Why The Jamaican Dancehall Song "Murder She Wrote" Is Called "Mama Shiroo" & Similar Sounding Names In Kenya, East Africa

culturaroots, Nov 2, 2007
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Total statistics as of Feb.12, 2024 at 9:14 PM
Totl # of views - 67,657,504

Total # of comments - 14,181

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Edited by Azizi Powell

Latest update- Feb. 13, 2024

This is Part II of a two part pancocojams series about Chaka Demus & Pliers' 1992 Jamaican Dancehall song "Murder She Wrote". 

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.

This post also presents some information about the Kenyan song entitled "Mama Ciru".

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.

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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.

Pancocojams Editor's note: "Tom", "Dick", and "Harry" used to be very common nicknames for males in the English language. The phrase "Tom, Dick, and Harry" mean "any man" or "a number of men chosen at random."   

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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 my online reading, It appears that when people in some African nations, but particularly in Kenya, East Africa, sang the Jamaican Dancehall song "Murder She Wrote" it was quite common to sing the words "Mama Shiro" or similarly sounding words for the unfamiliar English words " murder she wrote". 

As noted above, folk processing may occur when people mishear a word or words and replace those words or unfamiliar word or words in a song or a rhyme with a word, words, or a sound that they are familiar with.

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. "

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THE KENYAN SONG "MAMA CIRU" ("MAMA CHIRU") 
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 I don't think that the tunes and tempos for those two songs are the same or even similar. 

Here's information about the song "Mama Ciru" from an article about the death of  Kenyan singer/composer Mûrîithi John Walker  https://debunk.media/muriithi-john-walker-an-obituary-in-seven-songs/ "Mûrîithi John Walker: An Obituary In Seven Songs by Ras Menge Sham Feb, 8, 2023
..."I had never heard this song before this performance. Kîrîro kîa Mama Cirû is a fun genre-bending song that invites the listener to let go and let loose. Come, let’s play. Let’s do it as we listen to Mama Cirû’s lamentations, is the song’s request. The question I had earlier comes back and presents itself differently: Does it matter to Mugithi musicians what the song they are singing is about?

Kîrîro kîa Mama Cirû samples Murder She Wrote by Chaka Demus and Pliers. When we were children we misheard ‘Murder She Wrote’ as ‘Mama Ciru’. I think this is what Mûrîithi John Walker wants to do with the song, to take us back to that place of invention, that place, like that of childhood, where a world can be created. The song, as different as it sounds with its punchy riffs and rolling bass guitar, still sounds like Mugithi, and still looks like the man on stage. There is the serious foundational Kikuyu pop sound, brown, loose, and ever present like his suit. And then there is the experimental stuff, the turtleneck and the silver chain that says I’m here to play, to mess around and find out."
-snip-  
Please share any memories or information that you have about this Kenyan song entitled "Mama Ciru" in the comment section below. Thanks!

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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]

These are only some of the comments in that discussion thread that refer to singing "Mama Shiro" instead of "Murder She Wrote". 

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.

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2. @alexwambua4492
"Mama Shiro😂"

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3. @kmuturi238
"😂😂Mimi nilikuwa nasikia "murder Shiro"
-snip-
"I was hearing "murder Shiro"

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4. hiroo... Mama shiroooo

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5. @alexsirzlopez3204
"Tuko ndani mama shiro tuko ndani"
-snip-
"We are in, mother shiro, we are in"

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6. @flostar3790
"😋😋"

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7. @jamesmtaita6120
"Anaitwa Chuck Odemus ni mjaluo wa Jamaica.."
-snip-
"His name is Chuck Odemus, he is from Jamaica"

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8. @ThatguyJoshman
"Tuko hapa nyuma ya tent😂"
-snip-
"We are here behind the tent😂"

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9. @petesnow2484
"I'm nigerian..... but lol. that was funny"

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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.

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11. @soniemaina
"Guilty as charged 😂😂😂😂"

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12. @everydayapps7225
"Wakenya hamkosangi kila mahali.🔥 Wooho 🔥
-snip-
"Kenyans are everywhere"

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13. @nukonuko1184
"We never knew she wrote 😂😂😂"

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14. @rusticpoet
"hahahahaha! I remember everyone going wild when that part came on! Murder shiro, murder shiro!

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15. @nickie2483
"😭😭😭😭😭"

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16. @aajabbinmagosh5509
"Madam shiro"

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17.@muufenty774
"Tuko wengi😅😅"
-snip-
"We are many".

