One of the most popular traditional songs from Congo to sing with your choir…
Banaha is a Congolese children’s song. Across the world, people sing this song in their choir which is amazing. It’s a happy, exuberant song which some choirs use as a concert openner or even a concert finale.
But, there’s a little mystery about where the song came from.
Some people say that long ago, there were World War 2 soldiers who sang this song. They wore special hats and marched around. There’s a lady named Edna Stucky who grew up in Congo, and she remembers when she was a kid, she marched with the older kids while singing this song. It might be connected to those soldiers.
The “Banaha” song has words that are a bit puzzling. They come from a language called Kiluba, which is different from the language Edna Stucky knew. The words say something about a pineapple tree and pouring a banana into a red hat. But guess what? There’s no real pineapple trees in Congo. So no-one really knows what the song is about.
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LISTEN to the track demonstrating each of the lines and then layering them to make a round.
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