A Bemba girls’ initiation song from Zambia. The song neatly describes the delicate balance of equality between husband and wife.
The man is the peak of the house:
That is what we have understood.
A Man With a Hat On
A ChiTumbuka girls’ song from Malawi, containing some amusing satire on western dress.
A man with a hat on, I say no:
How should I know he is bald,
I Heard a Bell
A ChiLomwe girls’ song from Malawi, popular as a pounding song (sung by women using mortar and pestle to pound grain to flour). The bell is a bicycle bell.
I heard a bell ngili-ngili at the corner:
I thought it was my boyfriend, the son of Chipo,
Pounding Songs
Six songs, all from Malawi, sung by women using mortar and pestle to pound grain to flour, the thud of the pestle providing the songs’ rhythm.
Pounding grain,
Pounding grain makes you cry…
In Praise of Cattle
A Bahima women’s Praise-Poem from Uganda. The chorus is repeated after each praise. The first five praises (Lines 1–12) refer to the whole herd of cattle, after which the singer proceeds to praise each animal separately.
They are as greedy as Ishe-Katabazi;
I want them to graze in the newly burnt grass of Rwanda.
Women’s Self-Praises
Two Zulu women’s Praise-Poems. In Zulu society, women often compose their own praises which are performed whenever groups of women are together with no men present. The Praise-Poems are descriptions of a woman’s personality and achievements, though they are often used to express complaints.
I am she who cuts across the game reserve
That no girl crosses…
