Tuku said it…

Oliver Mtukudzi…what can I even begin to say about one of the greatest musicians to come out of Zimbabwe dare I say the world. He sang songs that we could relate to. No matter the location, a Zimbabwean celebration is incomplete without a Tuku song being played. If the DJ “forgets” believe you me, the people will remind him.

I enjoy Tukus music. He sang about real life issues, issues that affect the community and nation at large. He had songs of lament, celebration and songs that were soaked in wisdom.

With the above in mind, I have decided to use Tukus songs as my guide for proverbs. Obviously the one sentence I will write will not do the entire song justice but well here goes nothing 🙂

“Rurimi kamwenje kutanga rudo, kamoto kamberevere kupisa musha” meaning “The tongue is a light to ignite love, a small flame that can burn a village“. This is a song from the Bvuma/Tolerance album and my most favorite song and he was just saying watch what you say, don’t just speak :). You can listen to Rurimi here

“Kusimbirira kurapa mhopo iripamusana iwe uneziso rinembonje” meaning “you are focusing on healing the mole on your back when you have a goose egg bump on your face.” This song is from the album Nhava. On this song he was just saying concentrate on the important things, first things first. If the intro alone doesn’t get you moving your body, then oh well I don’t know lol        You can listen to Handiro Dambudziko here 

“Hakuna gehena ririnani”  meaning “There is no better hell”.                      Quoting Tuku this is what he said about this song “In this song I’m saying you’re either in heaven or in hell … You’re either a good person or you’re not a good person. Either your footprint is a good footprint to follow, or it’s a dangerous one that should not be followed at all.”                                               You can listen to the song here  

“Dzimwe nguva unozviparira wega, fume njuga yadya mugwandi” meaning “sometimes you get yourself into trouble, then realise that you are not as clever as you think”.                                                                                                 This is also one of my favorites from the album Tsimba Itsoka. What the song is just saying is that when you don’t listen to advice, you the player can be beat at your own game and you have no-one to blame, Njuga means gambling and mugwandi means player.  You can listen to njuga here 

“Nhava izere mhepo” means  “The hunter’s bag is full of air”.                             In this song he was talking about how  the grass is not always greener on the other side. This song was released at a time when a lot of Zimbabweans were migrating in search of a better life. So the hunters went out thinking they would find a catch and came back with empty bags.  Don’t envy its not always as rosy as it seems. You can listen to izere mhepo here

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