This evening STV1 (Swedish TV) featured a documentary on ABBA. It was "mycket bra" as a Swedish would have said about it. It kept me thinking if there is any such iconic group in Eritrea, if not in an international context, at least at national level. Maybe you could chirp in your ideas on this. Grabbing this opportunity, I thought of sharing here the following piece from some years back.
There is always a talent
we see evolve in front of our eyes. We don’t doubt that success would be its
last destination. We only give it time to fully develop and be the talk of town
one day. And Wedi Tikuabo is one such talent for me. Seeing him play the kirar (mesenqo) for the first time at school, we wished to spend every
evening to listen to him sing. Many of us who were his juniors in high school
crowded around him after school when he played the kirar.
In the first one, there
are some elements that have some deep roots in Tigrigna oral traditions. The
persona in the lyric tells his lover that he set out early in the morning to
protect her from a rogue of their village – named Wedi Haile – who breaks water
pots of the village girls. Oral tradition has it that Nigusse Wedi Elfu, a
legendary figure in the southern highlands of Eritrea, used to break water pots
of village girls as a shooting practice. There is also an oral poem collected
by Carlo Controsini that opens its verse with the phrase ‘Gue Leminey’ (meaning
green or unripe lemon). The usage of such types of symbols is very rare among
other singers nowadays.

Whenever I listen to
Yohannes Tikuabo sing now, I always go 18 years back in time. Although we
couldn’t foresee his prominence in the Eritrean music then, we saw his talent
even in dramas he acted with the Halai
Comprehensive Secondary
School drama group. The scenes of a drama in
which he acted as a young man who turned mad for the love of a girl are vivid
and unforgettable by many.
Ever since the graduation
ceremony of the first round national service, many people have waited Wedi Tikuabo
to release an album. Many of the single songs he released for over ten years
were certainly delightful. Singles like “Rigbit Meror”, “Nimenom Tefkri”,
“Kebebuwa”, “Luwamey” and others were real hits and had rocked many of his
fans.
When a friend asked Wedi Tikuabo
to sign him an autograph in the second half of 1990s – when he was not known to
a wider audience – he put his signature with a sentence that reads “One day
I’ll be someone, and you too.” He has certainly made himself a name and is
someone – an Eritrean music icon – just like his words.
Although he stated on an
occasion that he has got over 150 songs, Wedi Tikuabo had never released his
own single album till May, 2009. There could be many reasons for his delay for such
a long time; however, some of the reasons, according to an interview he gave in
2004, were that he wanted to keep his work up-to-date and timeless, he got
dissatisfied after he recorded some of the works, and that he was afraid not to
disappoint his fans who always encouraged him.
After the delay, the time
has come now and the album “Fewsi Libi” has reached a wide range of audience.
Unlike Wedi Tikuabo’s fears, his fans aren’t, for sure, disappointed. There is
no distinct feature one can give to all the songs in the album; it can’t be
argued that the songs have similarities in their melodies which is very common
among many singers of the country; if we try to find a distinct feature among
the songs, it will only be the profundity of the meanings of the lyrics which
are full of figurative languages.
The whole album can be
heard anytime with no fear of being disturbed. It includes eleven songs that
fall under the divisions of traditional and modern beats. The traditional songs
have melodies that make them different from the commonly incorporated
traditional melodies. While the modern ones are packed with slow pop, disco and
reggae beats. All the songs could not be regarded in one style; as a result,
they are catered with a variety of them making a listener pick different
favourites.
Wedi Tikuabo’s voice is
well-known for being sonorous; however, at times it had some vibrations when
performing live on stage. In “Fewsi Libi”, it appears that he has taken great
care in his voicing. There isn’t much unnecessary vibration of his voicing in
the songs. One can’t just go without wishing that he had sung all of his songs
in reggae beat as his voice fits really well for that beat.
