Tlholohelo

Mohapeloa wrote ‘Thlolohelo’ ((Loneliness) in the early 1930s, publishing it in Morija as song No. 21 of 32 in his first song collection, Meloli le Lithallere tsa Afrika. Loneliness of separation from their families was a common experience of Basotho migrant workers, who left Lesotho annually to work on the mines of the Witwatersrand – the ‘black mountains’. The translation below is by Mohapeloa, found among his correspondence with Yvonne Huskisson at the SABC (Johannesburg) from the mid-1960s. He also left a version of the Sesotho lyrics for this song, which differ slightly from the original sources and the 1965 manuscript in that the words ‘Ruthutha lithaba’ (Crush the mountains) in line 4 are missing. (The Bass at this point sings ‘Rrrruthutha’, the rolled ‘r’ suggesting loud noise.)