Oh Biko, my Brother, let me not remember the stale and regular themes of my home Band's songs.
The City Boys sang well, and produced some memorable hits such as Ofie Biara Ne Mu Asem [Every Household has its Troubles]; Odo Nnidi Ntwen me [Let My Lover Dine in Expectation of Me]; Ofie nipa [The Devils at Home]; Ankwanoma Dede [My Songbird, Dede!], etc. But give me one hundred of City Boys' songs, and they all deal with three themes: Love, Devils, and Death. They were often caricatured as singers imprisoned in superstition and the lyrics of sex and cemeteries.
In "Ankwanona Dede" (love-bird, or songbird), the lead singer J.A. Adofo sings about her lover who travelled far and left him behind. He bewails the long absence of his woman, and laments that if she does not return soon enough, he might sleep and never wake up (die) because since she left, he has been ill and close to death.
That is what the song is about, Biko. It is one of the City Boys' amorous anthems. But I, and many Ghanaians, would like to know how you and the Igbo heard the song and how you interpreted it.
I ask this because we too in Ghana sang along one of Victor Uwaifo's songs, in Twi. I don't know the title of the song, but the guitar work was popular and familiar to many in Ghana in the 1980s. We did not have a clue what Uwaifo was saying, but we made up the message from his lead guitar. I will find the song and post it at some point, or send it to the Chief to do so in his own time. We in Akanland interpreted Uwaifo's lead guitar in that song as saying the following (translated here into English):
Some woman has stolen a crab. She has stuck it close to her loins. The crab has bitten her…..
Then we sang in unison as we thought the guitarist sounded: "Twoo Amen, Amen Twoo."
Then we added a terse verse:
My in-law has eaten and farted, Twoo Amen, Amen Twoo!
Certainly, what is produced somewhere gets (mis)interpreted somewhere.
Edward Kissi
From: 'Biko Agozino' via USA Africa Dialogue Series <usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com>
Sent: Wednesday, April 29, 2020 5:28 PM
To: usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com
Subject: Re: USA Africa Dialogue Series - DEAR CHIEF FALOLA
| This email originated from outside of USF. Do not click links or open attachments unless you recognize the sender or understand the content is safe. |
Great to know that the City Boys are your Homeys. Maybe you can explain what they are singing to us. As you can see, the video was produced by Nigerians who also are huge fans. We used to sing along by making nup Igbo words but without knowing the Twi meanings. Walk good. Blessings.
Biko
On Wednesday, 29 April 2020, 16:53:59 GMT-4, Kissi, Edward <ekissi@usf.edu> wrote:
My Brother MC Biko,
Your choice here for me is apt. Obuoba J.A. Adofo and his City Boys Band come from my hometown, so I have a taste for their dishes. My favorite, though, is their "Ofie Biara Ne Mu Asem." But, I will stay patiently in my hideout and clear my ears for the sounds of the Chief.
Be safe, Biko!
DJ Kissi
From: 'Biko Agozino' via USA Africa Dialogue Series <usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com>
Sent: Wednesday, April 29, 2020 1:38 PM
To: usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com
Subject: Re: USA Africa Dialogue Series - DEAR CHIEF FALOLA
| This email originated from outside of USF. Do not click links or open attachments unless you recognize the sender or understand the content is safe. |
DJ Kissi,
Feel free to share your won vibes. I na anwukwa Igbo o?
City Boys Band of Ghana - Ankwanoma Dede (Official Video)
|
On Wednesday, 29 April 2020, 13:29:31 GMT-4, Toyin Falola <toyinfalola@austin.utexas.edu> wrote:
Brother:
You are in a hurry!
TF
From: dialogue <usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com> on behalf of "Kissi, Edward" <ekissi@usf.edu>
Reply-To: dialogue <usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com>
Date: Wednesday, April 29, 2020 at 12:13 PM
To: dialogue <usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com>
Subject: USA Africa Dialogue Series - DEAR CHIEF FALOLA
Dear Chief Falola,
From my hideout in Florida, I have been observing with admiration, and curiosity, your new and impressive COVID-19 pastime: threading our needles of despair with songs that soothed us in the Rainforest.
You have gone to the land of Bob Marley and Jimmy Cliff, passed through that of Sonny Okosun, gotten yourself into a little trouble with a "Negro Spiritual," and now heading to the land of Dingiswayo to give thanks to some unknown DJ who played Yvonne Chaka Chaka her song.
I have wondered why in your journey through West Africa, you did not stop over in Ghana to pay homage to Nana Kwame Ampadu and his African Brothers Band, or King Pratt and his African Revolution Band and their rendition of one of Nkrumah's fiery speeches in the song "Ka Na Wu" (Say it and Die). Or the 1950s song by E.K. Nyame's Band entitled "Influenza"---a lamentation over a pandemic of unknown origin but with a paralyzing impact.
And while I am it, saying it like Kwame did, I know you can't pay homage to every songster, from the Diaspora to the Desert. And you don't need to. Your prerogatives have so far been priceless.
But if you should head East in your glide through the landscapes of music, like Homer's gods on Mount Olympus, fly to Ethiopia and have some nectar with the late Tilahun Gesese. In his song "Ethiopia" lives some of Africa's finely-spun musical lyrics. It is the Ethiopian version of Eric Donaldson's "Land of My Birth."
While we await the verdict of the virus, keep playing us some music. We hope the people in the lands of our birth too are seeking solace in the songs that once warmed troubled hearts.
Gratitude is yours, Chief, as my people say!
Edward Kissi
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