The Changing Social Function of Folksongs in Yoruba
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Transcript of The Changing Social Function of Folksongs in Yoruba
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The Changing Social Function of Folksongs in
Nigeria
Adenle, Adepeju Temitope
Aug, 2011
Introduction
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The cliché that change 'the act to become or make
different, substitute or replace, to pass from one state to
another' is the only constant thing in life is an apt
description that best depict the shape shifting stance
folksong has assumed not only in the black nation but
over the world. This paper sets out to argue that the
social functions of folksongs has not changed but rather
it has undergone a process of modification as a result of
colonization and westernization of culture, ideals and
education. This aspect of modification has assisted
folksongs to be made available to divergent countries
over the world and assisting it to gain a wider coverage.
Functionalism and mass popular culture therefore forms
the theoretical frame of a dissection and understanding
of the changing social functions of folksongs.
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Gbadegesin (1997) observed that, “oral tradition is an
indispensable source of history, indicator of deep
thought, and transmitter of cultural and religious values.
It is through the ocean of the oral tradition of a non-
literate culture that we explore their historical being and
their contribution to the philosophic world.” This not
only goes to reflect the importance that can and should
be attached to oral literature, it also brings to awareness
the overwhelming need to preserve and transmit cultural
aesthetics. Oral forms emanates in folk tale, myths,
epics, legends, lyrics, songs, dirge, chants, invocations
and many others. Folk song is an aspect of the oral
traditions of any nations which is used to address topics
or issues that concern the natives of a community. The
use of folksong is peculiar to the community it originates
from but one common feature is that it often borders on
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social and political issues of that land. Folk-song has
been associated with rural communities and lower socio-
economic classes, but in the 20th century the pattern of
dissemination changed, with greater emphasis on written
transmission and especially on recordings. At the same
time many of the original functions of folk-song have
been taken over by popular music, another form of
‘vernacular’ music, although one often involving
professional musicians and wide dissemination through
the mass media.
In pre-literate society before the advent of European,
Africans had always transferred their wealth of
knowledge, skills, tradition and religious belief to
generations after them through oral means. This for them
has served the purpose which the prevalent society they
lived in was established for and so, fables, stories,
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folksongs, myth and legends were kept alive in the
minds of the younger generation through telling and
rote-learning to enrich the social and moral life of the
people and ensuring the continuity of their culture. The
social roles which folk songs played was not limited to
this, it also serves as an effective means of expressing
and inculcating the ideals, morals and values of a
society. I strongly remember as a growing up child that
my grand-mother had a huge influence in shaping my
outlook about life through the countless stories she told
me and my brothers. Some I remember, most I don't. A
particular incidence occurred to me when researching for
this paper about when I was asked by my Yoruba teacher
to go back home and get a song in my dialect for
presentation. My grandma was of immense help, though
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she had taught me a song that would put me in trouble
with my teacher. The song goes;
“Ta lo pe teacher si di Oro (2ce)
Abu soko labulabu (2ce)
Ta lo pe teacher si di Oro.”
Interpretation
Who has called the teacher to this ritual?
With his oversized trouser
Who has called the teacher to the ritual?
Types of Folk Songs
Panegyric Songs: Songs expressing admiration for the
achievement of others such as the praise singers at
celebrations from weddings and title-taking to burials
and at festivals performs. Examples are Ekun Iyawo
(Bride Chant), Oriki (Praise song) etc.
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Homiletic Songs: Songs that tend to preach or embody
the religious and moral philosophies of a group of
people" They are to teach, admonish, or persuade those
who are the subject of the songs;" or they are song as
expressions of faith.
Play Songs: Although these songs are for play they also
help in fostering unity and solidarity amongst the
community it is used. These play songs not only serve as
entertainment but also are educational and instructive.
"The rain is falling the sun is shining
Alone sits Nnadi cooking and eating."
(Things Fall Apart)
Work Songs
While the play songs are sung while people play, work
songs are sung while people work. At farms, market
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places, As with the play songs, behind the entertainment
of the work songs is the serious voice of the narrator
making subtle comments on incidents, events, episodes,
and certain situations in the novel; the songs foreshadow,
recapitulate, and interweave events in the novel just as
the other verbal types do (199). See Ch. 20 and analyze
the work song's purpose and effect.
