Under The Brown Rusted Roofs: A Repository of Yoruba Culture and beliefsa

Songs: The use of songs in the novel is an example of the use of folk medium. The songs used in the book vary from call songs (ipolowo). Praise poetry (oriki). Play time songs (orin isere) political songs etc. The message of the songs vary as their contexts . An example of a call song is on page ten (10) of the book:

E ra eja e sebe Buy fish, cook soup

Eja de, obe de Fish has come, soup has come

This is followed by praise poetry on page fourteen (14)

Omo abikan

Omo asowo ni wura leru

Omo atori aje re Ida

Merin ni Moja

N o mo ri Moro, ki n ba d’owo po

Ki o fi asiki ran mi

Omo ite gbongbo ona se omi suru

Baba mi o si n’ile

Nijo erin la de baba re

Iba be nile o ba pa eni

Iba be nile o ba pa eji

Iba be nile o ba pa erindinlogun


Child of Abikan

One who trades and has gold and goods

One who because of trade goes to

One who capture own elephant in Moja

If only I see Moro to painfular trade with

That he might bring good luck to me

One who steps on the root on the why

That he might bring good luckto me

One who steps on the root on the why

And water splutters out

My father is not at home

The day an elephant come changing

To his father’s house

Had he been at home he would have killed one

Had he been at home would killed two

Had he been at home he would have killed nineteen - - -

Other interesting songs in the book are those rendered by the women group when celebrating the passing away of ‘Iya agba’ (grandmother). One goes thus to appreciate the kind of death the woman experiences:

Iya wa lo, o rorun idera (2ce)

Ko kuku moto, owo omo lo ku si

Iya wa lo, o rorun idera


Our mother has gone, gone to a place of comfort

She didn’t die in a car crash; she died in her child’s hands

Our mother has gone to a place of comfort

Another one is rendered thus:

E wo gele genge, lori a ji gbo t’oko

E wo gele genge, lori a ji gbo t’oko

Aye ni o n je n o ni jiya

E wo gele genge lori a ji gbo t’oko


See the head gear delicately balanced

On the head of the woman who rises early

To do her husbands’s bidding

My life will be sweet and never otherwise

As the procession moves from one place to another, the songs change:

Sibi onede, ikoko onide lawa fi n sebe o

Sibi onede, ikoko onide lawa fi n sebe o

Awa, awa nile yi o, aya olola la je (2ce)

Sibi onede, ikoko onide lawa fi n sebe o


Spoons of brass, pots of brass

That is what we use in cooking

We in this land, we are wives to wealthy men (2ce)

Before the celebrating train stops, the song changes again:

Ile la baa so, ke e salejo ara (2ce)

Aso ti a wo, olowo faramo olowo

Bata ti a wo, olowo jogun idera

Gele ti a we, sukusuku bam bam

Eni o ba n wu ko be, Ile la baso, ki l salejo ara


We met clothes at home

It is no visitor to our body

The clothes we are wearing

A rich man moves with his kind

The shoes we have on,

The rich inherited comfort

Our head gear, properly set in place

Anybody that is swollen

Is free to burst

We met clothes at home

It is no visitor to our body

It is no visitor at home

The rendition of different songs at the burial ceremony of the elderly woman reveals the belief of the Yorubas about the demise of an elderly person in the community. That is why the singing women concludes:

A man with ten concludes

Does not yet know if he has children

Until death closes his eyes

It is only the one that is buried by children

That has not died barren

Alhaji, your children will bury you

Even as you have buried your mother

Another form of song in the book is political songs. This is based on the context in which they are rendered. While trying to assert their birth right as sons of the land, members of a political group change this common song:

Ni Ibadan ni won bi wa si o (2ce)

Baba wa pelu won loni nile

It is in Ibadan that we were born

Our fathers plus them own the land

To:

Ni Ibadan ni won bi wa si o (2ce)

Baba wa sebi awon ni o nile (2ce)


It is in Ibadan we were born

It is our own father that own the land

After scoring a political goal, the same group of politicians of Ibadan extraction burst into the song:

Emi la o ni yo si? (2ce)

Ba o tife o ri , be na lori

Emi la o ni yo si?


