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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>