In Yoruba:
Ise loogun ise
Ise loogun ise
Mura sise ore mi
Bi a ko ba ri eni feyinti
Bi ole laari
Bi a ko ba ri eni gbekele
A n tera mose eni
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Mama re le l’owo l’owo
Ki baba re lesin lekan
Ti o ba gboju le won
O te tan ni mo so fun o
Agbojulogun f’ira re fosi ta
Iya mbe f’omo ti ko gbon
Ekun mbe f’omo t’o n sa kiri
Ma fowuro sere ore mi
Ise la fi ndi eni giga.
Bridal Songs
During traditional weddings, the family of the groom
and bride both have representatives that would usher in
the bride and groom with songs. Not only this, songs
sang are meant to entertain and praise the two families.
The praise song of each of the family is sang and this
would create the atmosphere for the ceremony. These
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representatives also have songs that help in showcasing
their skills and this most often earn them a few coins.
The bride is not left out as she also is meant to perform
her bridal farewell song “Ekun Iyawo” on the eve of her
wedding. “Ekun Iyawo” is very important because of the
archetypal nature. It also allows the bride to express her
mixed feelings about her permanent departure from her
generic setting and place of birth.
Iyawo abi beji
Toluwa bafe
Iyawo abi beji
Toluwa bafe
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Theoretical Framework
Functionalism as a theory states that every form of oral
tradition fulfils a variety of functions such as promotion
and enhancement of knowledge and awareness of good
and immoral actions. It hinges its argument on the fact
that there must be a reason why a song is been sang, for
whom and under what circumstance is the song sang.
Functionalism reveals the relevance of every folk song in
a community and this function could range from
physical, spiritual, festive, and philosophical to
communal reasons. In other words for example, the
social functions in which
Mass Popular Culture theory is one that hinges on the
general cultural ideological perceptions of a community
in their speech, habits, dressing, songs, drama, etc that
has public appeal. It is often regarded as the ways of the
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local people in a community or referred to as inferior
culture because of its popularity. The various forms of
activities found here speak to the local audience and it
has been a practice that is not recent. At all point in time,
there have always been particular songs or stories that
are found common within the public. The popularity of
each folksong is achieved as a result of the acceptance
level of the song and the relevance it has to the audience
(masses). Often time these songs are simple and straight
forward with day to day themes like work, play,
ceremonies etc. For it to be accepted the people must
also be able to identify with these songs and relate it to
their personal and day to day activities.
Both functionalism and mass popular theory is relevant
for a better understanding of folk songs because folk
songs serves numerous purposes which the audience
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relates with and which also has mass appeal. These two
elements, relevance and appeal make the framework
highly in tune in the understanding of the changing
social function of folk songs
Social function of Folksongs
1 Aiding in the education of the youth, when
stories are told to teach the young moral and life
coping skills, there is always a song
accompaniment to help drive home the point. The
songs are often remembered easily. An example
of this is the story of Oluronbi.
In a certain village no children had been born for many
years, and the people were greatly distressed. At last all
the women of the village went together into the forest, to
the magic tree, the Iroko, and implored the spirit of the
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tree to help them. The Iroko-man asked what gifts they
would bring if he consented to help them, and the
women eagerly promised him corn, yams, fruit, goats,
and sheep; but Oluronbi, the young wife of a wood-
carver, promised to bring her first child. In due course
children came to the village, and the most beautiful of all
the children was the one born to Oluronbi. She and her
husband so greatly loved their child that they could not
consent to give it up to the Iroko-man. The other women
took their promised gifts of corn, yams, fruit, goats, and
sheep; but Oluronbi took nothing to propitiate the tree.
