Kpelle Lullaby
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Kpelle Lullaby Lyrics. An original lullaby inspired by the Kpelle people, Liberia’s largest ethnic group, who farm rice in the central forests through cooperative communal labor. Kpelle rice farmers have long relied on kuu, a system of rotating communal labor where households take turns working together on each family’s fields in succession, a practice that turns the demanding work of clearing and planting into a shared, cooperative effort across the whole community. 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 “Kpelle Lullaby” Means
The Kpelle people, Liberia’s largest ethnic group, farm rice in the central forests through kuu, a tradition of cooperative communal labor among family and neighbors. This original lullaby draws on those rice-field and communal-work images of Kpelle 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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