Dukha Lullaby
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Dukha Lullaby Lyrics. An original lullaby inspired by the Dukha (Tsaatan) people, a small reindeer-herding community in Mongolia’s remote northern taiga. The Dukha are among the very last reindeer-herding peoples left on Earth, today numbering only a few dozen families, and unlike many herding cultures elsewhere, their reindeer are prized above all for milk and transport rather than meat, central to a way of life now increasingly threatened by a shrinking taiga and warming climate. Here you will find the lyrics, meaning, and chords.
Lyrics & chords
An original arrangement, with guitar & piano chords above each line.
Verse
What the words mean
Chords — guitar & piano
What “Dukha Lullaby” Means
“Ava” means mother in Tuvan, a close relative of Dukhan, the language of the Dukha (Tsaatan) people, a small reindeer-herding community in Mongolia’s northern taiga forests. Dukha children grow up close to their reindeer herds, which provide milk, transport, and companionship in one of the most remote regions on Earth. This original lullaby draws on those forest and reindeer images of Dukha life, with “ava” used as a warm address rather than a literal translation.
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- An original lullaby by Relax In No Time, inspired by the musical traditions of its region. The words, melody, arrangement and recording are ours.
- Recording and arrangement: real instruments played by hand, no AI music, by Relax In No Time.
- Chords: written by us for guitar and piano.
- Translation: our own meaning-for-meaning translation, written for understanding. The sung words stay in the original language.
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