Help, I need a song for Ethiopia

Mxyzptik

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Hi all, I haven’t posted in quite some time but am still here reading and learning from everyone.

I have the good fortune of travelling to Ethiopia in January to oversee some International development projects that I am involved with.

Naturally I will be travelling with my Ukulele. I am looking for song suggestions that I can learn in time to go. While I have my usual repertoire, I would like to learn a couple of new songs that might be appropriate, I’m thinking something current, rhythmic and happy.

Any ideas ??
 



He has a tutorial on it in the comments but it's in his unlisted list, so you have to dig through the comments.
 
Thanks, I better get to work. Gotta start exercising my pinky finger. It’s getting stronger, but not there yet. Any other song ideas out there ?
 
There are Western songs about Ethiopia. Joni Mitchell and the Red Hot Chili Peppers both have a song named after the country, and lots of reggae songs mention the country ('Take a Look' and 'Should I' by Burning Spear, 'Everybody wants to be' by Ziggy Marley, 'The Mission' by Stephen Marley). Then there are the Band Aid (Feed the World) and the USA for Africa (We are the World) songs aimed at the 1985 famine in Ethiopia.

But a lot of Ethiopians probably don't even know most of that music. It's a culturally diverse country, with Arab songsters, Christian liturgical song traditions, itinerent party musicians and its own 'Ethio-Jazz' scene that spills over to the rest of East Africa.

Good starting points are the extremely popular songs by Teddy Afro, LA-based Aster Aweke, Gigi (who also writes songs in English, she's married to American Bill Laswell) and Somalian rapper K'naan ('Wavin Flags' will get Ethiopians dancing and singing along).
 
Oh, and 'Dust my Broom' also mentions Ethiopia, of course, as some exotic place outside the Mississippi Delta...
 
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