culturaroots, Nov 2, 2007
-snip-
Total statistics as of Feb.12, 2024 at 9:14 PM
Totl # of views - 67,657,504
Total # of comments - 14,181
****
Edited by Azizi Powell
This post showcases the same YouTube video of Chaka Demus & Pleirs' 1992 Jamaican Dancehall song "Murder She Wrote".that was showcased in Part I of this series.
This post also provides a definition of the linguistic term "folk processing" as an explanation for why some Kenyans and some other Africans refer to the Jamaican Dancehall song "Murder She Wrote" as "Mama Shiro" or other similar titles.
Click https://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2024/02/chaka-demus-pliers-jamaican-dancehall.html for Part I of this pancocojams series. That post presents showcases a YouTube video of Chaka Demus & Pliers' 1992 Jamaican Dancehall song "Murder She Wrote". This post also presents a brief excerpt from this song's Wikipedia page.
That pancocojams post also provides a compilation of some comments from that video's discussion thread in which the commenters mention the name of their country or are replies to those comments. These comments were published in 2016-2024 (as of the date of the publication of this pancocojams post)*.
*After uploading numerous pages of comments from this video's discussion thread, my computer wouldn't upload any additional pages. It's likely that numerous comments that fit this sub-set of comments are featured in those pages that I wasn't able to upload.
The content of this post is presented for historical, socio-cultural, entertainment, and aesthetic purposes.
These comments document that many people throughout the world have been aware of and have had an appreciation for Chaka Demus & Pliers' Dancehall song "Murder She Wrote" since that record's was first released.
All copyrights remain with their owners.
Thanks to Chaka Demus & Pleirs for their musical legacy. Thanks to Sly & Robbie for creating the bam bam riddem (beat) of this song that was/is also used for some other Dancehall songs. Thanks to all those who are quoted in this post and thanks to the publishers of this video on YouTube.
****
PARTIAL LYRICS FOR "MURDER SHE WROTE" (Original Mix)
(as sung by Chaka Demus & Pleirs"
I know this little girl
Her name is maxine
Her beauty is
Like a bunch of rose
If I ever tell you 'bout maxine
You would a say
I don't know what I know
(But)
Murder she wrote
(Fi real fi real)
Murder she wrote
Murder she wrote
Murder she wrote
Watch ya now, it name
A pretty face and bad character
Dem the kinda livin
Can't hold Chaka (Follow me)
A pretty face
And bad character
Dem the kinda livin'
Can't hold Chaka
Seh gal yuh pretty
Yuh face it pretty
But yuh character dirty
Gal yuh just act too flirty flirty
Yuh run to Tom, Dick
An' also Harry
An when yuh find yuh mistake
Yuh talk bout yuh sorry
Sorry, sorry (Come now)"...
-snip-
Click https://genius.com/Chaka-demus-and-pliers-murder-she-wrote-original-mix-lyrics for the complete lyrics for this song.
****
A BRIEF EXPLANATION ABOUT THE FOLK PROCESS IN SONGS AND RHYMES
The definition of "folk processing" that I'm using in this post is "the unintentional changing of a word or words to a song because of mishearing or misremembering." Folk processing also occurs when an unfamiliar word or words is mistaken for or unintentionally replaced by a familiar word or words that sound the same or sound similarly. This replacement of unfamiliar words/words with familar words/words is done so that the song/rhyme makes sense (or makes more sense) to the person singing, chanting, or reading it.
-snip-
Based on the comments given below, it appears that singing the Jamaican Dancehall song "Murder She Wrote" but unintentionally replacing the words "murder she wrote" for "Mama Shiro" was quite common in Kenya and in some other African nations because those singers didn't speak English.
****
CLOSE SIMILARITY BETWEEN THE NAME "MAMA SHIROO" NAME FOR "MURDER SHE WROTE" AND THE KENYAN SONG "MAMA CIRU" ("MAMA CHIRU")
I concluded that some Kenyans and some other African people who didn't speak English may have replaced the the unfamiliar words "murder she wrote" with the the similarly sounding, familiar words "mama shiroo". (As some of the comments given below document, sometimes that Jamaican Dancehall song is referred to as "Murder Shiroo").
