#6 Musical Track Analysys of Christie Essien Igbokwe Ife
UDC: 784.036.9
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Received: Jan 15, 2022
Reviewed: Jan 24, 2022
Accepted: Feb 04, 2022
#6 Musical Track Analysys of Christie Essien Igbokwe "Ife"
Citation: Alemede, Emmanuel O. 2022. "Musical Track Analysys of Christie Essien Igbokwe Ife." Accelerando: Belgrade Journal of Music and Dance 7:6
Abstract
Christie Essien Igbokwe (1960-2011) was popularly known as “Nigeria's Lady of Song”. In her music Essien addressed many issues, such as love among people, community, association, woman-man relationship, childhood. Moreover, her passion for peace, equity and fairness put her among those that championed the creation of some States, specifically Akwa Ibom and the new Anambra. In addition, this resulted in the abrogation of obnoxious laws, such as onshore/offshore oil dichotomy which benefited the littoral states more but gave peace to the country as a whole. Accordingly, in this musical track review of her reggae song “Ife”, from the album of 1980 titled “Give Me a Chance” (labels “Apex Entertainment”), the author will show that her impact across the country was such that whatever language she used to communicate her message evoked emotion and reflection. Her song titled Ife meaning love in the English language. The song laid so much emphasis on the need for togetherness in love as a nation and continent. She advised on the need to put aside all forms of grievances and uphold unity. She pointed out the attributes expected of the people in order to make Nigeria great.
Nigeria’s Lady of Song, Ife, sogs, musicians, Advisory and Counselling Musicology
Introduction
The song started with the instrumental introduction. It was followed by a call to unity, that working together as a team will move the nation forward. There is the prospect in teamwork than trying to work alone. Nigeria has been experiencing a high level of inhuman treatment in the hands of its leaders. The civil war came as a result of marginalization. The war was and has been still till date the experience of the marginalized people who encountered a staggering degree of drawbacks in light of public strategies that appeared to be created to subvert their capacity to augment political and financial possibilities. This was the experience of the Igbo people as stated by Nsoedo (2019). After the war was over, the nation was still in the same situation. The rich were getting richer while the poor were getting worse off by the day. Every political group with a different opinion on how the nation can develop trying to win the votes of the masses yet the ruling class held on to power without considering the oath of office taken by them. The unity of the country monetized for the benefit of the corrupt system. A Yoruba philosophy that states thus owo kan ko gbe eru de ori meaning “with joint effort, success is sure.” Mohammed (2021) stated that:
In Nigeria the masses live like hostages plagued by poverty, terrorists, bandits and criminals and oppressed by those elected to superintend over their affairs. The people are kept permanently divided along tribal and religious lines by greedy politicians who benefit from such prejudices and stereotypes. I make bold to say that I am a fully-fledged. I am of a Northern parentage. I grew up in the East and I worked in the South-West before my sojourn abroad. In those days our unity was desirable and sustainable. But today, things have fallen apart; national unity is fractured so much so that nobody is proud to be identified as a Nigeria. (Mohammed 2021)
Essien went further by saying let us love one another, walk together, and shunning all forms of enmity among ourselves. If the people and the nation are to progress, there is need to be united. She laid more emphasis on the need for love in Nigeria in the first line of the second verse of her song - it is the love of everyone that we sought for in Nigeria. Once there is love the issue of bad governance will be eradicated. This means everybody must show love. She advised that if there would be any form of quarrel, it should be that which will bring us together in Nigeria meaning a fight of unity for our fatherland and fight of unity for Africa.
