Kumbaya is pronounced kum-ba-yah and translates to ‘come by here’. It is an African-American spiritual song from the Gullah culture. The song is associated with West African slaves from the islands of Georgia and South Carolina. Though it was first recorded in 1926, people say the song could be older. There’s no exact information about when Kumbaya originated.
However, we know a lot of other information about the song and how it became famous over the years. It even has political usage. What’s more, there are at least four versions of the song. Read on to know more and access the first version of the lyrics.
Written Lyrics
Kumbaya, my Lord, kumbaya
Kumbaya, my Lord, kumbaya
Kumbaya, my Lord, kumbaya
Oh, Lord, kumbaya (oh, Lord, kumbaya)
Someone’s cryin’, Lord, kumbaya
Someone’s cryin’, Lord, kumbaya
Someone’s cryin’, Lord, kumbaya
Oh, Lord, kumbaya (oh, Lord, kumbaya)
Someone’s singin’, Lord, kumbaya
Someone’s singin’, Lord, kumbaya
Someone’s singin’, Lord, kumbaya
Oh, Lord, kumbaya (oh, Lord, kumbaya)
Kumbaya, my Lord, kumbaya
Kumbaya, my Lord, kumbaya
Kumbaya, my Lord, kumbaya
Oh, Lord, kumbaya (oh, Lord, kumbaya)
Printable Lyrics
Download the printable PDF with the lyrics of Kumbaya.
Photo Lyrics
Save the below image on your device.
Video Links
Watch little caterpillars singing the song:
Origins and History
The first recording of Kumbaya was done by Robert Winslow Gordon, an American academician and folklorist, in 1926. It became a campfire song in the 1950s and 60s. The Library's American Folklife Center has records for the two oldest versions of the song, both collected in 1926.
One version comes from Alliance, North Carolina, with lyrics but no music. The other version was recorded by Robert Winslow Gordon. He is the founder of the American Folklife Center. Gordon recorded three more versions of the song between 1926 and 1928. However, only one of those versions is still available.
The Society for the Preservation of Spirituals members collected another version in 1931 from the South Carolina coast. It was titled Come by Yuh and sung in the Gullah language. Despite not being dated, some say that this is the earliest version of Kumbaya.
However, Reverend Marvin V. Frey, a white Anglo-American songwriter, holds the copyrights to the song. He claimed that he wrote it in 1936, inspired by a prayer he heard. The first version of his song was printed in 1939.
According to Frey, the title changed from Come by Here to Kum Ba Ya sometime in 1946 when a missionary family mixed up the versions. In addition, he said that his song was translated into Luvale. But this doesn’t hold true because Come by Here doesn’t translate to Kum Ba Ya in Luvale but in the Creole language. And Gullah is the Creole language, which makes it clear that the song belonged to African-American people from the region.
FAQs
The song originally was a plea to God to save them from dire situations. It was used by the protestors of the civil rights movement in the 1960s. The song did not lose its essence as it was still a plea to get rid of oppression.
Starting with the 1990s, Kumbaya, in political usage, became an idiom to refer to someone who was ready/ eager for a compromise.
Leave a Reply