Most importantly, all the
songs in “Fewsi Libi” carry their listeners to the end. They have a clarity
that enables a listener to keep up with their lyrics. Although this could
depend on the mixing quality, his strong voice has also helped Wedi Tikuabo to
be heard over the accompanying music. This is a very important issue as the
voices of many other singers are usually dominated by the music; consequently,
their voices are neither appreciated nor are able to transfer the message of the
song.
The lyrics of the songs
are really full of imageries and figurative languages unlike many songs
produced these days which lack depth in their expressions. In stead of literary
expressing wealth and destitution, Wedi Tikuabo used ‘butter, honey and number
of cattle’ in contrast with ‘pelt for a bed sheet as an only possession’ which
all are deeply rooted expressions in the society and are not used very often
these days.
Two songs in the album –
“Gue Leminey” and “Fewsi Libi” – have a persona in them who is from
countryside. Wedi Tikuabo, who grew up in a city, composed the lyrics with so
many terminologies taken from the lifestyle in countryside.

“Fewsi Libi” (a medicine
for the heart), also the title of the album, is about a young man who left his
ploughshares, cattle and farming to track his love down. The love of the young
man is symbolized a medicine for his heart and an angel; and lists the problems
he faced for not finding her. In both these two songs, Wedi Tikuabo used
vocabularies that are fit for country life; and it appears that he has made
efforts to dig out those expressions from the traditions which are fading in
the day-to-day language of the urbanized society.
The two patriotic songs in
the album – “Za Adi Amenti” and “Mieraf” – are no different from the other
songs in the deep meanings of their lyrics. They both signify the stand of Eritrea and its
people as well as the challenges they are going through.
“Kedereyti”, “Lbey
Ayneberen”, “Beluwa” and “Fikri Teasiru” are songs that get general appeal by
many just listening to them for the first time. The first being in a fast disco
beat, the second reggae. The lyric of the song “Lbey Ayneberen” draw a picture
of the persona and smitten one completely with it. In it, the persona daydreams
about his lover during a discussion with his friends. The juxtaposition of
lonely feelings despite in a crowd of friends passes the message of the song.
Wedi Tikuabo also reminds
those in their late 30s or early 40s about the time when they wanted to date a
girl in their teens. Going back for over twenty years, the way the youth asked
girls to go out with them was like in the song “Beluwa”. Now young people of both
sexes appear to have freer atmosphere to talk and create relationships. The
song fits decades back when those who loved had to keep it within themselves
and try to show it by persistent body language or indirect means of letting the
girl know it. In the fourth song “Fikri Teasiru”, Yohannes Tikuabo personalizes
love and calls it pitiable. The song goes that love was imprisoned for tying
down two hearts.
“Mezekerta Nay Metaabitey”
could make one drop his tears if he had ever tried to check out old photos. As
it is about the memories that flood from looking at old photos; it really is so
touching. Especially for Eritreans who went through the losses of brothers,
sisters, friends, fathers and mothers during long and continued wars, this song
puts one in deep thought and memory. Sung with predominantly strong vocal
harmony and minimal instrumental backing, its lyric are emotionally direct that
sink into one’s mind with profound effect. Wedi Tikuabo has used a single
instrument – kirar (mesenqo) – that sounds an acoustic
guitar. Its intro music goes for over one minute; and it really sets the mood
for mind-boggling thought. This song could mean listless things for every
individual and many things could be said about it. The style he has used in
this song appears to be experimental; and it probably would encourage others to
produce some of their songs with the accompaniment of a single musical
instrument.
One thing that should be
stated here, as a defect, is the absence of live drum and other Eritrean
traditional musical instruments (except kirar)
in the songs.
Fekuisu Mizaney - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Eify3mHD51E
Beluwa - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fwNYR6LKuhw
Beluwa - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fwNYR6LKuhw
Mezekerta Nay Metaabitey - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t_rm4yK1Vx8
(from 6:00 onwards)
(from 6:00 onwards)
ABBA's Dancing Queen - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G8O79uP0JmM
Disclaimer: This blog takes no responsibility in the distribution of the above shared music as they have already been uploaded in the net by outside sources.
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