The word "shiroo" might not have any fixed meaning but just sound like a word or words in some African languages. However, in the last comment that I quoted from the discussion thread of the embedded "Murder She Wrote" video (found immediately below), a commenter wrote "we use to sing [Mama Shiroo] the same in Kenya. We had girls name shiro ( short form of wanjiru) and they would be pissed off. "
-end of quote-
My curiousity about the name "Mama Shiroo" in Kenya led me to some YouTube music videos of the Kikuyu song (or songs?) entitled "Mama Ciru" or "Mama Chiru". Here's a link to one of those videos: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0186CyHZsnI Mama Ciru John Ndichu, Jan 27, 2011. Some commenters in that video's discussion thread referred to that song as a classic and one commenter @michaelgichia2048 wrote in 2019 that "This song was such a hit that people in salaam clubs adopted the name mama chiru. Same with some businesses".
In 2023 another commenter @edwingikura shared this explanation for that song: "It's about a man who says that he loved his wife very much, but after 10 years or so she changed like a snake she even started seeing other men and on one or two occasions he was almost attacked by the men she was with in a bar.
He then says that he's friends told him that even if he
loves her more then money he has to move on."
-end of quote-
That storyline for "Mama Ciru" is quite similar to the lyrics for the Jamaican Dancehall song 'murder She Wrote", but the tunes and tempos for those two songs aren't the same. All of this to say, it's certainly possible that the name "Mama Shiroo" that was used to refer to the Jamaican song "Murder She Wrote" could have been a form of the name "Mama Ciru" and/or could have been familar to Kenyans and other people who were familiar with the "Mama Ciru" song.
-snip-
I'm interested in learning more about the song "Mama Ciru" in and of itself. Please share information about this song in the comment thread for this pancocojams post. Thanks!
****
SELECTED COMMENTS ABOUT THE USE OF THE WORDS "MAMA SHIRO" INSTEAD OF "MURDER SHE WROTE" IN THAT JAMAICAN DANCEHALL SONG
From https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-av7F1JBmj4 [This is the video that is embedded above]
2020
1.@kmuturi238
"Kenyans who grew up singing "Murder Shiro" and "Mama Shiro" let's gather here😂😂😂🇰🇪🇰🇪🇰🇪💙
-snip-
This comment had 1.6 likes and 110 replies (as of Feb. 11, 2024 at 10:02 PM EDT)
Unless otherwise noted, the non-English words given below are in Swahili. Their Swahili meaning is given below the comment (from Google translate from Swahili to English.) Additions and corrections are welcome.
**
Reply
2. @alexwambua4492
"Mama Shiro😂"
**
Reply
3. @kmuturi238
"😂😂Mimi nilikuwa nasikia
"murder Shiro"
-snip-
"I was hearing "murder Shiro"
**
Reply
4. hiroo... Mama shiroooo
**
Reply
5. @alexsirzlopez3204
"Tuko ndani mama shiro tuko ndani"
-snip-
**
Reply
6. @flostar3790
"😋😋"
**
Reply
7. @jamesmtaita6120
"Anaitwa Chuck Odemus ni mjaluo wa
Jamaica.."
-snip-
"His name is Chuck Odemus, he is from Jamaica"
**
Reply
8. @ThatguyJoshman
"Tuko hapa nyuma ya tent😂"
-snip-
"We are here behind the tent😂"
**
Reply
9. @petesnow2484
"I'm nigerian..... but lol. that was
funny"
**
Reply
10. @adilmohamed1784
"but I'm not the only one who grew up with this mother shiro umwakinHahaha mother shiro we thought it was a
mother from kiambu"
-snip-
"Kiambu" is a town in Kenya, East Africa.
11. @soniemaina
"Guilty as charged 😂😂😂😂"
**
Reply
12. @everydayapps7225
"Wakenya hamkosangi kila mahali.🔥
Wooho 🔥
-snip-
"Kenyans are everywhere"
**
Reply
13. @nukonuko1184
"We never knew she wrote 😂😂😂"
**
Reply
14. @rusticpoet
"hahahahaha! I remember everyone going wild when that part
came on! Murder shiro, murder shiro!
