"Senzeni Na?" (also spelled Senzenina, English: What Have We Done?)[1] is a South African anti‐apartheid folk song. It is a Xhosa struggle song, and is commonly sung at funerals, demonstrations and in churches.[1][2] Activist Duma Ndlovu compared the influence of "Senzeni Na?" to that of the American protest song, "We Shall Overcome."[3]
"Senzeni Na?" | |
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Song | |
Language | Xhosa |
Genre | Folk music |
The song has been around at least since the 1950s, and it reached the height of its popularity during the 1980s.[1] The origins of the song are unclear. Zimbabwean poet Albert Nyathi wrote a song by the same title, "Senzeni Na?" on the day that activist Chris Hani died.[4]
The song was among several songs of a more mournful nature that became popular among anti-apartheid activists in the 1960s. The song repeats the line "What have we done" a number of times, which musician Sibongile Khumalo has described as giving the listener a sense of desolation.[5]
There does not seem to be one universally agreed on set of lyrics. Below are two versions, the bottom one being the more aggressive of the two:
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While best known in South Africa, "Senzeni Na?" has gained some popularity overseas. The song was sung at the funeral scene in the anti‐apartheid film The Power of One[8] as well as during the opening credits of the film In My Country, and a recording of the song as sung at the funeral of Steve Biko can be heard at the end of the album version of "Biko" by Peter Gabriel.[9] The music was used for an adaptation of the hymn "When I Survey the Wondrous Cross" by Isaac Watts in the Mennonite Hymnal: A Worship Book.[10]
In Kim Stanley Robinson's Mars trilogy there is a city called Senzeni Na (founded by the Japanese). Part 7 of the book is also titled "Senzeni Na."[11]