Tonga Lullaby
▶ More lullabies on YouTube
Tonga Lullaby Lyrics. An original lullaby inspired by the Tonga people of Zimbabwe’s Zambezi Valley, a region shaped by the great Zambezi River and Lake Kariba. When the Kariba Dam was built in the 1950s, tens of thousands of Tonga people were forcibly relocated as their ancestral homeland disappeared beneath the rising waters of the new Lake Kariba, one of the largest forced resettlements in African colonial history, and in Tonga folklore, the river spirit Nyaminyami is said to have fought fiercely against the dam’s construction, angered by the disruption to the Zambezi he was believed to guard. 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 “Tonga Lullaby” Means
The Tonga people live along the Zambezi Valley in northern Zimbabwe, a region shaped by the great Zambezi River and, more recently, Lake Kariba. This original lullaby draws on the river and valley images central to Tonga life.
More songs to sing & play
Back to all our nursery rhymes and lullabies — each one with a different friend.
← All nursery rhymes Compare Lullaby Traditions 🌍Sources & rights
- 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.
Spotted a mistake or know a better source? Tell us. How we work · Get in touch