Ayub ogada “kothbiro”
from: Album: En Mana Kuoyo, 1993
“Hah
Hahye hahye hahye hahye
Oh mother
If you can hear me
The rain is coming
Bring the cattle home
Oh mother
If you can hear me
The rain is coming
Bring the cattle home
Hah
Hahye hahye hahye hahye
Oh mother
If you can hear me
The rain is coming
Bring the cattle home
Oh mother
If you can hear me
The rain is coming
Bring the cattle home
Hah
Hahye hahye hahye hahye
Oh these children
What are you doing?
The rain is coming
Bring the cattle home
Oh these children
What are you doing?
The rain is coming
Bring the cattle home
Hah
Hahye hahye hahye hahye
”
Ayub Ogada (1956-2019) was a Kenyan singer whose featured instrument was the nyati (an eight-stringed lyre pictured below). I first heard Kothbiro on the series PBS series Africa. It has stayed with me for over thirty years. Enjoy!
-Alan West-
