Last night I was watching the movie, The Constant Gardener, for the second time. Normally, I just turn a DVD off when the video ends, but this time I let the credits start rolling. When I did, a most amazing song started playing. The song title is Kothbiro by a gentleman named Ayub Ogada.
Ayub Ogada is a Kenyan musician. In addition to his singing, he also plays an African stringed instrument called the nyatiti. Although this song came out on The Constant Gardener soundtrack in 2005, the song was actually recorded on his album, En Mana Kuoyo, which he recorded back in 1993. He’s also collaborated on several other songs with Susheela Raman and the Afro Celt Sound System.
Maybe I’ve been watching too many “Chick” flicks with my wife and daughter lately, but I really like the melody and lyrics of this song. You wouldn’t guess it from the melody, but the song is about cattle herding. The word Kothbiro translates roughly into English as “Rain is Coming”. Although sung in his natural tongue, the English translation is below:
Auma do you hear what I say
The rain is on its way
Return our cattle home
Yaye the children
What is it that you think you do?
The rain is on its way
Return our cattle home.
If you’d like to listen to the song, there’s a video on YouTube made by an individual from Argentina that used this song as the soundtrack. Click here.
If you’d like more information on Ayub Ogada, click here.
Definitely worth a listen.
2 Responses to Music: Ayub Ogada
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Hey daddy-o,
You should check out the Weepies. They are kind of folksy & from California. I think they are pretty cool. It might be chick music, but you did write about Kothbiro… Also, I started listening to Margot & the Nuclear So & So’s… same type of vibe, pretty cool. In case you are bored or something. (You are retarded now you know… Oh, sorry, retired!)
The Weepies and Margot & the Nuclear So & So’s are okay. I listened to a few of their songs. I think what I like about Kothbiro is the African/World influence. It’s not so much the tempo as the style that I like. The stringed instrument and vocals just sound really cool together.
Thanks for the other ideas, though.
daddy-o