senzenina means “What have we done” with the implication “what did we do to deserve this?” (Also spelled “senzeni na”.)
Here you can see the original lyrics, with an English translation and a wonderful mp3 recording that we just received by Élodie Chebat.
Senzenina
(Zulu/Xhosa)Senzenina
Sono sethu ubumnyama
Sono sethu yinyaniso
Sibulawayo
Mayibuye i Africa.What Have We Done?
(English Translation)What have we done?
Our sin is that we are black
Our sin is the truth
They are killing us
Let Africa return.We found that this song is considered to be in both the Zulu and Xhosa languages. Trying to figure out which language it was in, I looked up the words to this song, and found some of them in a Zulu dictionary and some in a Xhosa dictionary. On further research I found in the Encyclopedia Britannica: “The Zulu and Xhosa languages are similar enough to be considered dialects of one language, but speakers of Zulu and Xhosa consider them to be separate languages.” (FYI They are both Southeastern Bantu languages.)
Many thanks to Élodie Chebat for contributing and singing this beautiful song!
Mama Lisa
Mama Lisa Now Has a Facebook Group
Sunday, February 22nd, 2009We’d love it if you’d join the Mama Lisa Facebook Group. You can post anything you’d like about your culture. You can post your own musical recordings or YouTube videos… Links to culture and musical sites… Photos of your country… Questions about songs or cultural issues… Anything related to World Culture and Music…
Click on the icon below to access the group. If you have a Facebook account already, you just need to click on “Join the Group” to join. If you’re not a member, you simply have to sign up for free to become a member and then you can join the Mama Lisa Group…
Looking forward to seeing you in Facebook!
Mama Lisa
RIP Miriam Makeba – She Was a Wonderful South African Singer
Thursday, November 13th, 2008Miriam Makeba sadly passed away this month. She was 76 years old.
Makeba was a wonderful singer from South Africa. She was born in Johannesburg in 1932. She started singing in a choir as a child and by the age of 22 she was a professional singer.
In 1959, she appeared in the anti-apartheid film Come Back, Africa. That launched her career as an international singer.
Makeba sang many different types of songs. Some of her most interesting music focused on Xhosa and Zulu songs.
Here you can hear her singing one of her most popular songs called The Click Song. It’s traditionally sung in parts of South Africa when people get married.
(I don’t know how long the YouTube video will remain embedded, please let me know if you see the video as a broken link. If it is, go out and find a recording – it’s well worth it!)
-Mama Lisa
The Itsy Bitsy Spider Around the World
Monday, October 13th, 2008Shirley emailed me looking for different versions of The Itsy Bitsy Spider. Here’s what she wrote:
I am desperately seeking 3-4-5 versions (songs) of Itsy Bitsy Spider for an around the world float.
Shame on me I left that chore until last and now I am having trouble. I’ve gotten English and Spanish. Please let me know if this is even remotely possible so I can make other arrangements.
Thanks Shirley
These are the ones we have on Mama Lisa’s World (you can click the link to get to the song page and to access the English, French and Spanish translations of the songs):
Denmark – Lille Peter Edderkop – The Itsy Bitsy Spider
Mexico – La pequeña araña – The Little Spider
Mexico – Itzi, bitzi araña – The Itsy Bitsy Spider
Philippines Ilongo – The Itsy Bitsy Spider – And Dutay Nga Damang
Spain – Itsy Bitsy Spider – Araña arañita
USA – The Itsy Bitsy Spider
France – L’araignée Gypsy – The Gypsy SpiderIf you would like to share the version of The Itsy Bitsy Spider from your country, please feel free to post the lyrics in the comments below or email a recording to me.
Thanks!
Lisa
New Recordings of Some American Songs
Wednesday, October 8th, 2008Heather was nice enough to send me a few recordings of some American children’s songs that she did. She sent me mp3’s of the following songs:
I’m Popeye the Sailor Man (Spoof)
Don’t Put Your Trash in My Backyard/Fish and Chips and Vinegar
Animal Fair
Home on the Range/Oh Give Me a Home (the regular song and a spoof version)
Mmm mmm Went the Little Green Frog One Day
Eeny Meeny DesimeenyYou can click the link the links to access each song page.
We always welcome recordings of traditional songs to post on Mama Lisa’s World. Heather wrote about how she recorded her mp3’s:
“I recorded these on my iPod, edited them in Audacity, then exported them from Audacity as mp3’s.”
They sound really good! Thanks for sending these Heather!
Mama Lisa
PS If you’re interested in learning more, check out a blog post I wrote in the past for more on Recording onto the Computer.
Can Someone Help with a Setswana Childrens Song from South Africa?
