What a beautiful idea for a thread!
This is one I would love to share, with a bit of history behind it.
(I can't post a URL because I don't have 15 posts yet, so you'll have to copy and paste!)
youtube.com/watch?v=x91SJgmgf_8&t=1m33s
Deep Forest had a hit song "Sweet Lullaby" in 1993, a dance song sampling a recording from a woman named Afunakwa in the Solomon Islands singing a traditional song which became part of the Smithsonian Folkways archives. The link above is to an ambient remix of the choral track of Deep Forest's production.
A rorogwela is a lullaby in the Solomon Islands. This song is an ancient ancestral song, passed down over countless generations.
The word "inomae" refers to an orphaned child who has lost all of their family and is alone. This song is a lullaby sung to the child by another member of the village who is consoling their grief and helping them sleep.
It is a song of sweetest, unconditional love and compassion. That is heaven to me.
One version of the lyrics in the traditional language, which very few people speak now:
Sasi sasi o to aro aro
O angi si nau boroi amu
Ni ma oe e fasi korona
Dolali dasa na, lao dai afuimae
Afuta guau mauri, Afuta wela inomae
Sasi sasi ae o angisi nau
Boroi nima oe e fasi koro na
Dolali dasa na, lao dai afuimae
Afuta guau mauri, Afuta wela inomae
A rough translation:
Young brother, young brother you be quiet
Although you are crying to me
Your father has left us
He has gone to the place of the dead
Protect the head of the living, Protect the orphan child
Young brother, young brother hey? although you are crying to me
Your father has left us
He has gone to the place of the dead
Protect the head of the living, protect the orphan child
When the choir really kicks in a bit into this track, I get indescribable chills every single time.