What are we not to rejoice about?

Just as we want it to be, so it has been

What are we not to rejoice about?

Songs of praise also feature in the book

Omo Ajisegiri

Mo rora

Ekun tagiri gbe ra re nija

Ma wole ma rora

Agbonrajigi, aduro d’ogun

Ma wole, ma rora


Watch your steps, move gently,

Son of Ajisegiri

Move gently

The tiger jerks body to defend himself

Watch your steps, more gently

One who shakes himself vigorously

And awaits for war to advance

Watch your steps move gently

In the same vein, the man praised in the song above is also eulogized in this piece

Baba o Baba o

Oluwa da Baba si fun wa

Awa ti ni Baba fun wa

A ni Baba

Awa ti ni Baba n gbeja

A ni Baba - - -

A ni Baba kan o,

Baba ara to mo iyi omo - - -


Father, o father

May God Preserve Baba

For us

We have a father that can defend us

We have a father

We have a father that can defend us

We have a father


We have a father - - -

Wonderful father who knows worth

Of children - - -

A song is raised to back folktale which justifies the resemblance between man and monkeys

A o deniyan, deniyan! d’ eniyan - - -

Ao deniyan leni o !

D’eniyan

Deniyan, deniyan, deniyan!

D’eniyan - - -


We will become human beings today !

Become human beings

We will become human beings today!


Become human beings! Because human beings! Because human beings

Finally, the other three songs used are children’s plays songs:

Ekun meran

Mee

O t’orun bogba

Mee

O fee mu

Mee

Ko ma le mu o

Mee

Oju ekun yi pon!

Iru ekun yi le!


The wolf should catch the goat

Bleat

It dipped his head in the bush

Bleat

It stuck its neck in the fold

Bleat

It can’t catch it

Bleat

The wolf’s eyes are red!

The wolf’s tail is heard


Esu ta epo si, ki n ri iran wo!

Ta epo si !

Devil, put oil in this fire !

That I may get something to watch!

Put more oil!

Then, this politically loaded song:


Babangida lo Mecca

O de, o ko leta

Dele Giwa gba leta,

O ku,

Omoleewe e da sile meji

Ka fi s’oku re

Agba ekose, e da sile mefa - - -


Babangida went to Mecca

Came back, wrote a letter

Dele Giwa collected the letter

And died.

School children contribute two kobo

To use for his burial

Adults at apprenticeship

Contribute six kobo - - -

Between Me and Richard : Their Superstitions ; Our Beliefs

The following are the superstitious beliefs I came across in the popular autobiographical piece by Richard Wright: Black Boy. The claims are just a little bit different from those we used to lay claim to in my childhood in a south western town of Osogbo, the now capital of Osun State. The amazing thing is that Richard lived in the then far away racist American society while I grew up in the 80’s in a remote and seemingly sleepy town of Osogbo, the town popularly known for the Osun River Shrine. This shows the bond between culture and belief systems around the world. It is also a pointer to the fact that cultural identity can not be easily eroded regardless of the distance in time or space. For me and Richard, it is their superstitions and our beliefs. Follow me to this world of ifs and magical possibilities:

Richard : If I pulled a hair from a horse’s tail and sealed it in a jar of my own urine, the hair would turn over night into a snake

Me : If I cut the tail of a wall gecko, the tail would turn into a snake

Richard : If my right ear itched, something good was being said about me by somebody

Me : If any of my ears itches, somebody is saying something about me or calling me

Richard : If I heard a voice and no human being was near, then either God or the devil was trying to talk to me

Me : If I hear my name and no human being is around, somebody is trying to call me to death

Richard: If it rained while the sun was shining, the Devil was beating his wife

Me : If it rains while the sun shines, the lion is giving birth

Richard : If I covered a mirror when a storm was raging, lightning would not strike me

Me : If I do not cover a mirror while it is raining and thunder rumbles, thunder will strike me

Richard : If I stepped over a broom that was lying on the floor, I would have bad luck

Me : If I’m beaten with a broom, my penis would shrink

These and many more possibilities are ways by which people explain concepts and phenomena around them. They exist in many cultures in the world.