As a musicologist, I find it very appealing to carry out a holistic review of songs that catch my fancy irrespective of age, genre and the artist who sang the song. So many times we focus more on movie reviews and forget that songs can also be reviewed. Whenever you try to do a song review, you will notice that it will warrant you to listen very critically to the lyrics of the song which most times we do not do. I have heard someone say that he does not care about the lyrics of a song rather he cares more about the beat and the usage of a song. It may interest you to know that this is the story of a lot of people when it comes to listening to a song. To some is all about the beat and the artist while to a handful of others, the message a song carry is more important. I did not just decide to do a song review on this particular song and I must tell you that doing a song review does not just come into mind there must be something that will serve as the push or motivation for one to carry out a song review.
I was moved into doing a song review because of the discussion I had with some friends over the natural element we all know which is called Water. While this discussion was going on the song Water No Get Enemy by Fela began to play in my mind. The reason was not far-fetched because this discussion was revolving around water and its properties. At some point in the discussion, I was moved to sing the chorus line for my friends to understand my point of argument. The reason why we went into such a discussion or should I call it an argument was because of the heavy rain that caused a great flood which forced one of friend and his whole family to vacate their house with nothing other than the clothes they had on them at the time of this flooding. I was truly touched when he called me over the phone to narrate their ordeal and how the flood took over their entire house in a twinkle of an eye. I felt very sorry for him because I understand what it means for someone to have such an experience. This experience made this friend of mine believe that water is also destructive and this led me into singing the chorus of the song by water no get enemy to him.
Water, e no get enemy!
Omi o l’ota o
Water, e no get enemy!
This chorus comes after a call from the lead singer (Fela).
A Review of the Song (water no get enemy by Fela)
Looking at the song structure and its lyrics, one would say that Fela must have had an experience with water either in the negative or in the positive for him to write such lyrics, but I want you to understand that he may not have had any personal experience about any destruction caused by water. I believe that he had his reasons for singing such a song that tries to give us an understanding of what water is and can be. I am moved to state here that water and love can be weighed to be of the same class where both are known to be no enemy of anyone except for those who do not see their beauty. For us to have a proper look at the song, I will try not to go too deep into how or what motivated him into writing the song but I believe that he succeeded in passing a message across to anyone who cares to listen. The song “water no get enemy” was in the 1975 album which he titled Expensive Shit and the major reason while he sang the song was because was preaching about nature and how mankind should work together with nature to achieve greatness. He was among those who believed in the power of nature.
The song originated from a Yoruba proverb which talks about nature and its efficacy. The instrumentation can be described as “Afrobeat” filled with lots of horns ranging from Saxophones, Trumpets, and Trombones. It is common knowledge that Fela was known to have infused Jazz into the indigenous Afrobeat of the Africans. He was also known for his prolific play of the saxophone and this made his songs more unique. Now, let us look at the lines of the song “water no get enemy”.
Lyrics of Water no Get Enemy
T'o ba fe lo we omi l'o ma'lo
If you want go wash, a water you go use
T'o ba fe se'be omi l'o ma'lo
If you want cook soup, a water you go use
T'o ri ba n'gbona o omi l'ero re
If your head dey hot, a water go cool on
T'omo ba n'dagba omi l'o ma'lo
If your child dey grow, a water he go use
If water kill your child, a water you go use
T'omi ba p'omo e o omi na lo ma'lo
Ko s'ohun to'le se k'o ma lo'mi o
Nothing without water
Ko s'ohun to'le se k'o ma lo'mi o
Omi o l'ota o
Water, e no get enemy!
Omi o l'ota o
Water, e no get enemy!
If you fight am, unless you wan die (water, e no get enemy)
I say water no get enemy (water, e no get enemy)
If you fight am, unless you wan die (water, e no get enemy)
Omi o l'ota o (water, e no get enemy)
I dey talk of Black man power (water, e no get enemy)
I dey talk of Black power, I say (water, e no get enemy)
I say water no get enemy (water, e no get enemy)
If you fight am, unless you wan die (water, e no get enemy)
I say water no get enemy (water, e no get enemy)
I say water no get enemy (water, e no get enemy)
Omi o l'ota o (water, e no get enemy)
Omi o l'ota o (water, e no get enemy) source
Looking at the above lyrics you will understand better why Fela believes that water does not have an enemy. The Language of the song flows from Yoruba to Pidgin English and you must have seen that the song structure is in form of call and response in the chorus part. The song started with the instrumentation as it is a known style of Fela to introduce his songs with great horns arranged so well that it can take over 10 musical bars before the music proper.
Conclusion
Having looked at this song review, I will ask you the same question I asked my friend during the discussion. Does water have an enemy? This is where we must draw a line as to what we do or how we see nature in times of disasters caused by nature. I am among the school of thought that believes that nature should not be disturbed in any way. We have heard cases of landslides, floods, erosion and all other natural disasters. It may interest you to know that most of these disasters are caused by men overstepping the boundaries between nature and man. How do we talk about flood when we have built our houses even on waterways? We may call it living on the island or anything we choose to but critically looking at it, we will understand that nature especially water has not carried out any destruction on its own without the help of man. This should be a piece of advice to all of us when it comes to the building of houses. We must make sure not to disturb the free flow of water by trying to build on the water path. The free flow of water as we all know cannot be stopped without having a proper mechanism put in place to avoid overflow which will result in flooding.
For me, water is the greatest friend of man and I have seen that water respects its boundaries. This is why when you visit the beach, you will notice that the water flows with the wave and once it gets to its banks it rescinds. Even when there is flooding which must have been caused by men, water will always go back to where it came from. To me, that is the very height of respect nature accords to humans. I will plead with you to go listen or watch the video of the song “water no get enemy” by Fela a great Legend of Afrobeat.
I love you all.
I really needed to comment cause I find the Yoruba right up quite different from the pidgin I’m not from Yoruba but I used google translate T’o be fe lo we omi l’o ma’lo which means if you want to swim don’t use it Then he came down to say if you want to wash a water you must use So I’m really curious cause that goes down to other lyrics There’s like a contradiction And I found out something about ‘water’ reading the Bible I’d love for you to reply