Mama Lisa's World Blog » Traditional Songs http://www.mamalisa.com/blog Language, Culture and Kids Songs! Sat, 21 Nov 2009 01:29:39 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.4 en hourly 1 Ghost of John – Halloween Song with MP3 Recording http://www.mamalisa.com/blog/ghost-of-john-halloween-song-with-mp3-recording/ http://www.mamalisa.com/blog/ghost-of-john-halloween-song-with-mp3-recording/#comments Tue, 27 Oct 2009 02:03:42 +0000 Lisa http://www.mamalisa.com/blog/?p=4621 My daughter and her friends Marisa and Melisa taught me this Halloween song, which seems to be traditional American. It’s called Ghost of John. Below are the lyrics and two renditions, one by Marisa and one by Melisa, plus a drawing by Melisa.

But first, here’s Marisa announcing it with a Halloween song about Halloween songs…

Halloween is coming soon,
One, Two Three,
If you want a spooky song,
Call on me.

Here’s the Ghost of John song…

MP3 of Ghost of John by Marisa

MP3 of Ghost of John by Melisa

Ghost of John

Have you seen the Ghost of John?
Long white bones and the rest all gone,
Ooh, ooh!
Wouldn’t it be chilly with no skin on?

While the girls would sing the song they would all stand in the mirror, looking for the ghost of John. Of course, someone would see part of the ghost… like his ear, in the mirror. Then they would all scream. Finally, they ended the game because they were freaking each other out. I guess that’s what Halloween is all about… ghosts!

Drawing of Ghost of John

Many thanks to Marisa and Melisa for singing Ghost of John for us and to Melisa for the drawing!

Mama Lisa

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]]> http://www.mamalisa.com/blog/ghost-of-john-halloween-song-with-mp3-recording/feed/ 1 Senzenina – A Zulu Protest Song and Funeral Song http://www.mamalisa.com/blog/senzenina-a-zulu-protest-song-and-funeral-song/ http://www.mamalisa.com/blog/senzenina-a-zulu-protest-song-and-funeral-song/#comments Wed, 11 Mar 2009 20:00:59 +0000 Lisa http://www.mamalisa.com/blog/?p=2719 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 and a wonderful mp3 recording that we just received by Élodie Chebat.

MP3 Recording of Senzenina

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

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