Thursday, August 28th, 2008Ronnie wrote:
Dear Lisa,
Over thirty years ago I worked in South Africa and learned a children’s song verbally. Whilst I still remember the tune, the lyrics have probably eroded in accuracy over the years. It was so popular at the time that you could sing the first line out in the street and “someone” would return the next line! I have never seen it written down so my spelling would be atrocious even then. It told of a steam train built or made by the white man, traveling through the mountains and twisting like a snake. On occasions in the lyrics one has to make the sound of the trains whistle (Hoi-Hoi).
I wonder if you know the correct words and spelling of it? I would love to teach it properly to my children. As far as I can remember, and I know this must be very rough, it went:
Chu-chu Makala (Train?)
untwia ma-hoa
lefooka loody
da messaquitee
Hoi-hoi (Train whistle)
ee ya da kayalaa
hoi-hoi
ee ya da kayalaaI really would like to hear if you find anything and remain Yours sincerely
Ronnie Hallett
Ilfracombe
Devon
EnglandIf anyone can help with these lyrics, and/or a translation, please let us know in the comments below. If you’d like to sing it for us, please email me.
Thanks in advance!
Mama Lisa
Looking for an Afrikaans Nursery Rhyme
Monday, October 29th, 2007Frank wrote:
I’m looking for some help finding the lyrics to a South African children’s nursery rhyme in Afrikaans that starts:
Opa ry en sy ou Ford…
Does anyone know the whole piece and others from South Africa?
Frank
We have Akrikaans Nursery Rhymes and Songs on our South African pages. (Click the link to see them.)
If anyone can help further, please comment below.
Thanks!
-Mama Lisa
How to Find Sheet Music, Tunes and MP3’s on Mama Lisa’s World
Saturday, January 6th, 2007In addition to this blog, I also host Mama Lisa’s World. Mama Lisa’s World is a large collection of children’s songs and rhymes from countries all around the globe.
Matt, a music teacher from Rhode Island, wrote a question to me, the other day, about Mama Lisa’s World:
Hey Mama,
I love the concept of your site. It’s been exciting to watch it grow. My only frustration is not being able to find either written (preferably) or audio music to accompany the lyrics. How do I find the tunes for all these great lyrics?
Matt
Music Teacher, Rhode Island, USAHere’s what I wrote back, I’m sharing it with you, in case it helps you too…
Hey Matt,
Thanks for writing!
We’ve just added basic sheet music to a lot of songs on the Germany, France, Hungary, Spain and Mexico pages – plus many others.
We’re now in the process of converting the whole site to a database. We’re halfway through. Hopefully by the summer we’ll have a feature that will let you do a search on songs that have sheet music, midis or mp3’s. Midis play the tune of a song. MP3’s are recordings – usually of someone singing the song.
But for now, the songs on the countries that are in the database are working on a simple system. On the country pages they have symbols next to the song if they have special features. Here’s the key…
KEY TO SYMBOLS
– this song has sheet music
Midi – this song has a Midi tune
MP3 – this song has an MP3 recording
– this song has a Video recording
If there’s anything in particular you’re looking for, you’re welcome to ask – in case I know if we have it or not – I may be able to guide you to the right place to find what you’re looking for.
And, of course, we’re always looking for more sheet music, midi’s and mp3’s, so if you’d like to contribute any from your culture, we’d be thrilled!
I hope this helps!
Mama Lisa
Mama Lisa’s World News and Multimedia Features
Thursday, November 30th, 2006A significant part of the Mama Lisa sites is a large collection of songs and nursery rhymes from around the world. We currently have about 750 songs from around 90 countries and cultures.
When you consider how many languages there are in those cultures – that’s a lot of information! In order to make it easier to access all of the songs, we are in the process of converting the sites to a database. The database allow our visitors to search for songs on the site by language, by songs with sheet music, recordings, etc.
While we’re putting the songs into the database, we’re trying to obtain as much information as possible about each song. So if we can find the tune, we’ll include a midi tune and sheet music. If we find a recording of the song on the internet, we’ll provide a link to the recording. Sometimes we’ll make a recording ourselves. Anything we can do to help you know everything possible about that song.
If you happen to see any songs on the site that are missing a tune or recording and you know it, we’d be very pleased if you could help us get the tune. We’re able to make midis from sheet music, if that’s what you can send. We’re also happy to post recordings if you’d like to sing the song, play it on an instrument, or even hum it. Really, anything to help others get an idea how to sing or play the song.
Once the database is complete Mama Lisa’s World will have 98 countries and cultures and over 850 songs. How great is that!
-Lisa
UPDATE: The Database is now complete! We have 100 countries and cultures. We’re now working on a Spanish version of Mama Lisa’s World which will feature children’s songs, folks songs and nursery rhymes from around the world with Spanish translations.
________
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