Advisory Musicology Analysys
Nigeria is the combination of people from different ethnic groups, culture and believes. More emphasis is laid on the need for unity in the country, which can only be built on love. A musical and lyrical expression is shown below as sung by the Lady of Songs in Ife in musical notation as in Example 1a:
Lyrics
Call: E je ka sise po
Response: Eyin ara mi
Call: Je ka feran ara wa
Response: Eyin ara mi
Call: Je ka rin po
Response: Eyin ara mi
Call: Ka ma ri ota laarin wa
Response: Eyin ara mi
[Let us work together
my people
Let us like one another
my people
Let us walk together
my people
let us not find an enemy in our midst
my people]
Christie Essien Ife re-echoed the word ife meaning love in a higher notes different from the notes of the body of the song building it up in a crescendo form. A musical and lyrical notation of the refrain is given below in the Example 1b:
The last section of the song advice on the issue of association. It is good to keep company but not just any company. Easterlin (2012) in Mertika et al (2020) on the issue of relationship as relating to social relationship pointed out:
It is widely accepted that social relationships and contacts are an important part of people’s lives. People are primarily social beings who seek physical contact with other people as well as strong emotional ties. Social relationships have been indispensable in the development of our species and their role in human survival has been widely documented and generally accepted. (Easterlin 2012 cited in Mertika et al. 2020)
Each line of that section ended with an emphatic gesture in words e e which could be termed to mean “can you hear me” or “do you understand”. It’s a way of enforcing an order or information or an exclamation in Yoruba culture. Below is the lyrics of the section in Yoruba and interpreted in English.
Lyrics
Omo ko ye ko sa fun omo bii ti jaguda ko
Ara ko ye ko sa fun ara bii ti kuruna ko
Enu ko ye ko sa fun enu bii ti akokoro ko
[It is not forbidden for children to congregate but no as thieves.
It is not forbidden for bodies to interact but not with skin rashes.
It is not forbidden for mouth to kiss but not with tooth decay.]
A musical and lyrical notation of the section is given below as in Example 1c:
Musical Form
The song ife from the album Give Me a Chance by Christie Essien Igbokwe is in two forms or a mixed structural form. The song started with a call and response in which the soloist calls while the backups respond with a short phrase:
Example 2. The song ife from the album Give Me a Chance by Christie Essien Igbokwe
This is followed by solo and a chorused refrain. This is a form of singing in Africa in which the solo and the chorus refrain are completely different in text and melody:
Example 2b. The song ife from the album Give Me a Chance by Christie Essien Igbokwe
The last section of the song has a solo and instrumental response carried out by the horns section:
Example 2c. The song ife from the album Give Me a Chance by Christie Essien Igbokwe
The section closes with a repeat of the refrain Ife till fade out. (See Example 1b)
Musical Evaluation
Although the concept of advisory and counselling musicology is new in music scholarship, these have been used over the years by musicians in theory and practical musicianship. The song is more of advice and a plea. The musical track its unique focus is on love and unity. The use of the western musical instrument is more prominent, and the lyrics are predominantly Yoruba.
Conclusion
Christie Essien Igbokwe, in her song, focuses on the theme of love and unity, as the only way in developing the nation and not dwelling on the cultural divides and believes. This song is not only addressing individuals but addressing the leaders in the various arms of government. To get the job done, all hands must be on deck.
References
- Ajayi, J.F. Ade. Kirk-Greene, Anthony Hamilton Millard, Udo, Reuben Kenrick and Falola,Toyin O. 2020. “Nigeria.” Encyclopedia Britannica 8 Dec. 2020. britannica (Accessed 30 January 2022.)
- Easterlin, N. 2012. A biocultural approach to Literary theory and interpretation. The John Hopkins University Press.
- Nsoedo, E. 2019. “The Marginalization of the Igbo People in Nigeria’s Political and Economic Sectors: What Is the Way Forward?.” Open Journal of Social Sciences (7): 427-437.
- Mertika, A., Mitskidou, P., & A. Stalikas. 2020. “‘Positive Relationships’ and their impact on wellbeing: A review of current literature.” Psychology: The Journal of the Hellenic Psychological Society 25(1): 115-127.
- Mohammed, H. 2021. Nigeria: Imperatives of thinking, promoting national unity. blueprint / Christie Essien-Igbokwe: Songs, Biography, Death & Burial nigerianfinder
