Here Come Our Mothers Bring Us Presents is a traditional Zulu children’s song that’s sung by Ladysmith Black Mambazo.  Here are the lyrics with the Zulu part phonetically written… Here come our mothers, bringing us presents Ngci bo, Ngci bo, Nampayano mame * We can see apples, we can see bananas...

Sheila wrote from North Carolina asking about a circle dance song: I sang this in kindergarten 55 years ago. I don’t know the correct spelling of these words, but this is what the refrain sounded like… Mumbo, hot-toe, mata relay, relay Mumbo, hot-toe mata relay relay roan. It was a circle dance with one child in the middle,...

Here’s a song we received that’s originally from Benin, Africa. The recording is by Élodie Chebat from France. MP3 of Iro ye Iro ye Nou ka ye manao Iro ye Nou ka ye manao Nie nou do nou de Anao Napodenao Akbe la mio nao So yakbe na yoma Many thanks to Élodie Chebat for contributing the song and recording. If anyone can help...

Delyth Dallimore recently sent me the wonderful video below from The Gambia… The lyrics to the video can be found on our new Gambian song pages. The video is on the Mandinka language. Del is collecting videos of Gambian children’s songs on her YouTube channel. Here’s what she wrote about The Gambia and collecting the...

This 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...

Miriam 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...

Ronnie 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...

Susan Arnold wrote to me with a question about a song: I am looking for an accurate translation of the song “Aweneh Makole”. The only thing I know about the song is that it is call and response. I’ve known it for ages and it’s used quite a lot in schools here in the...

Karen wrote: Do you know the words to the African song – cha, cha coola (the a’s are long vowel sounds)? Karen If anyone can help out, please comment below. Thanks! Lisa

A while back Cathie wrote me: 2 years ago I went on vacation to the Canaries. At night the children danced to a song which spoke about a house and roof. They made gestures to mime this song. It was in Spanish. Could you inform me about the lyrics and title of...

Michelle wrote me… Hello! do you by any chance know of the song named Guru Ndiani from Zimbabwe? It is a children’s game song similar to a ring around the rosie type of song. Thank you, I appreciate it. Michelle If anyone is familiar with this song, please post it in the comments below. Thanks! Lisa

I’m happy to announce that I’ve added Cameroon to Mama Lisa’s World! Here are links to the new pages, where you’ll find six new songs… Children’s Songs from Cameroon & Children’s Songs from Cameroon with French Translations I particularly like Bring Back, which you can sing with children when they’ve lost something, like a teddy bear. ...

Here are two versions of a song called Mr. cocoji I received from Cameroon. They’re in Pidgin English. I can understand parts of the lyrics, but not all. This is the version of Mr. cocoji from the north west province… Mr. cocoji (Pidgin English) Mr. cocoji ih begin di follow goat ih nack ih oneside jiga ih one...

I received this song from Cameroon a while back. It was identified as coming from the Bali tribe. Unfortunately, the language wasn’t identified, and an English translation wasn’t provided. The Bali tribe speaks Mungaka. But I’m not sure if they speak any other languages also. Here are the lyrics in...