[Pandaona rumbo rwuri kuimbwa seanthemu yeHIFA, ndati nditeerere. Rwandi zipa chaizvo.
Ndafunga kuti zvimwe zvingabatsirao mazwi acho akava muChiShona tianzwisise tose tose.
Hameno kuti anoimbika here [semunhu anehuyanga pakuimba] asi ndinofunga kuti pane vangapagonawo ipapo. Hameno kuti pane anogonawo here kupinzwa rwiyo rwacho muChiNdevere kana imwe mitauro yemuZimbabwe. Tino tora zvakawanda zvekune dzimwe nyika tichizviita zvedu asi tisinga simudzire zvedu zvakanaka. Rwumbo harusi rwedu zvedu asi kurwuimba mumitauro yekwedu zvinga simudzire kuimba nenzira dzakasiyana siyana.]
zvipingidzo zvingakura pakadii
ndino kurao kuzvipfuura
kure kupi kungaiswa kodzero dzangu
ndino mhanya kusvika ikoko
kana mukandi ramba
kana kuringa zvenyu kumwe
hazvinei, nekuti…….
..
[korasi]
chakasimba chiri mandiri
ndino ziva kuti ndino zvikwanisa
kunditadzira kwamunoita
mai funga kuti handichina madado
asi pane chakasimba chiri mandiri
..
pamuno rambisisa kunzwa izwi rangu
ndipo pandino nyaudzisa rumbo rwangu
hwandai seri kwemazidziro eJeriko
manyepo enyu achaondomoka pasi
mungandi nyima zvenyu nguva yangu pano
muchiparadza upfumi nehwangu
asi mwenje wangu uchapenya chaizvo
uchakupoforai maziso
nekuti……
..
[korasi]
chakasimba chiri mandiri
ndino ziva kuti ndino zvikwanisa
kunditadzira kwamunoita
mai funga kuti handichina madado
asi pane chakasimba chiri mandiri.
..
vakoma ne hanzvadzi
vakasimbira vachiti hatikodzere
isu tinoziva zvimwe
ingo varingai pameso muchiti:
ndichangozviita chete
ndichangozviita chete.
..
[korasi]
chakasimba chiri mandiri
ndino ziva kuti ndino zvikwanisa
kunditadzira kwamunoita
mai funga kuti handichina madado
asi pane chakasimba chiri mandiri
..
vakoma ne hanzvadzi
vakasimbira vachiti hatikodzere
isu tinoziva zvimwe
ingo varingai pameso muchiti:
ndichangozviita chete
ndichangozviita chete.
..
muturiki : Farai Madzimbamuto
korasi!!!
I love it! I love it! Nice one Farai.
Tonderai Moyos last blog post..Barack Obama awaits you, Morgan Tsvangirai
Thank you for your comment, Tonderai. I have no idea whether the Shona words work as the same song……but maybe there are some suggestions. Nkosi s’ikelela iAfrica started as one stanza and other people added and built it up.
Also not so very long ago there was a programme on the radio about the song ‘my way’ made famous by Frank Sinatra but written by Anker Bilk [?] or Paul Anker or someone like that. It is sung is French by the French, in Greek by the Greeks and so on, everyone sings it their way ! In the end it belongs to all the human culture even though it was written by one person in a far away place !
Shona words tend to be long which makes then a little cumbersome for small places, like parking a truck. I am sure it is something to do with the rules of word construction .. but not having any formal training in Shona grammar I hesitate to stake a claim. I note however that other Bantu languages have word compositions that give them words with much fewer syllables to play with. English words have fewer syllables.
Farai
you have just rekindled memories of the late Jonah Mutuma the only Zimbabwean singer I know who would do a heartfelt rendition of Eric Clapton’s “Lady in Red” in Shona. I am sure if he were here today, he would give your Shoan lyrics of this poignant song a go…
Thank you very much Ruzvidzo
Although I do not know whom you are referring to, Zimbabwe is blessed with good voices. Although only a few come through. Voices that have range and modulation that compels and pleads with the listener to stop to attention, that can sing without or with minimal accompaniment. Quick to my mind is Chioniso Maraire.
I recently watched the opera ‘Carmen’ sung in Xhosa on DVD [ uCarmen eKhayelitsha ] sung by Pauline Malefane. The Xhosa translation is not in the public domain [which is a shame] but I have had a chance to look at the text [libretto] in French and English. I could not imagine before opera [European or Asian – Chinese for example] sung in Shona but that is only just narrowing our horizons….like saying poetry in Shona cannot / should not be rhymed.
I hope one of the many musicians out there will find a way of making use of the translation [even if only to improve on it.]
Farai