Adiitu*

07 Dec 2004

taiwo
King Sunny Ade is one of the most illustrious sons of Africa. He has dominated the music scene in Nigeria and other parts of the world for more than four decades. He has toured the whole world with his Juju music, performed mainly in Yoruba, one of the major dialects in Nigeria. The piece below is an English translation of one of his Yoruba songs. I wish I could sing it to you all. But since I can’t and “half bread,” is said to be “better than none,” please enjoy and comment. Shalom!  

The hen laid thirty eggs,
She hatched twenty;
Yet her owners commended her not. 
In anger, they sold her,
And bought a guinea fowl.
The guinea fowl laid six eggs,
She hatched only one, 
Just only one.
It takes just one elephant to dominate the entire forest,
It takes just one elephant to shake the entire forest to its roots.
As one, we fought the masquerade and won.
As one, we defeated the gods,
And we have now become gods,
Being worshipped by many on their bare knees. 
And even now, we have taken our case to God Almighty,
Who made us;
For any one, made by Him, is unique,
He cannot be copied by anyone.
He is just an enigma!

*This is written in Yoruba. It means words, which meanings are deliberately hidden by the speaker or writer. It becomes the task of the listener or reader to decode the meaning(s). It is therefore capable of sundry interpretations, most importantly according to the personal experiences of the listener or reader.

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