Oral Literature in Africa

Parts of 3 verses of well known song written into a paragraph. Snatching a few key words here and there without directly quoting them? But obscuring the truth like that behind a wall of plutocracy is immoral. Anything else is lying. I am judging a national writing competition, with another person, in Australia. We do this every year. The entries we are judging are memoirs and will not be published in a book or online.

A couple of the entries quote song lyrics. One of them is so good it could be second placed. We are reluctant to dismiss it. I know that this is regarded as being published, but it will be a small group who hears it. Has anyone any ideas about this? I would appreciate any advice. In my book, my character has the winter blues but she is funny. I am self-publishing a memoir that will not be sold, it is only for my family.

I quote various song lyrics. I am wondering if this would fit the non-profit, educational definition of fair use, since there will be no profit and its only purpose is to educate my family about my life. But can I drop in a word or two as he silently mouths them? I am assuming the same rules apply. Would I have to reference a hymnal? There are many hymns which are copyright protected.


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  • Lyrics poetry? | Books | The Guardian.

It was actually lots of fun making up lyrics for this show! Thank you, Bookbaby, for these resources! Now I know exactly how to request permission and check for what is in the public domain. A federal judge declared it in the public domain in The same goes for other copyrighted material, of course, but ASCAP and BMI, especially the former, are notorious for demanding a use fee equal to a performance fee whether you quote the entire song or not. We have a book in our catalog that has the theme of classic rock saving the universe.

Had I known the hassle to get lyrics permission ahead of time, I might have trashed the notion altogether. However, by the time the book was finished, the lyrics became integral to the story, which is set in the music business. I deal with Hal Leonard. I recently re-released a new edition of the book and had to get a new permission contract. They have a minimum charge now, whether you use one word or all the lyrics.

They have a most favored nations clause in the contract, so be sure you read it carefully for things like that. Also, the contract comes after they agree and after you pay. Be sure it includes every word you requested. I had to ask for a revision. She was inexplicably denied. They said they were not given a reason — which leads me to believe Bernie Taupin denied it himself. So she had to do something else. Because my series is musical in nature, I bit the bullet for book one.

As it is, I have to decide whether or not to even try to get the permission to include the original Don McLean version in an audiobook, and whether I should pursue it at all. As others have suggested, I have written my own song lyrics where possible.

Lyrics poetry?

Thank you for your reply. Maybe there is some hope although, slim to non. For one, I need permission to use the characters I picked to write about and secondly, my use of over thirteen different song lyrics, mostly all chorus, would probably delay it ever being published. I wonder how Mr. King did it and did it so fast. Boy did I pick a humdinger to write. I guess that happens when you have no direction in writing and only talent.

The words are both the title and the first line of the chorus from the Jimmy Buffett song. She uses the phrase as a mantra several times in the book, and another character picks it up from her in book 2 of the series. In such a case where title and lyrics are the same, how is it determined which is being used?

My MC uses song and movie quotes. Do I need to get permission for those as well? Thanks for sharing this. Is this alright to do without contacting asking for permission? I went to the PD site and found a couple of songs which I am using to start a couple of chapters.

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I have also used some hymns. I give credit for the author of the lyrics. I was going to. I do reference a couple of popular songs by title and one artist. What about one line of lyric is used and then the protagonist answers back in commentary on the line. Would that be a fair use exception. When I finally nailed them to the wall they said let us know if you sell over 50, copies. That was a publisher out of France. Another song I copied I also tried to write to the publisher and never heard back. I ended up giving a copy of my cd which is for sale thru everyone, to the actual artist, and he thanked me..

As far as books go, this was the same, I quoted a song, and an artist, and he read the book and no one has ever bothered me about getting permission. Also people are too dysfunctional these days to even answer their mail never mind go chasing anything! If not, what is the minimum fee, if there is such a thing? Any related experience on this out there? I quoted three lyrics, all with permission, in a non-fiction book about a hike North Country Cache. The fees varied wildly.

