The Success Story of “Baba Yetu”

The Lord’s Prayer in Swahili is a fascinating topic and its reach into pop culture is just as interesting. The prayer itself is called “Baba Yetu.” It’s full text is:

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)

The text is a straightforward translation of the prayer, however, it differs from the English version in its word order. The line, “Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done on Earth as it is in Heaven,” is moved to the end of the prayer. This places an emphasis on the mission of Christians to strive towards the Kingdom of God on Earth.

The prayer has managed to reach the wider world in a strange way as well. “Baba Yetu” was set to an orchestral composition by Christopher Tin for the video game, Sid Meier’s Civilization IV. The game is a turn-based strategy game released on October 25, 2005. The goal of the game is to construct a civilization from scratch.

The fact that a setting of The Lord’s Prayer was chosen to be featured so prominently in the game is already something surprising, but its achievement in managing to capture the hearts of audiences in such a way as to gain significant acclaim from outside the video game world is another victory entirely.

Many video games have soundtracks that are extremely underappreciated. Some even say that they are surpassing many film soundtracks of today. Yet despite this underappreciation, “Baba Yetu” was awarded the Grammy for Best Arrangement, Instrumental, and Vocals in 2011. Since then, it has been covered by many choirs for concerts around the world.

It is not often that we can see the words of Jesus in the Gospel find a home in popular media in such a respectful way. It is less often that we see the efforts of those who have attempted such feats be rewarded so publicly and with such high praises. There must truly be something special about this piece that it has been able to jump every hurdle in its way to finally reach a place of honor.

If you have not heard it, I highly recommend you give it a listen. It is a very upbeat setting, but it also has times where it hums into a more silent, reflective atmosphere before coming back even stronger than before. If you would like to hear it live, it will also be performed on the Boston College campus on Saturday and Sunday, February 25 and 26 by the University Chorale of Boston College and the University Wind Ensemble. The Saturday show, which is the Chorale’s Winter Concert, will be in St. Ignatius Church at 7:00 p.m. The Sunday show, which is the Wind Ensemble’s concert titled “Baba Yetu,” will be at 300 Hammond Pond Parkway at 3:00 p.m. Both shows are free to the public.