Interpretation of music in Zambia: texts in context 3
Fighting with songs ∵ Songs 15 to 26
The 15th song
Interpretation of music in Zambia: texts in context, part 3. Kamimbya starts the 15th song.
Text of the 15th song of the Ipupo at banaNshimbi‘s, a Bayambo song brought by Kamimbya.
Ayi pano ba Munteta ngabafwa cikabipa
Ba Munteta ngabafwa cikabipa
Buyombo bakanshila
Wayiyo wayiolele Liya, wayiyo wayiolele Liya, iyolele Liya
Ayi at this moment if Munteta would die, it would be bad
If Munteta would die, it would be bad
He would leave his masamba to me
Wayiyo wayiolele Liya, wayiyo wayiolele Liya, iyolele Liya
The text takes the vantage point of a patient of Munteta (the human name of Kamimbya). And more generally of a patient of a shing’anga. I will suffer when my shing’anga dies. It is a Mwami-type of song used here because, like so many Ciwila songs, it mentions death which Mwami songs hardly ever do.
Interpretation of music in Zambia: texts in context, part 3. After the 15th song is sung only ten times with a few more women singing the chorus line, Kamimbya, on the advice of Changwe Mabuku, immediately starts the 16th song.
Music example 21
We hear Kamimbya bring the 15th song of the Ipupo at banaNshimbi’s. Apart from the self-praise that is not (yet) opportune, the song is too difficult as can be heard by the way the chorus sings. Between the 17th and 18th second of this passage, though very vaguely in the background, we can hear Mabuku say: “Buleniko wa bwangu” (Take another one). Kamimbya reacts with ‘Ah’ and starts the 16th song.
The 16th song
Interpretation of music in Zambia: texts in context, part 3.
Text of the 16th song of the Ipupo at banaNshimbi’s, a Bayambo song brought by Kamimbya.Ayi ba Menala / banaKala aba mwabona aba
Mfunda fisungu ngafindo ifi nakulila Liya
Ayi, this Menala / banaKala whom you see here
[She is] an initiation teacher, what more do I need, I will cry, Liya
The 16th song gains a larger chorus. In the text Menala, the mother-in-law of Munteta who is present at the Ipupo, is praised by his spirits for teaching her daughter, Munteta’s wife, the proper women’s knowledge.
The text is also Kamimbya’s comment on the lack of education in singing of a number of women in the chorus at this Ipupo.
The 17th song
Interpretation of music in Zambia: texts in context, part 3.
Text of the 17th song of the Ipupo at banaNshimbi’s, a Ciwila song brought by the same adept who brought the 1st and the 2nd songs.Ba Mwape ifi baeba
Balankunga ngabapona kungoma sha bayambo
What Mwape is saying:
Those who are surrounding me could have struck the one I am possessing down because of the bayambo drumming
The 17th song is a praise song for the drummers and the chorus. The possessing spirit, Mwape, is speaking here through and about the one (s)he is possessing.
During this song Salati Mukoti comes up to us to complain that we did not visit his farm nor his Cibombe. He asks whether we are biased and whether we have been asked by some people not to witness any rituals organised by him. He then adds that he knows who is behind all this. “The one who thinks (s)he is clever, is very small to me and cannot come up to my level. You used to visit me in my old village, but now you don’t. Why?” We suppose that he is afraid that his Lima origin, his ‘lack of Lalaness’, plays a role in this. Our answer is that we are in the area to serve all people regardless of their origin and that we will be happy to visit him in the coming week.
The 18th song
Interpretation of music in Zambia: texts in context, part 3.
Text of the 18th song of the Ipupo at banaNshimbi’s, a Ciwila song brought by the same adept who brought the 1st, 2nd and 17th songs.Ino ngoma ilafwaya bayambo cingalule
Ino ngoma ilafwaya bayambo
This ritual wants the true dancing of the Bayambo (possessed)
This ritual wants bayambo [quality]
In the meantime, the same adept has started the 18th song in which again bayambo is used as a general term for possessed. In this song, however, a clear preference is expressed for the performing of Bayambo music at Ipupo. Since Chalebaila and Kamimbya are the only two Bayambo mediums in Chibale, it refers to them, or at least to Kamimbya who is in the dance circle and still has trouble convincing the audience/chorus to partake in his songs.
The 19th song
Interpretation of music in Zambia: texts in context, part 3.
Text of the 19th song of the Ipupo at banaNshimbi’s, a Bayambo song brought by Kamimbya.Pano ba Mabuku kulwalalwala
Tamwaba kuwamya, Kamimbya, mucalo
Tamwaba kuwamya, Kamimbya, mucalo owe
The case is that Mabuku gets ill often
Even though she does good work, Kamimbya, in this land
Even though she does good work, Kamimbya, in this land owe
Kamimbya tries again to win the Ipupo audience/chorus, in this case with a praise song for the well-known woman, Changwe Mabuku, who takes over his songs.
The undertone is that there could be individuals or groups causing her illness. The song then serves as a public statement against these individuals or groups.
The 20th song
Interpretation of music in Zambia: texts in context, part 3.
Text of the 20th song of the Ipupo at banaNshimbi’s, a Ciwila song brought by the same adept who brought the 1st, 2nd, 17th and 18th songs.Oo nalelo teti nshane bwino
Owe lelo nasha amasamba, nasha nensangwa
Oh and today I can’t dance well
Owe today I’ve left my masamba and I’ve left my nsangwa
The 20th song is the last song that is brought by one of the adepts, except for Kamimbya.
