Suriname folk-lore

5. Lɔbi sɩ̨ngi

After a separation not many women have the financial means at their disposal, or the temerity, to enter into negotiations with a worker of black magic for revenge against their successful rivals, or against the men who have deserted them. For these, there remains the institutionalised form of revenge known as lɔbi sɩ̨ngi, - literally, ‘love song’ - in essence a ceremony which employs songs of ridicule for purposes of social castigation³. In its more generalised form, lɔbi sɩ̨ngi may take place non-ceremonially when a woman who has quarrelled with another woman in her yard, goes about her work, pounding corn, or crushing peanuts, or stamping rice in a mortar, or drawing water from the well, singing songs which, though traditional in tune and words, have direct allusion to the other, the point being that all those who hear the song recognize that the singer is berating the other woman. Lɔbi sɩ̨ngi are also sung in private by men and women who live together, but these relate to personal idiosyncrasies rather than ridicule, and their point is erotic reference rather than hatred.

Lɔbi sɩ̨ngi, then, is an established form of social criticism⁴ by

3 Cf. Encyc., p. 453.

4 The use of song for social criticism represents a widespread West African cultural pattern, which has survived in New World Negro behavior. Thus, in Dahomey, once a month each quarter of a city has an opportunity to give a dance in the market. This dance, called avogą, is accompanied by songs in which current happenings are satirized, and particularly such current happenings as involve a dispute between persons of one quarter with those of another. In Ashanti, when we were unable to allow groups of natives to sing into our recording phonograph, they assembled in the road, and sang songs of derision against us. A well-known instance of this pattern as manifested in southern United States is contained in the account of the folklorist who, in attempting to collect a Negro work-song, finally heard himself satirized for sitting on the wall doing nothing while they were working. Reference must also be made to the songs sung in Dahomey by co-wives against each other, a number of which we recorded there.

[p. 24]

ridicule and bears particularly on the reprehensible conduct of women. The instance we cited,¹ of the man who left the woman he had lived with for many years and had gone to a younger one, would rarely call forth sufficient public sympathy to encourage the deserted woman, had she the means, to stage a lɔbi sɩ̨ngi. But should a young woman entice a man away from another about her own age, causing him to spend what money he had on gifts for her, so that he ceased to make the contributions expected of him toward the support of his wife and children, and failed to make appearance at his home at the usual times, a lɔbi sɩ̨ngi would be given by this wife to shame the other woman into giving him up. In such a case, if the deserted woman had the gift of improvisation, she herself led the singing. If not, or if she was too timid to assume the leadership in her own behalf, she hired another woman who had shown excellence at such performances to assume leadership, paying her from half a guilder to a guilder for this service.

The spectacle is staged during the day, usually in the afternoon when trade in the market is dull, and the women are free to participate and watch. The ceremony may last well into the evening, and particularly when there is moonlight, the singing may continue until eight or nine o'clock. When the day for the lɔbi sɩ̨ngi is decided upon, the woman spreads the news among her friends, and they in turn make the occasion known as they go to market or work about their yards. Sometimes the landlord of the yard where this is to be held, - the yard of the girl who is to be sung against - demands a small payment for permitting the singers and spectators to enter. Arrangements must also be made for the hiring of music. A really effective lɔbi sɩ̨ngi has as many as four or five pieces of music, - a clarinet, flute, drum (that is, a snare drum, not the African hollow-log type used in religious ceremonies), and what were described as. ‘cymbals’, which means a tambourine or any other percussion instrument which gives a similar sound. The use of the rattle, like that of the ceremonial drum, or the hard-wood bench beaten with sticks, does not occur, because these form the complex of instruments for religious ritual.

With these preliminaries cared for, and the date at hand, all those who are to participate actively come to the yard of the woman who is giving the ceremony, dressed in their best koto-yaki, and there, if the means of the hostess permit, food and drink are distributed before starting, though this is not at all essential, since the love

1 See above, p. 6.

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of the spectacle brings participants without the lure of food or presents. Early in the afternoon, then, as soon as a sufficient number of the women who had promised to come have gathered, a procession is formed. It is led by the music, and proceeds to the yard where the lɔbi sɩ̨ngi is to be given. The participants are usually followed by a crowd of men, women, and children, for whom this is entertainment to be relished. It may begin less spectacularly with people coming in small groups to the place where the lɔbi sɩ̨ngi is to be staged. Though this is less enjoyed, it is at the present time the more common way of assembling.

