By Youssou N'Dour
He assumed the throne of Cajor
And became well-known for his festive reign
Where every occasion was reason for
Celebration in great style
Having inherited a rich oral tradition
He encouraged local musicians
And his patronage gave rise to the flourishing of
The music known as mbaboor
Ah! Birima!
A day spent in your presence
Was the picture of hospitality!
This music was transmitted by the griots
Who painted vivid portraits of the kingdom
Mbaboor became inextricably linked
To the history of Cajor
Most importantly, it forged a new and enduring link
Between royalty and the common people
Where relations had been different before
As the classes lived and struggled and
Celebrated together
Common experience allowed them to identify
With one another
Ah! Birima!
A day spent in your presence
Was the picture of hospitality
MP3 Download Links! Click on your favorite song.
And became well-known for his festive reign
Where every occasion was reason for
Celebration in great style
Having inherited a rich oral tradition
He encouraged local musicians
And his patronage gave rise to the flourishing of
The music known as mbaboor
Ah! Birima!
A day spent in your presence
Was the picture of hospitality!
This music was transmitted by the griots
Who painted vivid portraits of the kingdom
Mbaboor became inextricably linked
To the history of Cajor
Most importantly, it forged a new and enduring link
Between royalty and the common people
Where relations had been different before
As the classes lived and struggled and
Celebrated together
Common experience allowed them to identify
With one another
Ah! Birima!
A day spent in your presence
Was the picture of hospitality
MP3 Download Links! Click on your favorite song.
Great post full of useful tips! My site is fairly new and I am also having a hard time getting my readers to leave comments. Analytics shows they are coming to the site but I have a feeling “nobody wants to be first”. Traduccion Cristiana
ReplyDeleteA Senegalese friend from college introduced me to Youssou N'Dour. She did explain what it means, but I forgot. So I googled and here I am. Thank you for the translation.
ReplyDeleteI want that friend to introduce me to Birima
DeleteI would love an English translation of Tijaniyya from Egypt
ReplyDeleteIt is so beautiful!
One of the best tunes.Never gets old.
ReplyDeleteI am going to Senegal for the first time and meeting him is on my list of things to-do.Thanks for the translation.
dutiful track nice to know the meaning at last
ReplyDeleteListened to this songs for the first time in year 2000 shortly after mg Dad died... I didnt know the meaning or Correct lytics but this song gave me Joy. Youssou N'dour is blessed beyond measure !
ReplyDeletecan i translate it to my mothertoungue Assamese. plz reply
ReplyDeleteThank you for the translation
ReplyDeleteThank you for this translation. The song birima is something else, transforms my spirit to the cosmos. I had looked for the meaning invain, so thank you so much. Youssou N'dour is top of my favorite artists right now, I love him so much it's crazy!
ReplyDeleteI just love the song ,,but I didn't understand the lyrics .thank for the translation
ReplyDeleteMy dear late partners favourite work and respectfully her funeral music what a lady. It's pointless wading through match.com as 99.9 percent of its subscribers won't even heard of youssou.. a loss in which ever way you look at it. Xx
ReplyDeleteIs Birima a name of a person or just a word if yes kindly assist with the translation.
ReplyDeleteThanks Nhlanhla From South Africa
A person's name. The name of the main character receiving thanks in the song for his hospitality.
DeleteWow!!! What a wonderful song. A song that can inspire anyone without knowing it's meaning. I love this song, God bless his generation
ReplyDeleteTimeless African classic...!
DeleteGolden times. Kids today will never know the feeling, when we enjoy this song and many others like it from Youssou N'dour and the likes of African Musicians. Blessed to be born in the 90's. God bless Africa π€
ReplyDeleteWe should continue playing our African music
DeleteI was born in 2000 and discovered this song recently, I refute the fallacy that kids today don’t know old music
DeleteThanks you, I'm togolese and very familiar with this song. Thanks for translating.
ReplyDeleteOne of my favourite πBirima
ReplyDeleteThank you thank you! I feel huge and connected to the cosmos listening to this song!
ReplyDeleteI am from Xhosa tribe in SA and I enjoyed the song as much as I didn't understand the meaning but from seeing the song it told me that Birima is someone who's rich but kind to those are poor, I'm so happy to see that I'm not far.i so love Africans with their music and I hope one day someone can bring me close to these legends Yousssou N'Dour,Salif Keita please.thank you Youssou N'Dour for great music pls don't stop
ReplyDeleteYou've got great tatse in music....! Am reminded of Jabu Khanyile and Ringo...their music is international too and touches all age groups and cultures
DeleteYou've got great tatse in music....! Am reminded of Jabu Khanyile and Ringo...their music is international too and touches all age groups and cultures
ReplyDeleteI loved Youssou N'Dour from years back, then heard his voice on radio and said which album is this? Then shazamed it only to find out its an album,its a must have going to get it. Normally I would get albums and listen to all the tracks but how I missed this is being too busy in life. I need to catch up with my music(all good african music) including the one from my country South Africa. May our African Artists continue blessing us africans with our own, our food for the soul music. We connect to it even before we know the meaning of the songs. Listen to all live versions..... Ooh you will love it! even the London one.
ReplyDeletethanks for the translation! love this song.. !! it's on repeat ..
ReplyDeleteI Listened to this song a million times. Today I have an idea what the song is all about. . Long live youssour.
ReplyDeleteYoussou ndour is a legend i have met in my dreams for so many times because mostly his music is my lullaby. I can sing many of his song without knowing the meaning of a single word in the lyrics. Because this i have been learning French and kirikou is the song I love very much because i now know the meaning of what say.
ReplyDeleteThis is Zakaria from Ghana π¬π
I simply love Yousou Ndour I wish to meet him one day.
ReplyDeleteThank you, just thank you. This translation means so much to me because this music lives right at the bottom of my heart. Live from ghana π¬π
ReplyDelete