Issa Lullaby
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Issa Lullaby Lyrics. An original lullaby inspired by the Issa Somali community of Djibouti City, a busy port where camel caravans have traded for centuries. Djibouti City sits at one of the world’s most strategic maritime chokepoints, guarding the narrow strait linking the Red Sea to the Gulf of Aden, and though many Issa families have settled in the city today, camel caravans still carry goods, including salt from nearby Lake Assal, along routes their ancestors have used for generations. 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 “Issa Lullaby” Means
“Hooyo” means mother in Somali, spoken by the Issa community of Djibouti City, a busy port where camel caravans have traded for centuries. This original lullaby draws on those harbor and camel-market images of Issa-Somali life in Djibouti, with “hooyo” 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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