Baba Yetu

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This article is about the theme song of Civilization IV. For the Christian prayer, see Lord's Prayer.
"Baba Yetu"
2K Games
Composer(s)Christopher Tin
Audio sample
"Baba Yetu"

"Baba Yetu" (

Grammy Award
.

Composition

Being a fan of the Civilization series,

a capella group at Stanford that specialize in traditional African music, and wanted Tin to compose something similar for the theme. Tin took about a month to compose the track before recording it with Talisman for the game's track.[5]

Lyrics

The lyrics of "Baba Yetu" (which means "Our Father" in Swahili) are a translation of the Lord's Prayer.[6][7]

Swahili English
"Baba Yetu"

Baba yetu, yetu uliye
Mbinguni yetu, yetu amina!
Baba yetu yetu uliye
M Jina lako e litukuzwe.

Utupe leo chakula chetu
Tunachohitaji, utusamehe
Makosa yetu, hey!
Kama nasi tunavyowasamehe
Waliotukosea usitutie
Katika majaribu, lakini
Utuokoe, na yule, muovu e milele!

Ufalme wako ufike utakalo
Lifanyike duniani kama mbinguni.
(Amina)

Our Father, who art
in Heaven. Amen!
Our Father,
Hallowed be thy name.

Give us this day our daily bread,
Forgive us of
our trespasses,
As we forgive others
Who trespass against us
Lead us not into temptation, but
deliver us from the evil one forever.

Thy kingdom come, thy will be done
On Earth as it is in Heaven.
(Amen)

In 2007, "Baba Yetu" was released by

Alfred Music Publishing,[8] and it was rearranged by Tin for an SATB a cappella choir with optional percussion accompaniment in 2011.[9]
Other arrangements include SSATBB choir, TTBB choir, string orchestra, concert band, piano quintet, and piano/voice.

Reviews

"Baba Yetu" garnered much critical praise, with over 20 reviewers singling out the theme on platforms such as IGN and GameSpy.[10]

Awards and achievements

"Baba Yetu" was nominated for the 53rd Annual Grammy Awards in the Grammy Award for Best Arrangement, Instrumental and Vocals category, and on February 13, 2011, it was announced as the winner of its category, making it the first piece of music composed for a video game to be nominated for and win a Grammy Award.[11][12] At the 10th annual Independent Music Awards, "Baba Yetu" was the winner in the 'Song Used in Film/TV/Multimedia' and 'World Beat Song' categories.[13]

Notable performances

"Baba Yetu" is a frequent piece performed during

BYU Men's Choir[22] and Korean Acapella group Maytree which was praised by Tin himself.[23]

"Baba Yetu" is a popular contemporary choral piece, and has been sung in many competitions. Notably, the

13th season of America's Got Talent, earning guest judge Olivia Munn's golden buzzer, advancing the choir to the live shows.[24] On the final night of that same season on the show, the acrobatic dance group Zurcaroh performed a routine to the song.[25] In addition, the Stellenbosch University Choir won the Open, Youth, and Mixed choir categories for their performance of it at the 2018 Llangollen International Musical Eisteddfod.[26]

On the 6th of August 2019, "Baba Yetu" was played at the signing of the

RENAMO insurgency in Mozambique.[27]

References

  1. ^ "Looking Back... Civilization IV". CVG. July 6, 2006. Archived from the original on August 8, 2014. Retrieved December 31, 2012.
  2. ^ Nichols, Max (September 1, 2007). "Video Games Live". N-Sider. Archived from the original on August 9, 2014. Retrieved July 13, 2012.
  3. ^ "Talisman featured on Civilization 4". March 11, 2005. Archived from the original on August 8, 2014. Retrieved December 21, 2014.
  4. ^ Narciesse, Evan (June 26, 2011). "Video Games' First-Ever Grammy Winner Talks About 'Civilization' and Music". Time. Retrieved July 27, 2018.
  5. ^
    Gamasutra
    . Retrieved July 27, 2018.
  6. ^ "Baba Yetu". Christopher Tin. 2006-09-21. Retrieved 2021-08-19.
  7. ^ Baba Yetu Lyrics Archived 2021-08-19 at the Wayback Machine
  8. ^ "Baba Yetu". Alfred Music. Retrieved January 3, 2013.
  9. ^ "Baba Yetu - SATB". Alfred Music. Retrieved July 13, 2012.
  10. ^ Tin, Christopher. "Press". Archived from the original on January 16, 2013. Retrieved December 31, 2012.
  11. ^ Langshaw, Mark (December 5, 2010). "'Civ IV' theme nominated for Grammy". Digital Spy. Retrieved December 31, 2012.
  12. ^ Senior, Tom (February 14, 2011). "Civilization 4 wins grammy for Baba Yetu six years after release". PC Gamer. Retrieved December 31, 2012.
  13. ^ "Christopher Tin". The Independent Music Awards. Retrieved December 31, 2012.
  14. ^ Viva Vox Choir (Belgrade) - New Year's Concert of the 67th Session of the General Assembly. UN Web TV. January 14, 2013. Event occurs at 25:29. Retrieved January 15, 2013.
  15. ^ "Llangollen International Musical Eisteddfod 'UK's Most Multilingual Choir' to Mark International Festival's 70th Anniversary". international-eisteddfod.co.uk. 7 July 2017. Retrieved 2018-07-26.
  16. ^ Drury, Jonny (7 July 2017). "Calling All Nations Concert, Llangollen Eisteddfod - review". www.shropshirestar.com. Retrieved 2018-07-26.
  17. ^ "The Music of Christopher Tin at Cadogan Hal". Cadogan Hall. July 19, 2016. Archived from the original on August 31, 2017. Retrieved August 31, 2017.
  18. ^ "Calling All Nations Concert, Llangollen Eisteddfod - review". Shropshire Star. July 10, 2017. Retrieved August 31, 2017.
  19. ^ "It's All in the Playing at NSO's 'Video Games Live'". Washington Post. July 2, 2007. Retrieved August 31, 2017.
  20. ^ "US Navy Band Performs 'Baba Yetu' in Swahili and it's Astonishing". Nairobi News. January 20, 2016. Retrieved August 31, 2017.
  21. ^ "Malukah and Peter Hollens Release Gorgeous Civilization IV Cover Song". The Escapist. August 21, 2014. Archived from the original on August 31, 2017. Retrieved August 31, 2017.
  22. ^ "Men's Chorus and Alex Boyé find their perfect fit with 'Baba Yetu'". BYU College of Fine Arts and Communication. March 24, 2016. Archived from the original on August 31, 2017. Retrieved August 31, 2017.
  23. ^ Baba Yetu (acapella) #civilization, retrieved 2022-07-24
  24. ^ Staff, NBC4 (2018-07-25). "Angel City Chorale earns Olivia Munn's golden buzzer on America's Got Talent". WCMH. Retrieved 2018-07-25.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  25. ^ Henderson, Cydney (September 19, 2018). "'America's Got Talent' final performance recap: Who will win Season 13?". USA Today. Retrieved October 30, 2018.
  26. ^ "ctlive.info". ctlive.info. Archived from the original on 2018-08-01. Retrieved 2018-08-01.
  27. ^ "Mozambique peace-accord signing featured Civilization IV's theme song". VentureBeat. August 15, 2019. Retrieved December 2, 2019.
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