Uncovering lost treasures | Revisiting “Sweet Lullaby”

I was a young, proud Solomon Islander but probably a little naive and nostalgic when the hit single “Sweet Lullaby” became an international phenomena. At school, I would listen to the song for hours and allow myself to be caught transfixed by its sheer brilliance. At a time when the internet was just a figment of my imagination, any information about the song was vague and mostly rumour. But I was able to confirm that it was indeed a lullaby taken from the Solomon Islands.

Digging around on the internet today, I found some interesting stories.

According to official stories, the lullaby was recorded by ethnomusicologist Hugo Zemp in 1970 in the Solomon Islands. The lullaby is entitled “Rorogwela” and was sung by a certain young Baegu women named Afunakwa. It was then later released by UNESCO as part of its Musical Sources collection. It was then taken by French musicians, Michel Sanchez and Eric Mouquet and produced under the guise of Deep Forest. The song catapulted Deep Forest into international stardom.

It was argued that the song is a collection of lullabies but it is a single song that does the rounds like a true lullaby would. Unfortunately, various video clips, including the official video clip, that have been made out of this song carry footage mainly from Africa thus strengthening the myth that the song may have come from the continent.

But the song owes its origin to the Baegu people, Malaitans from the northern region of Malaita. Malaita is the second largest island in the Solomon Islands archipelago. Coincidentally, I am also from the northern region of Malaita but have no connections to the Baegu people.

I believe that “Rorogwela” which translates, in my opinion, to two children or lullaby for children would have been sung by mothers as they try to put their babies to sleep. These lullabies would often be popular or gentle humming that would have otherwise been composed right on the spot. A bit like a rap freestyle performance. But there is reason to believe that this lullaby would have been a very popular tune and would have been formed from a real incident that happened in history. For lullabies in traditional Malaitan society served two purpose. One to lull you to sleep and the other to keep oral history.

In Matt Harding’s Where the Hell is Afunakwa?, we would meet Afunakwa’s nephew, her cousin’s son, who tries to explain the lyrics of the song to Matt. Matt is a youtube sensation whose viral dancing videos took the Internet by storm. It is hard to imagine what the attraction would be to see a “looney” dancing man but apparently people loved it. Matt’s promised follow up video is being eagerly anticipated but since 2005, we have yet to see Matt Harding resurface in the Solomon Islands to find Afunakwa.

Now I have renewed interest in the song and it basically talks of a promise by an older sister to her brother that she would care for him now that they were orphans. To be an ‘eno-mae’ would have been the last thing anyone could wish for because an ‘eno-mae’ would have a lowly status in society always to be second best in everything. The ‘eno-mae’s’ are not vilified by the community but they are pitied, always expecting a little less than everyone else and left to the mercy of their distant relatives or even strangers.

I take comfort in the words of the song that “even if you cry, do not despair, I will hold you.” The rest of the song cannot be translated easily as its true meaning has been lost through the passage of time and the natural evolution of languages the world over.

Little brother, little brother, stop crying, stop crying
Ko agi agi boroi tika oli oe lau
Though you are crying and crying, who else will carry you
Tika gwao oe lau koro inomaena
Who else will groom you, both of us are now orphans

More recent efforts of the same nature are the works of Pascal Oritaimae and Anthony Copping who produced “Last Voices from Heaven”, a journey through Melanesia in which Anthony searches for chants that are unheard of in the western world. The documentary was aired by the National Geographic Channel in 2004.

In Matt Harding’s youtube video, we discover that Afunakwa died sometimes in the 90’s and is survived by a son. However, her legacy and that of her people of Baegu lives on in a music that has outlived her, transcends all kinds of boundaries, cultures and religion. This is the power of music.