Arrived at their destination, they range themselves before the cabin of the woman against whom the singing is directed, with the onlookers flanking the performers, and all facing the cabin where the woman to be sung against has shut herself in. It is customary to open a lɔbi sɩ̨ngi with an improvised song to suit the occasion; that is to say, traditional music is sung, but the words are especially composed. This kind of improvisation has been discouraged in recent times because of the recourse the people sung against have had to the courts, where complaints of slander have been lodged. It is therefore found more expedient today to sing traditional songs with only sufficient change in a number of lines to point to the specific occasion to which the song refers. The pattern of singing, as in all the songs of these Negroes, is that of statement by the leader, and response from a chorus. Whatever the content of the song, whether it be that of threat, or entreaty, or excoriation, the formal way of ending the chorus is with a few dancing steps, accompanied by a disdainful lifting of the voluminous skirts in back as the steps are executed, and followed by the exclamation ‘Ha! ha!’ After the initial song, where improvisation is called for, the leader ranges through the store of well-known lɔbi sɩ̨ngi. Often an old Dutch tune, or one imported from the United States or Europe, which has achieved momentary popularity when heard in the cinema or on phonograph records,¹ is utilised, and traditional words are sung to it. Similarly, an old tune is sung, and to it are fitted words that have to do with automobiles, or a flying-machine that visited Paramaribo, or other happenings of the day as these can be brought to bear, by innuendo, on the situation that is being ridiculed.

Let us illustrate with instances from the songs themselves:²

1 The example of this ready taking up of a foreign song by the Paramaribo Negroes is had in the case of the ‘Volga Boat Song’. There was a cinema of that name being shown in Paramaribo during our stay, and the song was played in the course of its showing. We heard it sung or whistled everywhere in the city.

2 We do not give here the lɔbi sɩ̨ngi, the music of which has been recorded and transcribed. These will be found in the section of this work devoted to music as Nos. 249 and 250.

[p. 26]

 

1)

 

Sąn wą, mira ką, du,

 

Nąŋga wąn kao̯ hɛde?

 

Ha! Ha!

 

A musu nyąm na meti

 

A libi na bɔ̨nyo.

 

Ha! Ha!

 

 

 

What can an ant do,

 

With a cow's head?

 

Ha! Ha!

 

It must eat the meat

 

And leave the bones.

 

Ha! Ha!

2)
Ɛfi lɔbi bɛn lɔbi mi,
A no lɔbi mi mɔro,
Mi no ką tyiri mi sɛrefi na liba
Fō dati hɛde.
Ha! Ha!

If a lover has loved me,

And he loves me no more,

I cannot drown myself in the river

On that account.

Ha! Ha!

3)
Yu moi̯ mɔro mi,
Yu fatu mɔro mi,
Ma mi sui̯ti mɔro yu.
Dati hɛde meki, gudu,
Gudu, no kąn fɛrdwal
Fō libi sui̯ti ros
Fō kɔ̨ na krabu Dɩŋki hoso.

You are handsomer than I,

You are fatter than I,

But I am sweeter than you are.

That is why, my treasure,¹

My treasure, cannot bear

To leave a sweet rose

To come to the house of a crab Dɩŋki.²

Sometimes the man, as well as the woman with whom he has gone off, is the object of ridicule, as in the following:

1 The word gudu (treasure) is used for ‘lover’.

2 Our informant stated that the girl's name was Dina, hence Dɩŋki is a play on her name; while for ‘crab’ any animal may be substituted, the choice being left to the fancy of the singer.

[p. t.o. 26]

Plate VIII. Name of pattern: Yu ką loi yu dyįdyį lei̯ki fa yu wą', mi no dɛ yɛre yu; name of tying: Yu ką wai̯ yu wɩnti lɔntu foto, ma mi no sa drai̯ baka.

[p. t.o. 28]

Plate IX. Name of pattern: Doti wagi dɛ tyari doti, ma a no dɛ tyari syɛm (Proverb No. 89); name of tying: Trɔobi.

[p. 27]

 

4)

 

Trąŋga lɔbi zɔndro nɔtį

 

Dɛ gi fɛrferi;

 

A kɔm geɛrsi wą ros

 

Zɔndro smeri.

 

 

 

A passionate love without anything

 

Is wearying;

 

It comes to resemble a rose

 

Without fragrance.

5)
Te mi bai̯ mi kao̯, mi kao̯,
Te mi bai̯ mi kao̯,
Te mi bai̯ mi kao̯, mi kao̯,
Mi kao̯ no habi tutu!

