Afro-Boricua Lullaby
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Afro-Boricua Lullaby Lyrics. An original lullaby inspired by the Afro-Boricua community of Loiza, on Puerto Rico’s northern coast, keepers of the centuries-old bomba music and dance tradition. In bomba, it’s the dancer, not the drummer, who typically leads — challenging the primo drummer to follow and match improvised movements in real time, a striking reversal of the usual roles in call-and-response music. Loiza itself is said to take its name from Yuiza, a Taino female cacique who once ruled the area. 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 “Afro-Boricua Lullaby” Means
The Afro-Boricua community of Loiza, on Puerto Rico’s northern coast, keeps alive bomba, a centuries-old music and dance tradition played on hand-carved barril drums. This original lullaby draws on those drum and coastal-village images of Afro-Boricua life.
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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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