Alas! One day as Oluronbi passed through the forest, the
Iroko-man seized her and changed her into a small
brown bird, which sat on the branches of the tree and
plaintively sang:
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Oni kaluku jeje ewure
Ewure ewure
Oni kaluku jeje aguntan
Aguntan jobolo
Oluronbi jeje omo re
Omo re apon bi epo
Oluronbi o
Jan jan iroko jan jan
Translates to:
One promised a sheep,
One promised a goat,
One promised fruit,
But Oluronbi promised her child. �
When the wood-carver heard the birds song, he realized
what had happened, and tried to find some means of
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regaining his wife. After thinking for many days, he
began to carve a large wooden doll, like a real child in
size and appearance, and with a small gold chain round
its neck. Covering it with a beautiful native cloth, he laid
it at the foot of the tree. The Iroko-man thought that this
was Oluronbis’ child, so he transformed the little bird
once more into a woman and snatched up the child into
the branches.
2 Promoting a group's feeling of solidarity, this is
achieved through the inculcation of societal
ideals and norms. This norm helps foster a sense
of belonging in terms of friendship, intimacy,
togetherness and so on.
3 Providing socially sanctioned ways for
individuals to act superior to or censure other
individuals
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4 Serving as a vehicle for social protest and
political propagandas
5 Offering an enjoyable escape from reality and
converting dull work into play.
6 Creating a sense of identity for a community.
7 Warnings, advice, praise, recommendation,
weddings, funerals, court yards, in introduction
of guests, naming ceremony, for exultations.
For example:
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Oriki (Praise song) Ajayi
Àjàyí, ògídíolú,
Òlóló, oníkànga àjípọn,
Òbomi òṣùùrù wẹdà.
Ẹkùn baba ọdẹ
Ẹkùn pakọ<rọ< wolẹ<.
Ẹni Àjàyí gbà gbà gbà,
Ti ò le gbà tan, Igúnnugún ní í gba
oluwarẹ.
Àjàyí ti nwẹ lódò,
Ti gbogbo ọmọge nyọwọ ọṣẹ;
Dáramódù ọṣẹ temi ni gbà
Àjàyí a sin gbẹwà
Àjàyí lẹ@rin òjé, arówóṣoge.
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A lullaby from a mother to her child
Ọmọ mi, akúrú bentekúbe
Ọmọ mi ò, akúrú bentekúbe
Ọmọ mi ò, akúrú bentekúbé
Bí wéè kú o
Màá rẹja fún ọ
Bí wéè kú o
Máà rẹ<gbà okùn
Ẹ<gbà okùn ní í yẹmọ lọ@rùn.
Ẹrú mo rà lá pọn ọ@ ká o
Akúrú bentekúbe.
All these functions were carried out through an oral
literary culture mainly in the language of the immediate
environment the song is been sang: Yoruba.
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Changing Social Functions of Folksongs
Westernization has put a restriction into the use of
folksongs in many African societies, and this has
brought about modification in its usage. In Nigeria, very
few communities still have an arena where the learning
of these songs takes place except at festivals where the
practitioners of these songs come out for performance
and they are mostly paid.
Modification therefore arises in these forms:
1 Where there was an arena we now have in
schools where pupils are encouraged to join a
traditional group and they are taught these songs
for the sake of performance to show the dexterity
of their school. These over the years have helped
the transmission of these songs from fading out.
Also these children never forget what they
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partook off and this just further buttress the
adage of 'what I see I know, what I hear I forget
and what I do I remember' I did and my brothers
and I still enact some of these dance steps and
their songs.
2. Documentation: here most of these songs in
some community have been researched and put
in print for continuous transmission giving the
world the opportunity to appreciate the diversity
of culture. The documentation of these songs can
be found in various ranging from comics,
textbooks, manual, seminar papers, theatrical
performances, and television/radio stations and
so on. This gives the songs a wider coverage and
making it readily and easily available to the
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masses who serve as the preserver of this
tradition.
3. The transference of these folksongs into the
religious folds where they remove the part that
reflects their past idols and now replace them
with their new Gods.
4 Notable African novelist has also tried in their
way to infuse these songs into their writing
writers like Soyinka, Ezeigbo etc. In all of her
works, Ezeigbo uses these medium to give
aesthetic appeal to her writings. In Things Fall
Apart Achebe uses folk songs to showcase his
Igbo origin, in a song Ikemefuna sang
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Eze elina, elina!
