Nursery Rhymes›Toba, Toba, Oan Ki'ik


Toba, Toba, Oan Ki'ik
Key: A minor~58 BPMGuitar & Piano chordsOriginal · Timor-Leste
Toba, Toba, Oan Ki'ik Lyrics. An original lullaby inspired by Timor-Leste's Tetum-language cradle-song tradition, from one of the world's youngest nations, its mountains famous for coffee grown in the shade. Here you will find the lyrics, English translation, meaning, and chords.
Sing & play
Lyrics & chords
An original arrangement, with guitar & piano chords above each line.
Verse
Am E Am
Toba, toba, oan ki'ik,
Dm E Am
foho sira hodi malirin kalan.
C G
Kafe nia been hela iha rai,
Dm E Am
toba, toba, ha'u nia doben.
In English
What the words mean
“Sleep, sleep, little child, the mountains cool down at night. The coffee dreams in the earth, sleep, sleep, my dear one.”
Play it
Chords — guitar & piano
Am
Guitar
Piano
Dm
Guitar
Piano
E
Guitar
Piano
C
Guitar
Piano
G
Guitar
Piano
Good to know
What “Toba, Toba, Oan Ki'ik” Means
Timor-Leste, one of the world’s youngest countries (independent since 2002), is known for its mountainous terrain and shade-grown coffee, among the most prized in Southeast Asia. This original lullaby, in Tetum (the national language alongside Portuguese), borrows both, the cooling mountain nights and the coffee groves.
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