When I bought my cow, my cow,

When I bought my cow,

When I bought my cow, my cow,

My cow had no horns!¹

The next example is a song that might be sung against the man involved, or against the woman, to tell her that her new lover will be no more constant to her than he has been to the woman he has jilted. There is also the intimation that he will come back to the one who has been deserted:

6)
'Wasi fa da pasi ląŋga,
Fa da neti dųŋgru,
A no dųŋgru, a no dųŋgru,
Ha! Ha!
Lɔbi pasi no farawɛ.²

No matter how long the road,

How dark the night,

It is not dark, it is not dark,

Ha! Ha!

The lover's path is not far away.

Some of the songs plead with the woman to let the man go so that he may return to his wife:

7)
Leader: Mi lɔbi libi mi,
Chorus: Libi hɛm, mɛk' a go.

Ha! Ha!

1 The meaning of this is that only since the jilted woman took up her man had he become important; before that he was worthless.

2 This song is also used when a man is courting.

[p. 28]

 

Both: Bɩkasi yu na bąŋkɛti

 

Ha! Ha!

 

Yu dɛ na batra.

 

Ha! Ha!

 

Trawą sɑ bai̯ yu,

 

Trawą sɑ bai̯ yu,

 

Libi hɛm, mɛk' a go.

 

Ha! Ha!

 

Trawą sɑ bai̯ yu.

 

 

 

Leader: My lover left me,

 

Chorus: Leave him, let him go.

 

Ha! Ha!

 

Both: Because you are the cakes

 

Ha! Ha!

 

You are the bottle.¹

 

Ha! Ha!

 

Another will buy you,

 

Another will buy you,

 

Leave him, let him go.

 

Ha! Ha!

 

Another will buy you.

8)
Mi gudu, yu no yɛre fa lɔbi sui̯ti?
Ma mi lɔbi no sui̯ti gi mi.
Wąŋ-kri² lɔbi mi habi. Luku,³
A dɛ drei̯ hɛm baka gi mi.

My dear, don't you feel how sweet love is?

But my lover brings me no sweetness.

I have one lover. Look,

Return him to me again.

Other examples of the lɔbi sɩ̨ngi, which do not fall in any of the categories we have given, follow. The first is a very old one:

9)
Mei̯t, fa yu ką taki mi no moi̯?
Na tu moi̯ brɔnki meki mi.
Rɔs-kanɔp na mi mama,
Stanfasta-kanɔp na mi papa.
Fa yu ką taki mi no moi̯?
Na tu moi̯ brɔnki meki mi.

1 The reference to the cakes and the bottle is to a kind of cookie sold in jars. These are expensive, and greatly prized, and the allusion, therefore, is a great compliment.

2 The syllable kri is added to lengthen the line, in order to fit these words into the tune.

3 This word also serves the purpose of lengthening the line in accordance with the demands of the music.

[p. 29]

 

Wanton, how can you say I am not beautiful?

 

Two beautiful flowers bore me.

 

A rose-bud was my mother,

 

A bachelor-button was my father.

 

How can you say I am not beautiful?

 

Two beautiful flowers bore me.

10)
Moi̯ mɩsi, fa mi mu libi?
Moi̯ mɩsi, fa mi mu libi?
Gotu kɛti na yu nɛki,
A dɛ meki kama-lama,
Trąŋga lɔbi na wą sani
Waka go na wąn dei̯ blau̯ brɔntyi.
A no ląŋga,
A no ląŋga,
A no ląŋga,
Ha! Ha!
Sui̯ti lɔbi na wąn sani.

Pretty Miss, how am I to live?

Pretty Miss, how am I to live?

The gold chain about your neck,

Is very dazzling,

Passionate love is something

That goes away in a day like a blue flower¹.

It does not last long,

It does not last long,

It does not last long,

Ha! Ha!

Sweet love is something.

Songs of the following type are sung in private by men and women. We give an example of a song sung by a man to a woman, and a woman to a man. Though the keynote of both is ridicule, it is a ridicule which is intended to heighten erotic excitement because of the obscene allusions, rather than to incite bitterness or anger.

11)
Kabugru umą nąŋga bɩgi bakadɔm,
Bɩgi blaka umą nąŋga bɩgi fes-sei̯,
A...² ɔro lei̯ki ɔro,
Ɔro lei̯ki bambusi ɔro.
Dɔksi taki, ‘Wisi-wasi fodɛn!’
En, twe, ɔro lei̯ki ɔro,
Ɔro lei̯ki bambusi ɔro.

