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  • Senzenina – A Zulu Protest Song and Funeral Song

    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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    3 Responses to “Senzenina – A Zulu Protest Song and Funeral Song”

    1. Sally Says:

      This beautiful song is also featured (at a funeral) in the movie “The Power of One.”

    2. Cleber Says:

      Também no filme Sombras do Passado (com Hilary Swank) ela aparece como áudio incidental durante a exumação dos ossos de um negro assassinado pela polícia do apartheid.

    3. Cleber Says:

      This song also appears as incidental sound in the movie Shadows of the Past (for star Hilary Swank) during exhumation of the skeleton of a member of the ANC killed by the apartheid police.

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