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We are an all inclusive drumming group that is based in North Yorkshire. We all have the ability to drum, we all have heart beats which are the rhythm of our souls....

Sunday 15 February 2009

Here's a you-tube video by Voices of Africa acapella I rather like, performing the song Akiwowo. This isn't the rhythm we know as Akiwowo though, it's a traditional Nigerian popular song about the train-man. (the conductor or inspector , I think.) I like the percussion line-up which gives some ideas how the richness of our percussion could be developed.
       Link to You Tube
The words are:
Akiwowo Oloko Ile
Akiwowo Oloko Ile
Iowo Gbe Mi Dele
Iowo Gbe Mi Dele
Ile Baba Mi
Akiwowo Oloko Ile
Chorus: O Se O (x4)
Oloko Ile
Akiwowo, Se Wowo
Akiwowo, Se Wowo
Akiwowo, Se Wowo
Oloko Ile
But apparently this is really an adaptation of the more traditional words, where the trainman's name is Bamidele:
Bamidélé, olókò ilè,
Bamidélé, olókò ilè,
Jòwó gbé mi dé’lé,
Jòwó gbé mi dé’lé,
Ilé baba mi, o-ó.
Bamidélé, olókò ilè.

WHICH MEANS (Language is apparently Yoruba)

Bamidele, conductor of the train,
Bamidele, conductor of the train,
Please take me home,
Please take me home,
To my father’s house, o-o
Bamidele, conductor of the train
Bamidele is a first name and it means "Follow me home" in Yoruba. Oloko ile - the train master
Hey, that's my first ever blog!

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