Kaafo oo kaafo ni moko kwɛ odaaŋ
Shika kɛ gbɔ(kpɔ) hɔ odaaŋ, kaafo
Kɛ lɛ kaafo ni moko kwɛ odaaŋ
Mafo oo mafo ni moko akwɛ midaaŋ
Awerɛho sune eka misɛŋ, mafo
No lɛ mafo ni moko akwɛ midaaŋ
Kaala oo kaala ni moko kwɛ odaaŋ
Shika kɛ gbɔ hɔ odaaŋ, kaala
Kɛ lɛ kaala ni moko kwɛ odaaŋ
Mala oo mala ni moko akwɛ midaaŋ
Awerɛho sune eka misɛŋ, mala
No lɛ mala ni moko akwɛ midaaŋ
Oo shika kɛ gbɔ hɔ midaaŋ
Mala ni moko akwɛ midaaŋ
Awerɛho sune eka misɛŋ
Mala ni moko akwɛ midaaŋ
Kaafo oo kaafo ni moko kwɛ odaaŋ
Shika anieku yɛ odaaŋ, kaafo
Kɛ lɛ kaafo ni moko kwɛ odaaŋ
Mafo oo mafo ni moko akwɛ midaaŋ
Awerɛho sune eka misɛŋ, mafo
No lɛ mafo ni moko akwɛ midaaŋ
Kaala oo kaala ni moko kwɛ odaaŋ
Shika kɛ gbɔ hɔ odaaŋ, kaala
Kɛ lɛ kaala ni moko kwɛ odaaŋ
Mala oo mala ni moko akwɛ midaaŋ
Awerɛho sune eka misɛŋ, mala
No lɛ mala ni moko akwɛ midaaŋ
Oo shika anieku yɛ midaaŋ
Mala ni moko akwɛ midaaŋ
Awerɛho sune eka misɛŋ
Mala ni moko akwɛ midaaŋ
Kaafo by Wulɔmei(
click to listen to song on YouTube)
Around ages 10-12, I carried and catered for babies of my neighbors. I loved carrying babies and they loved to be with me. I remember singing them the first part of this song. While singing I'd be smiling wide, looking into the eyes of the baby and tickling their bellies, that will usually get them to giggle and cease the crying.
Yesterday, the song came to mind and as I hummed it, it occurred to me another meaning or message that the song gives.
The first three lines of the song is a lullaby, and according to my mother, the lullaby precedes the Wulɔmei song. The lullaby goes...
Kaafo oo kaafo ni moko kwɛ odaaŋ
Shika kɛ gbɔ(kpɔ) hɔ odaaŋ, kaafo
Kɛ lɛ kaafo ni moko kwɛ odaaŋ
Literally translate to;
Don't cry, don't cry for someone to see into your mouth.
There is money and treasure in your mouth, don't cry.
So don't cry for someone to see into your mouth.
My mom said the lyrics is with "gbɔ" but I believe I hear "kpɔ" in the Wulɔmei version. Kpɔ means lump, and in that case will translate as " there's money and a lump in your mouth".
My attention was drawn to this part of the song, the lullaby part, because it's the part I know, and my mind went to how the song indirectly is carrying a message of silencing our concerns, discomforts and fears.
Babies cry to express their discomfort, it is the only way for them to express any and all unpleasant sensations, emotions, and dissatisfaction. If you tell a crying baby to stop crying without first alleviating or trying to alleviate their discomfort, you only telling them that their feelings and opinions, or expression of the feelings and opinions are invalid.
Let me express here that I am not saying through this lullaby our parents and grandparents taught us to suppress our feelings. This lullaby is a very beautiful one and please go ahead to sing it to your child. And caregivers always attend to the needs of the baby even as they sing.
The message I deliver here is a guided one for particular people who need this other understanding.
The very direct meaning of the lullaby of course is that when you have something good or worthy, you should keep it hidden, else another will snatch it from you. This message is very clear and a popular belief and practice of probably all Ghanaians.
Personally I find such a message leads to a lack of trust and faith in humanity and creates relationships with lots of lies and secrets, albeit the message is still a very true one. But that is not the foucs of this post.
When the not so obvious meaning of the song dawned on me, I decided to go listen to the full song( because I thought the lullaby came out of the song).
According to my mother, because the Wulɔmei cultural troupe performed mostly at funerals, they added newer versions to most of their songs to suit the event of a funeral. Hence the sadder tone of the subsequent parts of the song.
In the Wulɔmei song, the lullaby is sung first, as a directive from someone to another not to cry, or not to expose themselves to others. And a response now is given;
Mafo oo mafo ni moko akwɛ midaaŋ
Awerɛho sune eka misɛŋ, mafo
No lɛ mafo ni moko akwɛ midaaŋ
Translates to;
I will cry, I will cry for someone to see into my mouth
My throat is choking on a pillow of sadness, I will cry .
