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 - - -
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