**
Reply
15. @nickie2483
"😭😭😭😭😭"
**
Reply
16. @aajabbinmagosh5509
"Madam shiro"
**
Reply
17.@muufenty774
"Tuko wengi😅😅"
-snip-
"We are many".
**
Reply
18. @gracesherry2964
"😂😂😂😂😂here
i am"
**
Reply
19. @kenyanswiss
"Matha shiro"
**
Reply
20.
"🤣😅🤣😅🤣😅
lol wacha tu but it flowed though"
-snip-
"wacha tu" = "just let it go"
**
Reply
21. @alyfepoisonbunny2716
"I grew up with this song 🇹🇹🇹🇹🇹🇹🇹🇹"
-snip-
"TT"= Trinidad and Tobago (a Caribbean nation)
Reply
22.
"I still do. Sounds better that way 😂😂😂"
**
Reply
23. @TheEdnablue
"Tupo hapa 🤣"
-snip-
"We are here"
**
Reply
24. @kendrickswife
"Straight uppppp!!!!!!!😂😂"
**
Reply
25.@shiikamau403
"we r in which.tent😂😂"
**
Reply
26.@bobkipkoech
"😂😂😂Great
seeing my fellow Kenyans hapa"
-snip-
"hapa" = "here"
**
Reply
27. @chaavinabbey9546
"Bruh, er'body sang it like that... 💥🔥
We Go"
**
Reply
28.@carolinewambui9506
"Bado ni mama shiro😂😂
-snip-
"It still is mama shiro"
**
Reply
27. @brian_mwangi
"mada shiro :-)"
**
Reply
28. @adimwangi758
"Mother Shiro''
Reply
29.
"Yeeey aki ukweli."
-snip-
"Yes, it's true".
**
Reply
30. @bernardwanjohi7201
"🤣🤣🤣💀💀💀"
**
Reply
31.@chrispinuswafula3029
"Hahahaha mother Shiroooo"
**
Reply
32. @danniarscott3233
"That’s hilarious 😂"
**
Reply
33.@lorrdolly
"And it remains murder shiro forever...... Takes me back to
F2 jam sessions in the afternoon"
**
Reply
34.@rossitahwayua9171
"Hata Leo ni mada shiroooo..lol"
-snip-
"Even today it is mada shirooo lol"
**
Reply
35. @mosebrownie4013
"I think Jamaican song rock in kenya than Jamaica yenyewe😁
mother shiroo
=snip-
"Yenyewe" = itself
-snip-
My interpretation of that comment (as an African American who doesn't speak Swahili) is "I think the Kenyan version with the words "Mother Shiroo" rocks (is better) than the Jamaican song with the words "Murder she wrote".
..
**
Reply
36. @nancywanjiru820
"Hehehehhe gosh tumetoka mbali, I rem my uncle told me it's
murder shiro"
-snip-
"tumetoka mbali" = we have come a long way.
"rem" = a non-standard short form of the English word "remember".
Reply
37.
"Mother Shiro waaaah"
-snip-
"waaaah" a sound like you're laughing so hard you are crying.
**
Reply
38.@felixkhale
"Nigerians too.😭😭😂😂"
**
Reply
39.@ndimoowawangari9875
"Mother cirû"
**
Reply
40. @mitcheallchikowore2447
"😂😂😂😂😂😂😂
I'm not from Kenya also I used to sing
medha Shiroo 🇿🇼🇿🇼
-snip-
"Zw" =Zimbabwe
**
Reply
41.@benabena1908
"The first reggae song that I knew."
**
Reply
42. @drakeweru9505
"The accuracy 🤣🤣"
**
Reply
43. @abietrue404
"lol"
**
Reply
44. @husseinjuma3126
"Mayo shiro🤣🤣🤣"
**
Reply
45.@loisemuhia8130
"Present"
**
Reply
46. @shanzie593
"Lmao"
**
Reply
47. @candicetshuma5954
"Even Zimbabweans 😂😂😂"
**
Reply
48. @LoftusBlake
"pete snow Nigerians understand Jamaican Patios right?"
**
Reply
49. @faithwahomedon3158
"Alex Wambua we umeharibu 😂😂"
-snip-
"we umeharibu" = "you have ruined it "
**
2021
Reply
50.@asiyyahmullen8777
"Merdashiro 🤣"
Reply
51.
