Doing Chumburung songs—A taxonomy of styles Gillian Hansford ...

Example 12
Beṟa aŋɔŋgyi,
Ɔ maa lɛɛ ba.
Ɔkye̱e̱ yii mo̱ ̀ kuri-ana ase̱,
Ɔ maa lɛɛ ba.
Care for the orphans,
She won’t come again.
The woman has gone to her husband’s people,
She won’t come again.
Ɔ maa lɛɛ ba (x2)
Ɔkye̱e̱, ɔ maa lɛɛ ba.
O yii pɛɛɛ.
O yii eee.
She won’t come again.
The woman won’t come again.
She’s completely gone.
She’s gone.
Emotive words occur again, with “orphan” extending its meaning to anyone
related to the dead person. Phrases like “She won’t come again” and, in another
song, “vultures will come and eat me” indicate mourning.
Nle iliŋ “mourning songs” are sung by just a few people, always women, with no
music or dancing. The themes are necessarily of loss. I am told that there are
also “secret songs” which are sung in the room where the corpse is lying at
midnight. They will not be sung openly. Bells will be beaten softly as
accompaniment. After the body has been buried, and people have had a chance
to eat a meal, there will be palogo dancing.
5. Sorrow songs
The second type of song sung at funerals to nkywii si music is aye̱ŋ iliŋ “sorrow
songs”. Each line gradually descends in pitch as it reaches the end and is drawn
out. This produces what to me is a very mournful sound. (How much of this is
due to the alcohol that has just been imbibed is hard to say.) I was told “You
sing nkywii si at funerals or, if a stranger comes, you can insult each other with
them. When the funeral is over, noone worries about the insults any more”. This
usage, I have unfortunately not heard, although this would fit into criticism, one
of Okpewho’s five categories. Some of them are said to contain a proverb, as
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