1 The translation of this line is tentative, because the informant was not clear in his own mind what the song meant.

2 The woman is named here.

[p. 30]

 

Brown woman with big buttocks,

 

Big black woman with big vagina,

 

A...'s¹ hole like a hole,

 

A hole like a bamboo-hole.

 

The duck says, ‘You good-for-nothing!’

 

One, two, a hole like a hole,

 

A hole like a bamboo-hole.

12)
Tu bombina na lɔntu
Tu stonsiri na ɛŋ kɔntu,
Ala fei̯f' yuru mamɛntɛm
B...² sɩkin dɛ stei̯fu.

Two vagina-lips surrounding

Two testicles beside them (?),

Every morning at five o'clock

B...'s² penis is erect.

A lɔbi sɩ̨ngi may serve yet another purpose, for a woman may give a lɔbi sɩ̨ngi, with herself as the subject of it. In that case, the basic theme has neither the character of threat, ridicule, entreaty, nor obscene pleasantry, but becomes one of public confession. Let us take as an example of this, a girl who has led a promiscuous sex life and bears the reputation of a loose woman, but who has decided to turn over a new leaf. She arranges for a lɔbi sɩ̨ngi, which she herself leads. The songs sung at this ceremony all bear on the theme of the evil ways she has followed, the young men she has led astray, the women she has wronged, and ends with the declaration that she is beginning a new life. Whatever the lines, the chorus following the song does not fail to include the few dancing steps of mockery, with the usual exclamation ‘Ha! Ha!’ interpolated at the whim of the singers, either after every line or following any especially appropriate line. Such a public confession having been held, however, the community considers the woman cleansed, and socially respectable until such time as she returns to her former ways of life. An example of the key-note song of such a public confession follows:

13)
Ɛfi mi bɛn dɛ wą gudu-mąn,
Mi bɛn sɑ bai̯
Wą bɩgi buru-grɔ̨n.
Dą' są mi prani na ɩni?
Dą' są mi prani na ɩni?
Mi dɛ go prani ɔndrofeni na ɩni
Fō tɛ mi dɛ go na dɔro
Ɔndrofeni mu dɛ wą pɔmpera fō mi s'kin.

1 The woman is named here.

2 The man is named here.

2 The man is named here.

[p. 31]

 

If I were a rich man,

 

I would buy

 

A large farm.

 

And what would I plant in it?

 

And what would I plant in it?

 

I would plant experience in it

 

So that when I went forth

 

Experience would be a perfume for my body.

In this discussion of lɔbi sɩ̨ngi, we have indicated that in its institutional form, it is a factor which governs relationships between woman and woman, and which has to do with social criticism of women by women. Though in its external aspects this holds without exception, a man can, nevertheless, be avenged on a woman who has left him for another, by arranging and paying for a lɔbi sɩ̨ngi to be performed before her house. The actual staging of such a ceremony, however, is carried out by a woman, the man asking a sister or another member of his immediate maternal family to arrange the details. In such a case, his own role is restricted to that of onlooker.

In all instances of lɔbi sɩ̨ngi, except those where confession is the point of the singing, the woman against whom the singing is directed remains in her cabin and does not come out until the crowd has dispersed, and while the castigation of her deeds goes on; ‘She is too shamed. She cries all the time.’ The curbing of free improvisation of which we spoke before has, however, had the effect of reducing the urge to stage these spectacles, since the traditional songs of generalised ridicule that must be used today have not the force of social castigation that songs specially composed to meet the occasion in hand have, - songs identified exclusively with the one sung against, and remembered and sung for a long time afterwards further to shame the woman.

A woman, then, whose husband has been taken from her can have recourse to lɔbi sɩ̨ngi to avenge herself, but no institutionalised way of revenge, except as pointed out, by indirection, is available to the man whose wife has left him for another. Recourse to force would result in a jail sentence, and that force is not employed sufficiently to attract the attention of the police authorities, at least, is attested by the extent to which the people of Paramaribo are law-abiding.¹ A man who is intent on revenge can, and, it is said at times does, resort to magic. But, in a city like Paramaribo, where a large excess of women over men exists, it is not strange that we do not find many incidents where a man feels forced to take such measures. If a wife does leave her husband, it is not

1 So very small is the prison population of the city of Paramaribo, indeed, that it was a common complaint that there were seldom enough prisoners in the local jail to clean the streets!

[p. 32]

difficult for him to find someone to take her place, and the attempt to harm the seducer, or render the woman infertile by recourse to magical means occurs, therefore, only in exceptional cases.