From my perspective there’s nothing so relaxing as hitting the dance floor to dance the stress away, which is what I found myself doing a while back in a club in Nairobi.
Truth be told I wasn’t having a fabulous time (music was meh) until the DJ started spinning All Night Long (All Night) by Lionel Ritchie. Having grown up with this song it was a trip down memory lane, however nothing in my memory prepared me for what unfolded.
It was a case of seeing something old with new eyes.
I figure I’ve listened to that tune at least a couple of hundred times over the years and yet I never knew it contained Swahili. How could that be?
It’s a case of listening for what you know and what’s on your radar and previous to living in Kenya, Swahili wasn’t on my radar.
Imagine my delight when the club went nuts and sang along in unison when the Swahili part kicked in. I simply stopped dancing and watched.
When I googled to find the English translation, I couldn’t find anything clear. Turns out the Swahili words are a mix of things and some of it is made up. Here are two examples:
“Karamu” is a Swahili word for a party along with a feast.
“Jambo” is a Swahili word for hello.
Regardless it was super fun to see something old through new eyes. Swahili or no, what’s flying under your radar, under your very nose that you’re missing?
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