O bi’mo ooo/ obimo (She gave birth, yes, she did!) Discrepancies in semblance between father and child are all too obvious! How do you explain stark differences in complexion and other vital details? Waheed’s aunt raises the alarm once again: There’s a twist when the pregnant lady puts to bed. Iwo, iwo naa (You!? You, of all ‘people’?) Wahidi, omo Sekina, Omo Muyina, Omo Muhammad (Waheed, son of Sekinat, daughter of Muinat, daughter of Muhammad) Īunti to l’oyun fun o/ o to bi o l’omo (The lady is even old enough to be your mother) More so, she rues the fact that the pregnant lady is much older than Waheed. Perhaps, the poor young man had forgotten his roots and thus started to misbehave – an anomaly! She addresses him in a condescending manner – he is too young and incapable to start a family of his own. Moved by pity and shock, she reminds him of their blood ties, in a typical Yoruba way of tracing the lineage of an offending fellow. Iwo iwo naa/ o l’oyun fun o (You, of all ‘people’? She’s pregnant, for you!?) Oyun osu meji/ o l’oyun fun o (For two months, she’s been pregnant for you)Ī ni wipe o o/o l’oyun fun o (I mean, she’s pregnant – for you!?) O wi pe o/ o l’oyun fun o (She said you’re responsible for her pregnancy) O wa o wa ‘le yi/ Ati ojo meta atabo (She was here to see you/ three –and a half– days ago) Ibi o ba lo je a mo (let us know where you’ve been)Īunti ton gbe’le itosi (the lady that lives nearby) In the first verse, the narrator –his aunt, as we soon discover– quizzes Waheed, the protagonist:Īwe, ibo l’olo ka/t’a fi n wa o ka (Hey! where have you been? /we’ve been searching for you!) This is easily the story of quasi rural-urban migration gone sour, where a young man is given a lease of life from the bucolic trappings and socio-economic realities of the village in suburban Lagos, but naively gives in to one of the evils of the much more sophisticated city life. A track from her eponymous debut album, this ballad, sung on the pentatonic scale, unfolds the story of a young man caught up in a romantic affair with a much older woman. In this third installment in a serial analysis of Asa’s songs, mostly those with heavy Yoruba lyrics, I take a swift journey through Bukola Elemide’s “ Awe”. Perhaps, I am well on my way to becoming an Asa scholar of sorts.
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