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18. @gracesherry2964
"😂😂😂😂😂here i am"

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19. @kenyanswiss
"Matha shiro"

 
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20. @imaniimani3709
"🤣😅🤣😅🤣😅 lol wacha tu but  it flowed though"
-snip-
"wacha tu" = "just let it go"

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21. @alyfepoisonbunny2716
"I grew up with this song 🇹🇹🇹🇹🇹🇹🇹🇹"
-snip-
"TT"= Trinidad and Tobago (a Caribbean nation)

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22. @lucielucie9646
"I still do. Sounds better that way 😂😂😂"

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23. @TheEdnablue
"Tupo hapa 🤣"
-snip-
"We are here"

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24. @kendrickswife
"Straight uppppp!!!!!!!😂😂"

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25.@shiikamau403
"we r in which.tent😂😂"

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26.@bobkipkoech
"😂😂😂Great seeing my fellow Kenyans hapa"
-snip-
"hapa" = "here"

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27. @chaavinabbey9546
"Bruh, er'body sang it like that... 💥🔥 We Go"

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28.@carolinewambui9506
"Bado ni mama shiro😂😂
-snip-
"It still is mama shiro"

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27. @brian_mwangi
"mada shiro :-)"

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28. @adimwangi758
"Mother Shiro''

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29.@rebeccawambui7510
"Yeeey aki ukweli."
-snip-
"Yes, it's true".

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30. @bernardwanjohi7201
"🤣🤣🤣💀💀💀"

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31.@chrispinuswafula3029
"Hahahaha mother Shiroooo"

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32. @danniarscott3233
"That’s hilarious 😂"

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33.@lorrdolly
"And it remains murder shiro forever...... Takes me back to F2 jam sessions in the afternoon"

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34.@rossitahwayua9171
"Hata Leo ni mada shiroooo..lol"
-snip-
"Even today it is mada shirooo lol"

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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".
..
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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".

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37.@kendykellis8715
"Mother Shiro waaaah"
-snip-
"waaaah" a sound like you're laughing so hard you are crying.

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38.@felixkhale
"Nigerians too.😭😭😂😂"

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39.@ndimoowawangari9875
"Mother cirû"

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40. @mitcheallchikowore2447
"😂😂😂😂😂😂😂 I'm not from Kenya  also I used to sing
medha Shiroo 🇿🇼🇿🇼
-snip-
"Zw" =Zimbabwe

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41.@benabena1908
"The first reggae song that I knew."

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42. @drakeweru9505
"The accuracy 🤣🤣"

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43. @abietrue404
"lol"

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44. @husseinjuma3126
"Mayo shiro🤣🤣🤣"

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45.@loisemuhia8130
"Present"

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46. @shanzie593
"Lmao"

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47. @candicetshuma5954
"Even Zimbabweans 😂😂😂"

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48. @LoftusBlake
"pete snow  Nigerians understand Jamaican Patios right?"

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49. @faithwahomedon3158
"Alex Wambua  we umeharibu 😂😂"
-snip-
"we umeharibu" = "you have ruined it "

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2021

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50.@asiyyahmullen8777
"Merdashiro 🤣"

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51. @essiechege3710
"Manda shiro"

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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.

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53. @lucyreigns836
"😂😂😂😂😂😂 cheza chini  murder shiro"
"cheza chini"= "play down"

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54. @fatimaabdallah2408
"Murder shiro milele 😂"
-snip-
"Murder shiro forever"

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55.@TanDaGodDiva
"Hello muderrrrr shhhhhiiiroooo"

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56. @TanDaGodDiva
"Muderrrrr Shiiiroooo!!!!"

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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!"

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58.@lizk2643
"my little sis.. still call her murder shiro"

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59.@motherofanangel1143
"Lmaooooo"

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60.@Radiocity256
"ndio mama shiroo"
-snip-
"yes, mama shiroo"

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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"

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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."

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63. @manni2723
"Mother Shiro"

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64.@avrilhernandez4635
"Not Kenyan, but Caribbean 🇩🇴 and I grew singing the same thing 🤣"

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65.@Just_Tracy
"yesss nilifanya kitu kimoja i use to say "muder shiro"

-snip-
"yesss I did the same thing i use to say "muder shiro"

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66.@yumnathomas6591
"😭😭😭#epic!!!!😂😂😂🖤❤"

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67.@katusiimeevelyne5445, 2020
"Here in Uganda we still play this song in bars as though it was released yesterday 🤗😂😂"

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68. @Ankunda717, 2020
"Its an everyday song hahaha"

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69.@Youngxfatal93, 2020
"All day everyydayy 💯"

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70. @orikirizacharliebrown3912, 2020
"Me I could sing it like, mother shiro🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣 shame di me"

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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?"

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72, @orikirizacharliebrown3912, 2020

"Wally Mendoza  na  tell me"

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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."

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74. @orikirizacharliebrown3912, 2021
"Sarah Kukiriza  omg 🤔🤔😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂

😂😂😂😂😂😂"

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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"

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76. @orikirizacharliebrown3912,2021

"Sarah Kukiriza  your just funny🤣🤣🤣🤣"

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@sheriekasirye1321, 2021
"I remember in 90's our yrs this song would be played many times but no one would be
able to sing the real lyrics.

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@ivelocairfa9872, 2021
" Orikiriza Charlie Brown  🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🥰, we use to sing the same in Kenya. 
We had girls name shiro ( short form of wanjiru) and they would be pissed off. I remember those sweet days walai."

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This concludes Part II of this two part pancocojams series.

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