Gishora Lullaby
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Gishora Lullaby Lyrics. An original lullaby inspired by the royal drummers of Gishora, who have performed Burundi’s sacred karyenda drumming for centuries. The karyenda was historically considered a symbol of the Burundian monarchy itself, treated with a reverence bordering on sacred, and Gishora’s drummers perform standing and dancing around their instruments in a semicircle, a physically demanding style so distinctive that UNESCO added Burundian ritual dance drumming to its list of intangible cultural heritage in 2014. 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 “Gishora Lullaby” Means
“Nyina” means mother in Kirundi. The royal drummers of Gishora have performed Burundi’s sacred karyenda drumming for centuries, a tradition recognized by UNESCO as Intangible Cultural Heritage. This original lullaby draws on those royal-drum and hillside images of Burundian life, with “nyina” 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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