Conclusion
The composition “As He Plucked Them” represents a distinct political strategy employed by court musicians serving King Kamaanya. The musicians strategically leveraged their artistic position to challenge the king’s behavior. Rather than using flattery like those who served his son, these musicians composed “As He Plucked Them” as social commentary on the king’s habit of yanking out men’s beards. They circulated private jokes suggesting the king consumed grasshoppers—his clan’s sacred totem—knowing such rumors would eventually reach him. This approach represents a calculated political maneuver, as the musicians deliberately created controversy that succeeded in modifying the leader’s behavior. Their actions demonstrate how court performers can use their privileged position to indirectly influence royal conduct through creative criticism disguised as entertainment, effectively establishing boundaries for even the most powerful ruler.
The various interpretations of “As He Plucked Them” bolster one another and allow us to grasp the song’s relevance in more familiar political contexts. As we have seen with some Kiganda proverbs, interpreting a song can happen along various modes, which can then generate new connections for listeners and readers. In music, as Denis-Constant Martin demonstrates, meaning is determined not by its sonic elements only but by the context in which they exists.
1Martin 2013, 49. This allows for multiple interpretations to emerge, which requires us to accommodate ambivalences or contradictions in meaning; music, however, is better suited than other forms of expression to contain these challenges.
2Ibid. In other words, it is not the conception that is important but the multiplicity of connection that might also spawn from it—the proliferation of multiplicity itself.
3See also Nannyonga-Tamusuza 2002.