"Manda shiro"
**
Reply
52. @aminamakokha2761
"Leo ushamba umetoka after 40 yrs 😂😂😂😂nitaambia
nini watu"
-snip-
"Today the farm has come out after 40 yrs 😂😂😂😂 what am I going to tell people"
-snip-
I'm not sure what this comment means, but I think the commenter is asking how does he tell people in his village that what they think this song means isn't what it really means.
**
Reply
53. @lucyreigns836
"😂😂😂😂😂😂
cheza chini murder shiro"
"cheza chini"= "play down"
**
Reply
54. @fatimaabdallah2408
"Murder shiro milele 😂"
-snip-
"Murder shiro forever"
**
Reply
55.@TanDaGodDiva
"Hello muderrrrr shhhhhiiiroooo"
**
Reply
56. @TanDaGodDiva
"Muderrrrr Shiiiroooo!!!!"
**
Reply
57.@saradubai6974
"Yeah I grew up knowing it was "mother shiro" I
didn't know it was,
"murder she wrote"😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂so
funny n fool of me!"
**
Reply
58.@lizk2643
"my little sis.. still call her murder shiro"
**
Reply
59.@motherofanangel1143
"Lmaooooo"
**
Reply
60.@Radiocity256
"ndio mama shiroo"
-snip-
"yes, mama shiroo"
**
Reply
61.@reecemwongeli2698
"🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣kumbe
si mimi pekee nilikua na hii umbwakin ya mother shiro"
-snip-
"but I'm not the only one who grew up with this mother shiro umwakin"
**
Reply
62. @kylielinae
"It's still "mother Shiro" and "no woman no
cry" not "no woman don't cry" Wakenya tuko everywhere"
-snip-
"Wakenya tuko everywhere" = "We are Kenyans everywhere."
**
Reply
63. @manni2723
"Mother Shiro"
**
Reply
64.@avrilhernandez4635
"Not Kenyan, but Caribbean 🇩🇴 and I grew
singing the same thing 🤣"
**
Reply
65.@Just_Tracy
"yesss nilifanya kitu kimoja i use to say "muder
shiro"
-snip-
"yesss
Reply
66.
"😭😭😭#epic!!!!😂😂😂🖤❤"
67.@katusiimeevelyne5445, 2020
"Here in Uganda we still play this song in bars as
though it was released yesterday 🤗😂😂"
**
Reply
68. @Ankunda717, 2020
"Its an everyday song hahaha"
**
Reply
69.@Youngxfatal93, 2020
"All day everyydayy 💯"
Reply
70.
"Me I could sing it like, mother shiro🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
shame di me"
**
Reply
71. @WallySheccid, 2020
"Du yu nou de way mai brudah?"
-snip-
My guess is that this question "Do you know the way my
brother?" means "Do you know the correct words for this song, my brother?"
**
Reply
72, @orikirizacharliebrown3912, 2020
"Wally Mendoza
na tell me"
**
Reply
73. @sarahkukiriza6174, 2021
"@Orikiriza Charlie Brown ur not alone..me I shouted imara shiro in 90s until when
I got the lyrics in a
newspaper. I nearly fainted laughing."
Reply
74. @orikirizacharliebrown3912, 2021
"Sarah Kukiriza
omg 🤔🤔😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂
😂😂😂😂😂😂"
**
Reply
75. @sarahkukiriza6174, 2021
"Orikiriza Charlie Brown I even told
the story to my kids .even if u rewind it 10 tyms
u would still hear the
same lyrics and fits right. Ooh those
days are good to remember"
**
Reply
76. @orikirizacharliebrown3912,2021
"Sarah Kukiriza
your just funny🤣🤣🤣🤣"
Reply
@sheriekasirye1321, 2021
"
able to sing the real lyrics.
Reply
@ivelocairfa9872, 2021
"
We had
girls name shiro ( short form of wanjiru) and they would be pissed off. I
remember those sweet days walai."
****
This concludes Part II of this two part pancocojams series.
Thanks for visiting pancocojams.
Visitor comments are welcome.