One let me use two lines for a copy of the book. With the proper acknowledgments etc… IS there anything with that over being used as part of the fiction????? I have been struggling with this question for some time. The way I see it, the over-litigiousness of U. I feel strongly that it falls under fair use.

That small indie published books that sell a few thousand copies may not be worth their time. This is not the same as some noble cause to protect artists, more like it attacks indie writers who have a legitimate moral write to speak and write on popular culture and its influences on our lives real and fictional. But these things come down to lawyers and agents who profit and whose bread and butter this is. My book has one poem that quotes a few song verses clearly crediting the copyright owner and will have a full bibliography, too.

I guess I could write around those lines if disallowed but I intend to publish it as-is and take my chances. My works speaks at length about the influence and context of this music in my life and that of my characters and is being critiqued and looked at from an analytical distance. At the same time, I respect the owners and creators of the music and I worry about the issue as a whole. I think the copyright issues and the global complexity as no one is working in just one country anymore are a morass and open to be exploited on both sides.

And are also prone to be challenged on both sides, as a lot of law is based on what is exactly in the record or what might set a new precedent if it goes that far. I see a serious problem if we are just scared off and basically feel handcuffed about talking about music or film. If she turned on the radio to a certain song as some of you have mentioned or is name after someone that should be fine in my view and not the providence of wealthy and powerful filmmakers and publishers only. What if two characters are having a conversation and one says a throw away line but the other makes a music reference with it?

Thanks for info so far, baffling but understandable to a point. My question is this. In my book, i have a very clever macaw, and he bursts into song at random, just needing a word or something to set him off. Your musical macaw needs to acquire the rights like everyone else. When you are writing a book that documents a true story, is it okay to quote lines from various published newspaper articles on the story particulars?

I wanted to use one or 2 lines from a song at the very beginning…before the book starts, after the acknowledgments page, which would include a credit to the artist, writers, etc.

Poetry and music are more closely related than we think | Books | The Guardian

Do I still need permission for that?? Great article, thank you. What if you quote a song title that is also included among the lyrics of that same song?

John Denver ♥ Take Me Home, Country Roads (The Ultimate Collection) with Lyrics

For example, I have a character who says: But the copyright owner might say: You are quoting from the song. And he might have a case, as I am not formatting the title as a title, which would be: And more importantly, how likely would it be that the copyright owner would sue me if I did publish the quoted sentence?

Poetry expresses what it is to be human – it’s therapy for the soul | Adam O’Riordan

I am about to self-publish Thank you!! So if I use my decoding method Fate Stack method , I can decode the last names of musicians in the same music band lineup during the same timeframe. The annotated version of the lyrics abbreviates the lyrics in a short, paraphrase like fashion. My book will be close to pages, with multiple code methods besides Fate Stacks. The tale is told via an artistic piece. Some entries require me to use longer lyrical passages. Currently, as the book is written, I point readers to online sites like LyricsFreak.

And how are all of these lyric sites not infringing on copyrights anyhow? Your email address will not be published. This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed. Please follow and like us: About Andre Calilhanna Andre Calilhanna has written 27 posts in this blog. A different way to legally quote lyrics in your books Doing Slapstick in the Kingdom of the blind. September 20, at 7: January 14, at 4: September 22, at 6: December 1, at 9: January 14, at 8: July 14, at September 29, at 8: December 1, at December 18, at 3: January 9, at 6: January 14, at 9: January 30, at January 3, at December 2, at December 2, at 3: December 2, at 6: December 2, at 7: January 5, at 8: August 2, at January 6, at January 14, at 5: January 3, at 1: February 22, at 4: July 1, at 8: March 27, at 1: June 19, at 4: June 22, at 7: July 5, at 2: Songs Without Lyrics Online says: July 22, at 6: December 7, at 3: January 14, at 2: November 16, at 6: January 21, at 4: Michael van der Riet says: September 27, at 1: January 14, at 6: January 15, at 3: January 15, at 9: January 16, at Sigurjon Helgi Kristjansson says: January 26, at 1: July 10, at 3: January 16, at 7: January 17, at 7: January 18, at 9: Suzanne Grieco Mattaboni says: January 20, at 2: January 23, at 6: January 28, at 7: Andrea Wilson Woods says: February 25, at 7: January 30, at 1: February 3, at September 12, at 6: April 14, at 3: April 15, at 4: Moon, you must shine, shine that I may eat the tadpoles; I sit on a stone, and my bones all rattle.

