Any trad. love songs from Africa?

Subject: Any trad. love songs from Africa?
From: TIA
Date: 16 Apr 07 - 11:07 AM

Playing at the wedding of my niece. We have traditional songs of love from all over the world, but not one from Africa. Anybody know one? Just need the tune - we don't sing. Thanks.

Subject: RE: Any trad. love songs from Africa?
From: Little Robyn
Date: 16 Apr 07 - 03:53 PM

Malaika. There's a thread somewhere here. Pete Seeger sings it.
Angel, I love you angel....
Robyn

Subject: RE: Any trad. love songs from Africa?
From: Little Robyn
Date: 16 Apr 07 - 03:57 PM

This link might still work.

Robyn

Subject: RE: Any trad. love songs from Africa?
From: Q (Frank Staplin)
Date: 16 Apr 07 - 04:15 PM

Nice tune, but no lyrics?

Afrikaans love songs here; a South Africal site:
http://esl.ee.sun.ac.za/~lochner/blerkas
Ons Blerkas

Subject: RE: Any trad. love songs from Africa?
From: Little Robyn
Date: 17 Apr 07 - 03:31 AM

Sorry.
Words here.
Robyn

Subject: RE: Any trad. love songs from Africa?
From: Wilfried Schaum
Date: 18 Apr 07 - 03:21 AM

Mijn Sarie Marijs

Melody here, text not faultless

Subject: RE: Any trad. love songs from Africa?
From: TIA
Date: 18 Apr 07 - 09:56 AM

Thanks folks. The link to the Malaika thread was particularly helpful. I missed that one previously.

Subject: RE: Any trad. love songs from Africa?
From: George Papavgeris
Date: 18 Apr 07 - 11:25 AM

If we are talking African-African, surely there is no more beautiful love song than the Congolese "Masanga" by Mwenda Jean Bosco. Several others have recorded it too, Jeremy Taylor ("The Very Best Of Jeremy Taylor" 1996, Prism Leisure Records; "Live in Chicago", 2005) and John Williams among them.

Subject: RE: Any trad. love songs from Africa?
From: Q (Frank Staplin)
Date: 18 Apr 07 - 12:26 PM

The tune for SARIE MARAIS (current Afrikaans spelling) is "Ellie Rhee," or "Carry Me Back to Tennessee," by Septimus Winner, 1865. Sheet music at American Memory. http://scriptorium.lib.duke.edu/sheetmusic/b/b10/b1043/
Ellie Rhee
Ons Blerkas, linked above, has an excellent piano midi (scroll down to LIEFDE-SKEIDING EN VERLANGE).
This song of longing for Sarie Marais and home also is known as "The Old Transvaal," and is a favorite from the time of the Boer War. Marais and Miranda said it was their favorite song, and often sang it in concert.
Burl Ives used a variant for his "Foggy, Foggy Dew."

Subject: RE: Any trad. love songs from Africa?
From: wysiwyg
Date: 18 Apr 07 - 01:14 PM

1. African as in music made by native Africans? That would let out the Boer songs wouldn't it? Or, at least wouldn't they more properly be called not "African songs" but "Boer songs"?

2. Africa is pretty big, with a lot of different cultures. It may be the convention in the western world to lump is all under one umbrella, "African," as though you can capture it accurately with just the one word; but I would think you can't hope to represent it fairly with just one song.

Good luck!

~Susan

Subject: RE: Any trad. love songs from Africa?
From: George Papavgeris
Date: 18 Apr 07 - 01:58 PM

Agree about 1) Susan...I wonder what Azizi would have to say about calling songs in Afrikaans "African".

But for 2), one can view it in the same way as saying "European songs"; sure, there are many diverse cultures, and for the purpose of the wedding, one picks one favourite and goes with that.

Subject: RE: Any trad. love songs from Africa?
From: Azizi
Date: 18 Apr 07 - 10:02 PM

George, fwiw, in answer to your question about what I would call songs in Afrikaans, I would call them African songs.

You may have missed this Mudcat thread that I started some time ago-
thread.cfm?threadid=99389
African Folk Songs.

My second post in that thread includes information about five songs from the South African Boy Scout website. Two of those songs are from the Afrikaans culture.

Best wishes,

Azizi

Subject: RE: Any trad. love songs from Africa?
From: Bert
Date: 19 Apr 07 - 12:30 AM

I remember hearing an Africaans 'love' song called "Johnny Hochabie" but I can't find it anywhere on the web.

Subject: RE: Any trad. love songs from Africa?
From: TIA
Date: 19 Apr 07 - 10:02 AM

"Africa is pretty big, with a lot of different cultures. It may be the convention in the western world to lump is all under one umbrella, "African," as though you can capture it accurately with just the one word; but I would think you can't hope to represent it fairly with just one song."



Agreed.

But, I am not falling into "western convention" and lumping "Africa" as one place and person. I am well aware of the size and diversity of Africa. And I am aware that there are uncountable songs from uncountable African cultures. In fact, we play quite a few. But, none that we currently know are appropriate for a wedding. We have only a few hours, and if we have love songs from every other continent (okay, not Antarctica), seems fair to include *something* from Africa dunnit? I am sure that you are not suggesting that we must play something from every African culture or risk being insensitive westerners.

I am hoping for something indigenous - although I appreciate all the tips on colonial songs (and I don't mean colonial disparagingly - good music is good music).

So, anybody got a song from Antarctica?

Subject: RE: Any trad. love songs from Africa?
From: George Papavgeris
Date: 19 Apr 07 - 10:25 AM

Not "from", but related to. And not a song, but a poem: Les Barker's "Spot of the Antarctic".

(Thanks for the clarification Azizi - I needn't have worried, I guess)