Embu & Mbeere - Music and Dance Embu lament
	This lament is from a man who mourned the immorality he saw around him in his village. Taken from Daniel Nyaga's "Customs and Traditions of the Meru" (1997: East African Educational Publishers Ltd, PO Box 45314 Nairobi, Kenya). See the copyright notice for textual extracts.

Lament for the loss of traditions

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Come and mourn with me,
Men, and women of Embu, come and mourn with me!
For what was once a decent family,
Is now lost, lost never to return to life. It is lost in the modem world,
And dead with the confusion of modern life. Come with open eyes and weep for this great loss,
Help me cry for the calamity that has,
Befallen our decent people!

Traditional Music & Cultures of Kenya Copyright Jens Finke, 2000-2003