From: Biniam Tekle (biniamt@dehai.org)
Date: Tue Sep 15 2009 - 10:48:43 EDT
*“Fewsi Lbi”: The Long Awaited Album Paid Off
*Tedros Abraham, Sep 14, 2009
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 the 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.
Whenever I listen to Yohannes Tikuabo sing now, I always go 18 years back in
time. Although we couldn’t foresee his prominence in 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 as a result of 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 Lbi” 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 Lbi”, 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 that beat.
Most importantly, all the songs in “Fewsi Lbi” 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 Lbi” – have a persona in
them who is from the countryside. Wedi Tikuabo, who grew up in a city,
composed the lyrics with so many terminologies taken from the lifestyle in
the countryside.
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 symbol are very rare among other singers
nowadays.
“Fewsi Lbi” (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 being 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 goes 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 worthy of pity. The song goes that love was imprisoned for tying down
two hearts.
“Mezekerta Nay Metaabitey” could make one drop 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 many
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 weakness is the absence of live
drum and other Eritrean traditional musical instruments (except kirar) in
the songs.