It’s a rarity to watch a video by a Ugandan artiste and figure out the meaning of the song, by purely observing the storyline. Yet Soka Lami is a video of its own. It doesn’t require one to know the Zulu language to discern all that Naava Grey is singing about. The bubbly Naava appears free-spirited in this video, dancing and swaying a signature African wax print umbrella.
The choice of location is deeply telling of the attention to detail that goes into the making of this video. The tropical grasslands signify a kind of life that is harboured by young lovers. This rolling grassland dotted with trees evokes emotions of an honest pure love that Naava Grey sings about.
This is a video of two lovers full of hope, trying to find each other in an uncertain wild. It plays out like a game, with Naava giving those indicators of interest, which are symbolised by hints of red flowers in this video. Naava goes on placing these red-marks at various points in the wild, as she smells them and continues on her curious journey to find her lover.
As the fall of day comes around, Naava begins to grow weary since her lover is nowhere in sight. A great calm descends on her when this lover finally appears. And it marks the peaking moment of this video, as he goes ahead to adorn her with a necklace and let her check out her new look in a mirror.
Even though this video is two months old, shot in 2014, it’s very novel even if one were to watch it a million times. You will always notice certain details that skip your eyes when you first watch it. Great costume choice, great narration, must watch.
