Tlong, Thaka

‘Tlong, Thaka’ is a wedding song that celebrates the union of the happy couple with a combination of traditional wedding and church wedding, as is obvious from the imagery: so much dancing outdoors that you can see the footprints; a white dress for the bride, instruments playing (or maybe the church organ), and above all, everyone singing. Sotho wedding songs are sung especially for such occasions, as well as Christian hymns. This ‘Tlong, Thaka’ is not to be confused with another song of the same name that choirs in southern Africa sing, which is often attributed to Mohapeloa but in fact comes from an old collection of European and Sotho songs published in 1907, and once widely used in schools.