Sweet Mother
Prince Nico Mbarga - Topic, Nov 16, 2016
Provided to YouTube by TuneCore
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7QJe_R9MrFA
Click for information about Prince Nico Mbarga
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Edited by Azizi Powell
This pancocojams post showcases two YouTube examples of the 1970s Cameroonian and Nigerian song "Sweet Mother" (also known as "Sweet Mother I No Forget You".).
This post presents information about "Sweet Mother". The lyrics for this song are also included in this pancocojams post.
The Addendum to this post presents some information about West African Highlife music.
The content of this post is presented for historical, cultural, entertainment, and aesthetic purposes.
All copyrights remain with their owners.
Thanks to Prince Nico Mbarga, Tilda, and The
Rocafil Jazz International for their musical and cultural legacies. Thanks also to all those who are quoted in this post and thanks to the producers and publishers of these examples on YouTube.
-snip-
Happy Mother's Day!
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SHOWCASE VIDEO #2: TILDA - sweet mother i no go forget you
Rogers All Stars Records, Jul 17, 2014 Tilda and the Rocafill Jazz
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mkp3WnUu_WQ
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INFORMATION ABOUT THIS SONG
Source #1
From https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sweet_Mother
" "Sweet Mother" is a highlife song by the
Cameroonian and Nigerian singer Prince Nico Mbarga and his band Rocafil Jazz,
released in 1976.
The demo tape of "Sweet Mother" was turned down by EMI in 1974, citing the song's "childish appeal". "Sweet Mother" was later also rejected by Decca and Philips Records, before it was eventually released in December 1976, by Rogers All Stars, a Nigerian recording company based in Onitsha.[1][2]
The song is a celebration of motherhood, sung in Nigerian Pidgin English. The music is West African highlife, with Congolese soukous-style guitar finger-picking.[citation needed]
"Sweet Mother" went on to become one of the most
popular hits in Africa, selling between 3 and 13 million copies.[3][4]
Sometimes called "Africa's anthem", it was voted the continent's
favourite song by BBC readers and listeners in 2004, coming before Brenda
Fassie's "Vuli Ndlela", Fela Kuti's "Lady", Franco's
"Mario", and Miriam Makeba's version of "Malaika".[5]"
****
Source #2
From https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mkp3WnUu_WQ [from the summary of the Tilda video that is embedded in this pancocojams post.]
"Tilda Sweet Mother I no go forget you Formally sung by the
late Prince Nico Mbarga and Rocafill jazz ...enjoy Tilda as Rogers All Stars
Rejuvenated the sound
Tilda, a Cameroonian singer, and dancer who was one of the
original Rocafil Jazz band members released an updated version of the Sweet
Mother album on Rogers All Stars in 2010.
Some people felt the new version of the song was better than
the original, while others found it a bit different.
Originally Sweet Mother" is a highlife song by the
Cameroonian and Nigerian singer Prince Nico Mbarga and his band Rocafill Jazz.
Released in 1976, it remains one of the most popular songs in Africa. The music
is West African highlife, with Congolese Soukous-style guitar.
Sweet Mother" went on to become one of the most popular
hits in Africa, selling over 13 million copies...
This Music is a Copyright of Rogers All Stars Nig Ltd"...
****
LYRICS- SWEET MOTHER I NO FORGET YOU
(written by Prince Nico Mbarga)
[Intro]
[?]
Rocafil Jazz presenting you
Sweet Mother
[Chorus]
Sweet mother, I no go forget you
For the suffer wey you suffer for me yeah
Sweet mother, I no go forget you
For the suffer wey you suffer for me yeah
[Verse 1]
When I dey cry, my mother go carry me
She go say my pikin, wetin you dey cry yeah yeah
Stop stop, stop stop, stop stop
Make you no cry again ooh
When I wan' sleep, my mother go pet me
She go lie me well-well for bed oh
She cover me cloth, say make you sleep
Sleep sleep, my pikin ooh
When I dey hungry, my mother go run up and down
She dey find me something wey I go chop ooh
Sweet mother ah-ah
Sweet mother oh eh-oh
[Interlude]
Son of a sweet mother
When I dey sick, my mother go cry cry cry
She go say instead wey I go die make she die oh
She go beg God, God help me, God help me, my pikin ooh
If I no sleep, my mother no go sleep
If I no chop, my mother no go chop
She not dey tire aah, sweet mother
I no go forget the suffer wey you suffer for me yeah yeah
Sweet mother eh-eh
Sweet mother oh eh-eh
[Interlude]
Oh, sweet mother, I never forget you
For the suffer wey you suffer for me
And, if I should forget you
Therefore I forget my life, the air I breathe
Eh
[?]