The text can be interpreted in two ways. It can be a quotation of banaNshimbi who normally would dance at Ipupo but not at this one because she is the organiser. The other meaning is that this adept who has brought no fewer than five songs now complains about the conditions at the ritual that make it impossible for her to help in the ritual by dancing well.
After the song has finished the audience/chorus complains again about the number of dancers obscuring their view of the dancing by the owner of a song while others call for another song like this.
But in the meantime Kamimbya starts the 21st song.
The 21st song
Interpretation of music in Zambia: texts in context, part 3.
Text of the 21st song of the Ipupo at banaNshimbi’s, a Bayambo song brought by Kamimbya.Kafuti kamalele ba Kamimbya bakwete
Kafuti kamalele ba Kamimbya bakwete yaya
A gun as a shield against witches, Kamimbya has one
A gun as a shield against witches, Kamimbya has one, yaya
This is the self-advertisement of a shing’anga. He has a gun to counteract the ‘guns of witches’, an image often used to describe witchcraft powers. It is the stick Kamimbya dances with. Though self-advertisement and references to witchcraft can be found in Ipupo texts, this combination of both only to advertise the problem solving power that one has is new for Ipupo.
The 22nd song
Interpretation of music in Zambia: texts in context, part 3.
Text of the 22nd song of the Ipupo at banaNshimbi’s, a Bayambo song brought by Kamimbya.Combela wandi ba Tobi likonone lyo
Combela wandi ba Tobi likonone lyo wayaya
My master-drummer, Tobi, his drumming breaks my body
My master-drummer, Tobi, his drumming breaks my body, wayaya
A praise song for Tobi, the master-drummer Kamimbya often works with. He plays so well that it forces you to keep on dancing until you ‘break’. The song takes off slowly and lasts only a few minutes.
The 23rd song
Interpretation of music in Zambia: texts in context, part 3.
Text of the 23rd song of the Ipupo at banaNshimbi’s, a Bayambo song brought by Kamimbya.Baisa mukuntamba ba Liya nsabante
Baisa mukuntamba ba Liya nsabante yaya
Liya has come to watch me do the nsabante dance
Liya has come to watch me do the nsabante dance, yaya
The nsabante is a specific Bayambo dance movement in the Lima/Lamba regions.
It may be a reference to the lack of space and the large number of possessed which make performing the nsabante difficult.
The 24th song
Interpretation of music in Zambia: texts in context, part 3.
Text of the 24th song of the Ipupo at banaNshimbi’s, a Bayambo song brought by Kamimbya.Kamimbya ifi napenga
Nomba ifi napenga Kamimbya
Kamimbya ifi napenga
Nebo ndi mwaice
Kamimbya, how I suffered
Now, Kamimbya, how I suffered
Kamimbya how I suffered
I am just a child/junior (shing’anga)
The last line refers to Kamimbya’s status as a shing’anga. He did not yet go through a Cibombe ca kusubula, he is still learning and not fully empowered. The suffering refers to the possession illness and the attaining of kumfwana with the possessing spirits. It is also used here as a Cililo/Ipupo-style reference to the suffering of the bereaved.
After the 24th song a man comes to the fore and says: You possessed, if you don’t know how to dance, just leave the circle. You wear masamba but you don’t know how to dance. With this he refers to the five possession patients present who do not bring a song themselves but ‘move along’ with the music. This obscures the view of the audience/chorus on the dancers.
The 25th song
Interpretation of music in Zambia: texts in context, part 3.
Text of the 25th song of the Ipupo at banaNshimbi’s, a Bayambo song brought by Kamimbya.Kamimbya/ BanaKamimbya/ Pano uyu-mwana kulwalalwala
Baya ni bangala baya ni bangala
Baya ni bangala ku ng’anga
[To consult] Kamimbya / the one possessed by Kamimbya / This junior shing’anga here about all kinds of illnesses
They only came to play, they only came to play
They only came to test the shing’anga
New shing’anga, like Kamimbya, are often tested by other shing’anga and by people from the general public by bringing test cases to them.
If the two songs before the 25th song did not really take off, this song is not even taken over by anyone. Kamimbya now complains: “They must have drunk beer for them to take so much time to take over”. People in the audience/chorus answer: “If there is no good dancing then there will be no good singing”. They do not mean to say that Kamimbya dances badly but that the large number of possessed in the circle makes it difficult to follow the starter in his dancing. It is unclear why banaNshimbi persists in having some of her patients in the dance circle. Though they may benefit from it for their personal healing, the lack of benefit for the ritual and all present is obvious.
We should not forget that at Cibombe Kamimbya was very successful and his songs were taken over quickly. Since the audience/chorus of this Ipupo and of those Cibombe is partly the same, the reluctance can not be based on a lack of knowledge of Kamimbya’s styles. It must be regarded as a refusal to co-operate with the use of the Ipupo for Cibombe-like purposes.
Kamimbya now resorts to the strategy discussed earlier: he repeats the most successful song of the evening.
The 26th song
Interpretation of music in Zambia: texts in context, part 3.
Text of the 26th song of the Ipupo at banaNshimbi’s, a Bayambo song brought by Kamimbya.
It is the same song as the 14th song.Balya bawela Liya balya bawela / ni banaKwasa
Balya bawela Liya balya bawela / ni ba Mabuku
Balya cipale Liya balya cipale
Those of the wela chorus, Liya, those of the chorus / it is the mother of Kwasa
Those of the wela chorus, Liya, those of the chorus / it is Mabuku
Are the ones who show off, Liya, are the ones who show off
Interpretation of music in Zambia: texts in context, part 3. This works well in view of the fact that the song is taken over rather quickly and is sung loudly throughout.
Continue to the next article in this series: the description and the interpretation of the song texts of this Ipupo.