Conclusion
Ssuuna II’s court musicians originally created “The Handsome Catch a Slight Squint” as a form of clever flattery for political advantage. By composing lyrics that dishonestly praise the king’s appearance, these musicians sought to improve their standing through strategic false admiration. The song has a rich potential of interpretability. First, within the specific time and place of its composition, the song would have been interpreted differently by the separate parties involved. For the musicians, the song was an expression of joy and relief, as well as a plea for forgiveness and mercy; for the executioner, the song was most likely another transparent lie, like the empty praises the musicians had earlier sung; for the king, the song was an affirmation of respect and approval from his subjects.
As we have seen in the preceding paragraphs, twenty-first-century Ugandans interpret “The Handsome Catch a Slight Squint” in multiple other ways, locating universal themes that have relevance in the political present as they were in the nineteenth century. Their seemingly at-odds interpretations amplify one another in facilitating a rich political dialogue. My research collaborators and I encourage such healthy political debate throughout this book, the former including people along different nodes of power relations who make measured decisions for themselves and those around them. If not for these multiple contrasting perspectives, we might miss the many intricacies that envelope political and social relations in favor of a singular, superficial narrative.