Shosholoza is a
song the soon to be formed Open Door Singers Diamond Valley choir is currently learning. It has its origins as an Ndebele
folk song from Zimbabwe and has become so popular in South African culture that
it has been adopted as South Africa's second national anthem.
The lyrics came
from the heartache of working in the mines for encouragement as a sign of
solidarity. The hidden meaning was to support the struggle against oppression
and possibly represents a cry for the beloved country in the hills far away.
The are many different lyrics
but here is a sample with an approximate translation:
Go forward
Go forward
from those mountains
on this train from South
Africa
Go forward
Go forward
You are running away
You are running away
From those mountains
On this train from South
Africa
2 comments:
Oh, that was very nice, Lindsay. I liked it when everyone began moving to the rhythm of the song, but I never did get to see who was ululating. Are you going to have that part when your choir performs it? If so, I really hope you'll post the performance to youtube. :)
thanks Susan -we all move in unison with the men (much smaller in number) facing the women.
Best wishes
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