Therefore I will cry for someone to see into my mouth.
This part and the rest of the song is written by adults and meant for adults. The name Wulɔmei means the High Priests/Priestesses so I'd like to think at least one or two of them connected with Spirits for guidances in writing lyrics.
This response part of the song is the message sent to myself and all others that can benefit from it from our ancestors.
Before I interprete this part and the rest of the song, let's quickly see other parts of the song that need mentioning.
After the don't cry part, the next part asks one not to sing.
Kaala oo kaala ni moko kwɛ odaaŋ
Shika kɛ gbɔ hɔ odaaŋ, kaala
Kɛ lɛ kaala ni moko kwɛ odaaŋ
Translates to;
Don't sing, don't sing for someone to look into your mouth.
There's money and treasure in your mouth, don't sing.
If you sing, someone will look into your mouth.
The response remains the same, I am choking on a load of sadness so I shall sing. Let them see all of me.
In the second verse of the song, instead of "shika kɛ gbɔ", we get "Shika anieku yɛ odaaŋ, kaafo".
Anieku means diastema, so that part translate to you have a gold tooth filled in your teeth gap, so don't cry for others to see it.
This line is sung in the lullaby as well, alternating between "shika kɛ gbɔ" and "Shika anieku".
Most people understand the lullaby to refer to gold teeth in the baby's mouth.
If you visit the attached YouTube link to listen to the song, you may notice that in the comments someone expresses a message of the song, as silence is golden. And that's a message from it alright, sometimes certain things need to be kept to oneself for one's own good.
The message I deliver here is for those who's throats are choking on the many things unsaid.
For those that need to cry out, and sing out, and scream out all that's choking them, so that people can see all of them.
The directives of this song is a teaching, an advice from someone to you, that you shouldn't let others see everything you possess, or all that goes on with you, in your home, in your life. And it comes with a fear attached, lest someone steals from you, lest someone knows you are not perfect, lest someone sees your dirty laundry.
The suggestion of a gold tooth filled into your teeth gap represents covering the imperfect, putting out a perfect representation,not being flawed or pretending not to be. Once someone sees the gold tooth, they will immediately know that it's filling in an empty gap.
Notice also the directive is to not cry or to sing, it isn't just not to open your mouth. All that's in your mouth can be seen when you open your mouth to talk, to eat, to drink, to laugh, etc.
So the directive is not just to be silent, but to silence your emotions, your inner turmoil.
Crying is one obvious way adults express emotions, and singing is another major way most people express their souls.
So when someone or society tells us continuously to not express what we go through, because then everyone will know us for who we truly are, they will know we are flawed, and that as stylish as we may look, our bodies at some point needed artificial aids to look as everyone's, that with all our education and leadership roles, our husbands beats us, that our crying will not bring anything other than give power to outsiders over us, informing our enemies on what they can steal from us or destroy us with, we give into the fear and we refuse to cry. I refused to cry.
If our expressed feelings will go unvalidated and only bring us more to cry about, why at all should we express it?
Why should I cry if after being weak, being vulnerable and bare, nothing changes?
Because you will start to choke on a pillow of sadness. And then it will explode. At that point you won't care about the fears anymore, because more than fear, we want to live.
When we are choking and feeling like death is kissing us, we will do anything to not cross over. Unless you don't want to stay any longer.
At that point, we will put it all out, so that all can see. Everybody can see all that for years we tried our best to keep hidden from them. And afterwards even though nothing may change, we will feel free. Because we expressed the emotions.
Emotions are expressed to another through words. You can cry in front of someone but if you don't tell them why you are crying, you are not expressing your sadness to them. (Twice I cried in front of my mother and she misinterpreted it as empathy from me for her own condition, my reasons had to be swallowed)
Words are used for more than expressing emotions but whatever the purpose, words are meant to be spoken.
Unspoken words are thoughts. The two are not the same.
Yes words are powerful and we must be careful what we say. But words need to be spoken, else we will choke on the ones we refuse their right to be out.
I don't know how it started or why I had to but I learned to not express my emotions, especially any that will show me as weak. I have done that all my life, I barely know what I am feeling anymore. Even if I choke on emotions, I do not know which one it is.
This message came to me from my ancestors, but I feel intuitively that it is for others as well. So for those that may need it, I hope this makes you cry. I hope this makes you sing.
Let out the stuck voice, so your throat chakra may be free.
Mafo oo mafo ni moko akwɛ midaaŋ
I will cry and be bare to all.
PS: This my interpretation of the song lyrics from a logical and intuitive understanding. This may or may not be close to the meaning the writers of the song attributed to it at all.
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