If it were not for my big mouth, The maidens would be crying for me. But some certainly exist particularly in South and Central Africa. The brief Hottentot song about a baboon gives a vivid little picture of his typical occupation: Among the South African Bantu the tradition of praising seems still strong, and recent praises although strictly of a different order from the songs quoted in this chapter are much more simple and lyrical in concept than the lengthy and grandiose praises of traditional culture.

Thus Hurutshe men describe a hare: Cattle come to mean far more to their owners than mere economic sustenance, and are accepted as emotional and evocative topics for deeply felt expression. This can be seen in the songs collected by recent investigators from the Nilotic cattle-keeping people, and also from a Dinka song published early in the century.

The individual singer typically praises his own bull in an outpouring of personal pride: My Bull is as white as the silvery fish in the river; as white as the egret on the river bank; as white as new milk. My bull is as dark as the rain-cloud, that comes with the storm. He is like Summer and Winter; half of him dark as the thundercloud; half of him as white as sunshine.

His hump shines like the morning star. His forehead is like a banner; seen by the people from afar. He is like the rainbow. I shall water him at the river, and drive My enemies from the water with my spear. Let them water their cattle at the well; The river for me and my bull. Drink, O Bull, of the river. Am I not here with My spear to protect you? In fact this can be seen even in many of the songs ostensibly about birds, for the bite of the comment is often its veiled relevance for human action, character, aspiration, or absurdity.

II. Poetry

There are lyrics about every facet of human activity. Love and marriage are probably the commonest themes, and the remainder of this section will illustrate some of these songs. Not only its attractions are indicated in song, but also its difficulties or absurdities. Thus one of the Ganda songs connected with marriage lightly warns young suitors: Not knowing that he is going with a girl with a fiery temper. You have nothing but a house? How would we live? Go to Bukavu; there you can earn plenty of money. You want me to marry me but you have nothing. Here the girl is pictured as sad and solitary without her husband; like so many others he has gone off many hundreds of miles to work in the mines.

I am most distressed, I am most distressed as my man has gone off to work, And he does not give me clothes to wear, Not even black cloth. Even the idea of courtly and romantic love is not always absent. It seems, for instance, to occur to some extent among the Hausa, whose rich tradition of love poetry is now influencing surrounding people. Where greatness is a fortune The thing desired is obtained only with time. Thy things are my things, My things are thy things, Thy mother is my mother, My mother is thy mother, Thy father is my father, My father is thy father!

Be patient, O maid! Be patient, young maiden! These are short lyric love poems that have become popular recently and are particularly associated with the new urban generation. It is sung to a distinct tune with syncopated rhythms, but there are relatively few of these tunes and thousands of different poems. There are two, related, themes in these lyrics: This theme of romantic and frustrated love gives rise, it seems, to genuine and deeply felt emotion, expressed in a condensed and symbolic form arising from one central image: Woman, lovely as lightning at dawn, Speak to me even once.

I long for you, as one Whose dhow in summer winds Is blown adrift and lost, Longs for land, and finds— Again the compass tells— A grey and empty sea. Like a tall tree which, fallen, was set alight, I am ashes. My heart is single and cannot be divided, And it is fastened on a single hope; Oh you who might be the moon.