Sala
Eze ilikwa ya
lkwaba akwa oligholi
Ebe Danda nechi eze
Ebe Uzuzu nete egwu
Sala”
In Trafficked by Akachi Adimora Ezeigbo the use of
folksong once more helps in reinforcing the cultural
heritage of the author and her Igbo origins. An example
of this is
“Iwe na-ewe ayi
O, iwe na-ewe ayi
Ochu okuko new oso
Elias mekporo ala”
[We are angry
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O, we are very angry
A fall awaits the one who pursues a hen
The hen will escape unhurt
Elias committed an abomination].”
(Trafficked: 219)
5 Entertainment (Nollywood) in movies and at the
theatre these songs cannot but be used to drive
home the point that we are rich in culture and that
our practices should be appreciated and
commended. This has given the use of these
songs a wider coverage and relevance as the
songs are made readily available in different
versions such as mp3, mp4, CDs, IPods, internet,
radio stations and so on.
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6 Notable nigerian musician like Sunny Ade,
Ebenezer Obey, Late Sunny Okposo, Late Orits
Wiliki, Nice, Dagrin, through the infusion of real
life issues to teach, inform, and entertain.
Ebenezer obey song:
Eni ro wo e loju ala tondunu
Eni ko te pa mose nitori ebi
Oro mi lowo oluwa lowa
Ai month asiko lon damu eda o ...
7 Propanganda in political arenas
This is a song of protest during the 2011 election
in Lagos Nigeria by People’s Democratic Party
(PDP) against the Action Congress gubernatorial
aspirant Babatunde Raji Fashola. Often these
songs are rather abusive in nature, such as:
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O laru opolo
Eni to se lawyer tele
To wa di agba le oja
O laru opolo
Meaning
He’s got mental sickness
A lawyer before
Now a sweeper at the market
He’s got mental sickness
Conclusion
The social functions of folk songs have changed
dramatically over the years. From that of oral
performance, it has evolved into the use of mp.3, mp 4,
Ipod and gained mass media coverage making it readily
available for easy access and as reference points for all
and sundry. The argument that the functions of folk
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songs has changed over the years is quite a controversial
one. However, the word modifications should be used
since a large effort has been put into transference of this
oral performance into various modes of use. Folksongs
function in pre, during, post and neo colonial periods
share similar functions and with the use of westernized
methods, folksongs social functions would continue
evolving in diverse dimension and use as long as it
continually appeal to its audience.
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Works Cited:Alan Dundes. The Study of Folklore. 1965.USA: Prentice Hall Inc.
James Ale. “Yoruba Traditional Music Instrument” Painting - Watercolor On Paper.14 Sept 2008. < http://fineartamerica.com/featured/yoruba-traditional-music-instrument-james-ale.html>
Akachi Eziegbo. Trafficked. 2008. Lagos: Literamed Publications Nig. Ltd
Akpopbaro F.B.O. African Oral Literture. Lagos: Princeton Pub.Company
Bayo Ogunjimi. Introduction to African oral literature and performance 2005. Manzini
Swaziland: ruswanda publication
Chinua Achebe. Things Fall Apart. 1958. London: Heinemann.
Chinere Nwahunanya. “Issues in Literary historian and criticism”.1998. Imo: Corporate
Impreesions
John Cannon. "folk-song." The Oxford Companion to British History. 2002. Encyclopedia.com.27 Jul. 2011 <http://www.encyclopedia.com
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Ifa Bite. “Oluronbi” 2008. 18 Jul. 2011 <http://www.awonifa.com/orishas/166-oluronbi>
Kim Ruehl. “Folk Song” About.com Guide. 2004. 22 Jul.2011 <http://folkmusic.about.com/od/glossary/g/folksong.htm
Richard Dorson. Folklore. 1972. London: Indiana Univeristy Press.
Segun Gbadegesin. “Aspects of Yoruba Oral Tradition: Importance, Richness and Limits in the Context of Unfreedom.” 22 Jul. 2011 http://yoruba.org/Magazine/Summer97/F4.html
Tchaiko Kwayana. “Achebe:How He Created a Masterpiece, Things Fall Apart” 2000. 20 Jul.2011 <http://www.sdcoe.net/score/things/thingsg3.html>