And then on to you men, on earth, daring and forget their
mother
For if you forget your mother, you've lost your life
[Chorus]
Sweet mother, I no go forget you
For the suffer wey you suffer for me yeah
Sweet mother, I no go forget you
For the suffer wey you suffer for me yeah
[Verse 2]
When I dey cry, my mother go carry me
She go say my pikin, wetin you dey cry yeah yeah
Stop stop, stop stop, stop stop
Make you no cry again ooh
[Interlude]
Oh, my mother, oh sorry
When I wan' sleep, my mother go pet me
She go lie me well-well for bed oh
She cover me cloth, say make you sleep
Sleep sleep, my pikin ooh
When I dey hungry, my mother go run up and down
She dey find me something wey I go chop ooh
Sweet mother eh-eh-eh-eh
Sweet mother oh eh-eh
When I dey sick, my mother go cry cry cry
She go say instead wey I go die make she die oh
She go beg God, God help me, God help me, my pikin ooh
If I no sleep, my mother no go sleep
If I no chop, my mother no go chop
She not dey tire aah, sweet mother
I no go forget the suffer wey you suffer for me yeah yeah
Sweet mother eh-eh-ehh
Sweet mother oh eh-eh
[Interlude]
Oh, sweet mother
[?]
And I always keep that in mind
[?]
One time I [?]. She came for me. Tell me what I want to hear
[?]
I sick mother
[?]
My sweet mother, I no go forget you
My sweet mother will suffer for me
When I get cry
My mother go cry
She no know where to go do
You know well
No wantin' to worry my pikin
Ooh
You fit get another wife
You fit get another husband
But you fit get another mother (Mother)? No
[?]
[Verse 3]
When I get hungry, my mother go run up and down
She get find me something when I go chop ooh
Sweet mother, sweet mother yeah
[?]
When I get sick my mother go cry cry cry
She go say instead when I go die make she die
She go beg God, God help me, God help me, my pikin oo
If I no sleep, my mother no go sleep
If I no chop, my mother no go chop
She not get tire ahh
Sweet mother, I no go forget dey suffer wey you suffer for
me, yeah yeah
Sweet mother
Sweet mother
Sweet mother
Sweet mother
https://genius.com/Prince-nico-mbarga-and-rocafil-jazz-sweet-mother-lyrics
-snip-
"If I no chop, my mother no go chop" = (English translation)"If I don't eat, my mother doesn't eat"
-snip-
The lyrics for Tilda's version of "Sweet Mother" is given in the summary for the video that is embedded in this post.
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ADDENDUM- INFORMATION ABOUT WEST AFRICAN HIGHLIFE MUSIC
From https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Highlife
"Highlife is a Ghanaian music genre that originated along the
coastal cities of present-day Ghana in the 19th century, during its history as
a colony of the British and through its trade routes in coastal areas. It
encompasses multiple local fusions of African metre and western jazz
melodies.[1] It uses the melodic and main rhythmic structures of traditional
African music, but is typically played with Western instruments. Highlife is
characterized by jazzy horns and guitars which lead the band and its use of the
two-finger plucking guitar style that is typical of African music. Since the
late 2010s, particularly from 2018 onward, it has acquired an uptempo,
synth-driven sound.[2][3]
Highlife gained popularity and the genre spread throughout West African regions. Pioneers like Cardinal Rex Lawson, E.T. Mensah, Victor Uwaifo, all perfected this sound by infusing traditional Africa drums and western "Native Blues".[1] After the Second World War, its popularity came within the Igbo people of Nigeria, as they were influenced to form Igbo highlife which became their country's most popular music genre in the 1960s.[4]
Highlife has remained a part of popular music for Ghanaians
and their diaspora globally through its integration with religious institutions
and the positive effect it had on immigrating Ghanaians leaving their
homeland.[5] In 2025, it was recognized as intangible cultural heritage by
UNESCO.[6]"...
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