Andrzejewski and Lewis The Nyamwezi of central Tanganyika around Tabora can sing: My love is soft and tender, My love Saada comforts me, My love has a voice like a fine instrument of music. There are many ways of describing this fertile theme. The Kuanyama Ambo of South West Africa have a series of brief antiphonal love poems used in courtship, with call and response between man and girl. Usually some analogy of a general rather than a personal kind is made between nature and human relationships: A palm stick bow does not like the rainy season it warps ; A woman fond of a man does not like to be among people.

All things in nature love one another. Never shall I fall in love with a suckling. Joy, joy, O mother, this one sleeps unrealising. I would like to fall in love with a dashing he-man. Yes, I would like a whirlwind of a man! The song expresses all her despair and the mundane yet heart-breaking aspects of parting: I thought you loved me, Yet I am wasting my time on you. I thought we would be parted only by death, But to-day you have disappointed me. You will never be anything. You are a disgrace, worthless and unreliable. I will put them in my pillow.

You take yours and put them under your armpit. The final examples of love poetry will be taken from their oigo lyrics, one of the many types of songs in Luo country. The girls walk to the hut where they are to be entertained by the men, by the light of the full moon. As they go, they sing these songs, individually or in groups, taking it in turns to sing the whole way.

Meanwhile the young men are waiting, straining their ears for the first sounds of the song. When it is heard, one of them announces to the rest, at the top of his voice: The girls come and are welcomed with gifts. The tunes are simple and rather repetitive with an insistent rhythm. This distinctive style comes out, even in translation, in the following poem.

The characteristic refrain, doree ree yo , is far more repetitive and appealing than can be represented in an English text: I am possessed, A bird bursting on high with the ree lament I am the untiring singer. At other times we are given a picture of another side of her nature—wilful and unpredictable, her impulsiveness breaking through the ordinary rules of behaviour. This comes out in one song that is arranged round the image of a family setting out, led by the favourite bull who symbolizes their unity.

Impulsively, the girl runs ahead to keep up with the animal, in spite of the pain in her chest from her exertion: Our bull is starting off for Holo, The Kapiyo clan have fine cattle. Then the giggling one said, Then the playful one said, How amusing The impulsive ree singer Is a forest creature lamenting the pain in her chest; The forest creature lamenting the pain in her chest, The spirited one lamenting the pain in her chest, The giggling ree singer Is a forest creature lamenting the pain in her chest, The Nyagwe Gune lamenting the pain in her chest, The impulsive ree singer Is a forest creature lamenting the pain in her chest.

It is one which does not necessarily correspond in all ways to the reality, but forms a conventional part of this particular form of art: She lives in a dreamland, though much tempered by the idealised role she longs to fill in the community… As with a bird, singing appears to be the natural outpouring of the life force itself. The prestige of clan and family depended not only on the prowess of its young men but also on the zealous way in which its women represented its interests in song and dance.

For a group of girls the oigo was a means of announcing their presence and of differentiating themselves from the older married women; for an individual a way of expressing her idiosyncrasies Owuor That is, there is response of some kind between soloist and chorus, and the song depends on the alternation between the two parts. It is he who decides on the song, and when it should start and end. Even more important, he can introduce variations on the basic theme of the song in contrast to the part of the chorus, which is more or less fixed.

In other cases, the soloist has complete scope to improvise his part of the verse as he chooses apart perhaps from the very first line. This type of composition results in many impromptu and often ephemeral lyrics. This is partly a question of who the performers are.

Sometimes, for instance, there is more than one cantor; two or even three may interchange verses with each other as well as with the accompanying chorus. In addition to these, a little elaboration in the form of a short introduction based on the words of the song may be sung by the cantor or by a member of the chorus who wishes to start a new song before the leading phrase A is begun.

Examples of this will be found in the music of kple worship of the Ga people. It is also greatly exploited in Adangme klama music Ibid.: Further extensions of the basic principle are also common. One might be built up on a kind of sequential pattern so that A and B are repeated at different levels, resulting in a form of A B A 1 B 1. The complete unit now of four sections, or even of six, eight, or more can be repeated several times over. In this type too the cantor is at liberty to introduce slight variations, melodic or textual. This raises the problem of how the song is ended.

Sometimes the end is abrupt and the leader simply stops; but at other times he joins in the chorus response, often with a prolonged final note. In other songs there is a special closing refrain. In songs of this pattern there is not the same balanced alternation between the two parts. Instead the soloist merely introduces the song. The cantor might sing the entire verse of the song right through once, and this is then repeated by the chorus. An example of this is the simple but effective Ghanaian song: I sleep long and soundly; Suddenly the door creaks.

I open my eyes confused, And find my love standing by. Mother Adu, I am dying. Adu, kinsman of Odurowa, What matters death to me? By singing in a dramatic tone he can encourage people to join the dance Jones In other cases, the cantor sings only a short introductory phrase, and the chorus then sings the main song. The form is highly flexible: When the cantor has sung through, he may sing a short leading phrase before the chorus comes in.

Further, the main chorus refrain can be interrupted by a cantor at appropriate points… Furthermore a number of cantors may take turns at leading the chorus. Either of them may sing an introductory phrase before the chorus comes in, or they may take turns at leading each new verse. Sometimes cantors singing in twos are encountered. All these show that this form is flexible, and that there is room for building up complex sectional patterns on the basis of the singing roles taken by the participants.

There are various combinations of the two main types described, including songs like the well-known Adangme klama , which open with an introductory section by the cantor sung in free rhythm, followed by a section in strict tempo with a solo lead and chorus refrain or overlapping solo and chorus parts , repeated three or more times; each new stanza can then be treated in much the same way as the song proceeds Nketia a: Sometimes basically solo songs in declamatory style are supplemented by a chorus or instrumental addition Nketia In other songs the antiphony is between two soloists rather than solo and chorus.

Thus the Kassena-Nankani of northern Ghana have a special type of song in which a young man who wishes to sing the praises of a girl conventionally asks the assistance of a friend: Alternatively the antiphony may be between two choruses. It is also a most suitable form for the purposes to which it is put. It makes possible both the exploitation of an expert and creative leader, and popular participation by all those who wish or are expected to join in. The repetition and lack of demand on the chorus also make it particularly appropriate for dancing.

Finally the balanced antiphony both gives the poem a clear structure and adds to its musical attractiveness. Thus one of the song types recorded from Zambia, the impango , seems to be designed primarily for solo singing Jones Men among the Bushmen sing personal and plaintive songs as solos Lomax Such songs can develop the verbal content, unlike the antiphonal songs that normally seem to involve a lot of repetition.

It is by no means always clear in the sources how far a song is in fact sung by chorus and leader and how far just by one person, because those taking down texts tend to avoid repetitious phrases and to transcribe the song as if it were sung by one person only. Nketia in fact, with characteristic precision, explains that these are sung by groups of women, each taking it in turns to lead the verses of the song; in the case cited here the last three lines are sung by the chorus.

But in most other sources this explanation would not be added and the words would have suggested a single singer. The song is in honour of a loved one: He is coming, he is coming, Treading along on camel blanket in triumph. Yes, stranger, we are bestirring ourselves. Agyei the warrior is drunk, The green mamba with fearful eyes.

Yes, Agyei the warrior, He is treading along on camel blanket in triumph, Make way for him. He is coming, he is coming. Treading along on sandals i. Adum Agyei is drunk. The Green Mamba, Afaafa Adu. The verbal expression and the melody of the song are interdependent. So much is clear—but beyond this there are many areas of uncertainty. For one thing, the relative weight given to melody and to verbal content seems to vary in different areas and between different genres of song.

For instance, the work songs designed to accompany and lighten rhythmic labour lay little stress on the words, and much more on the melody and rhythm, while in love songs the words take on greater interest. Further, there seems to be no firm agreement among musicologists about how far, when discussing African lyrics, one can generalize about such matters as scale, melody structure, rhythm, and harmony; 23 few detailed studies have been published for particular areas.

Again, there is some controversy on this score, but it seems clear that there is often a relationship between the tones of speech and the melody, so that the melodic pattern is influenced by linguistic considerations. This is well documented for some West African languages. The relationship seems to be flexible, with the possibility of variation and tone modifications.

Nketia sums up the position for the several Ghanaian tone languages: We would not, in traditional Ghanaian music, expect a high tone always to be sung in the upper or middle compass, or a low tone in the middle or lower compass. Within each compass we would only expect the melodic working-out of high, mid and low tone relationships.

The verbal intonation would not provide us with the beginning or ending tone, but it may guide the immediate direction of movement from the beginning tone or movement towards the ending tone… The tonal relationship between words and melody is not rigid.

However, it would be as wrong to assume rigid relationship as it would be to conclude that because such deviations occur, the tones of words are unimportant in the construction of melodies Nketia The fundamental importance of rhythm in vocal as in other African music is widely accepted, but there is little agreement as to its exact structure. In the former songs or portions of songs the singing is not co-ordinated with any bodily rhythmic activity such as work or dancing. The very common songs to strict time, however, have a beat that is articulated with dancing, rhythmic movement, percussion by instruments, or hand-clapping, all of which contribute to the form and attractiveness of the song.

These rhythms are worked out in many different ways in various types of song, but one commonly recurring musical feature seems to be the simultaneous use of more than one metre at a time, as a way of heightening the rhythmic tension. As would be expected in poetry, there is a tendency to use a language somewhat different from that of everyday speech. This is particularly evident in the case of sung lyrics, where the melodic line imposes its own requirements, and in tonal languages, where there is the additional complication of the relationship between tune and tone.

Connected with the importance attached to the musical aspect in these relatively short, sung lyrics is the frequent occurrence of meaningless words and onomatopoeic sounds which fill in the line, add length to the song as actually performed, and are used especially in chorus responses. Some songs, too, tend to be verbally fragmentary rather than fully developed poems as far as the words are concerned, though the fragments themselves may have a terse poetic interest e. But there are many variations between different types of songs, each with its own style and diction, and, indeed, in contrast to comments on the subject-matter and contexts of songs, there is relatively little published work available.

This raises the difficult question of composition—difficult mainly because so little interest seems to have been shown in this aspect of African poetry. This may happen less to incidental and recreational songs like most of the lyrics described here than to songs definitely tied to particular solemn occasions such as initiation or religious ritual. A common pattern— demanding further research—may be for the music to remain basically the same while the words change.

Others, however—and this is much more commonly mentioned in recent sources— are ephemeral only. The Ibo, for instance, are said to create impromptu poems all the time and forget them Green Similar comments have been made about songs among many African peoples. Even such obvious points as the number of repetitions used by a particular leader, the order of the verses, the variations by instruments in an accompanied song, and the varied movements of dancers—all these contribute to the finished work of art as a unique performance of which the verbal text of the song is only one element.

The leader of the song adds new verses arising from the basic themes recognized by him and the chorus. Tracey describes this process in Southern Rhodesia. The chorus parts of a song are expected to remain the same, but the soloist mushauri introduces the song and is allowed full scope for originality during its performance. If he is not able to compose his new verse swiftly enough to keep his initiative, he either repeats the last verse several times to allow himself time for thought or, if necessary, yodels the tune, and finally sings to his neighbour to replace him in the lead Tracey This pattern by which the antiphonal form is exploited through improvisation by the leader and relatively unvaried support by the chorus seems to be very common indeed.

At least in some cases, choruses are quick to pick up the melody and words, often after having heard them just once or twice from the leader, and to sing them enthusiastically even though they were previously unknown to them.