7
“Householder”
Mourning and Ridicule
The song “Householder” (“Nnannyinimu”), written after the death of King Ssuuna II (r. ca. 1824–1854), directly criticized the deceased king and demonstrated the disillusionment of the public with his rule. Mukasa Kafeero explains,
Ssuuna II, the subject of the song, reached an extent of megalomania in his later years. According to some sources, he visited a traditional healer and diviner, who prophesied several things: he would probably not die; even when he died, he would return to life soon; and if his people dared to cry for him following his death, he would not come back to life. Accordingly, Ssuuna II instructed his subjects to not cry for him but instead sing in the event he did die. His musicians composed songs in preparation for the event. However, the king failed to realize that the musicians would sarcastically cry for him when he died due to the unpleasantries of his reign. The musicians despised one of Ssuuna II’s brothers, who had stolen goats from the town of Kyebando. At the time of the alleged activities, the king had not been to Kyebando for a long time, but his brother would go there and free the tethered goats from the people, claiming the king had sent him for the animals. However, he was in fact taking them for himself to eat them. So when he and the king died, the people were happy, noting that the person who had been eating their goats was gone. Ssuuna II’s musicians composed a sarcastic lamentation song about these incidents.
Ssuuna II’s subjects sang “Householder” at his funeral to lament him but also to celebrate him, and it became the most popular of all the songs they performed during the funeral. Since his reign it has become customary for Baganda to perform this song to mourn a deceased king. Today’s performers of “Householder” perform it at a slow tempo to reflect a mourning atmosphere, rarely accompanying it with drums. When they do accompany their singing with musical instruments, they play them softly. The sarcasm of “Householder” is consistent with the contemporary practice of funeral dirge performances, featuring idioms that ridicule the dead for what they did while they were alive. Other times, these dirges will ridicule the living for their bad habits, including those who never attend funerals of their neighbors’ family members or who rarely keep vigil. In such instances, the performers may rework the idioms and text of “Householder” to suit its performance contexts.
1Kafeero interview, July 28, 2005.“Householder” succeeds as a funeral song. Rather than prostrating itself to the late King Ssuuna II and affirming his successes blindly, it seeks to mourn through ridicule. It pays its respects by commenting on the leader’s shortcomings and imperfections during his reign, showing all the ways that he could have improved his rule. It encourages mourners, in the face of the king’s death, to consider their own personal shortcomings. It frames mourning as a multivalent affair, one that includes both respect and evaluation, and this allows a combination of perspectives to articulate the life and death of King Ssuuna II and to avoid the limiting gaze of a single interpretation.
Kafeero’s vocal performance of “Householder” features complex winding melodic lines that explore the full range of his voice. The convention is that multiple singers perform these phrases in a dialogic, call-and-response style. Some of Kafeero’s phrases share the same rhythmic motifs throughout his performance, an approach that makes the song sound repetitive.
1 Nnannyinimu, nnannyini mateeka, owulidde?
Householder, maker of the law, have you heard?
2 Bw’owulira mpitaba nga mpitaba ggwe, ssebo
When you hear me answer, I am responding to your call, sir
3 Eee
Yes
4 Nnannyinimu, nnannyini buyinza
Householder, principal of authority
5 Ekimaze embuzi e Kyebando ssalambwa ly’e Wamala, Nnabulagala
What has finished the goats in Kyebando is the puff adder of Wamala, Nnabulagala
6 Ssalambwa lyannuma, lyandekera nkovu
The puffer adder bit me and left me with a scar
7 Buli erifuluma libojjamu nze
Whichever snake comes out bites me
8 Eee
Eh
9 Naye alirimponya ndimuwa n’ensimbi
But whoever relieves me of it, I will even give money
10 Ekimaze embuzi e Kyebando ssalambwa ly’e Wamala, Nnabulagala
What has finished the goats in Kyebando is the puff adder of Wamala, Nnabulagala
“Householder” thrives on having various meanings that seemingly contradict each other. While it articulates the sadness following the king’s death and provides a somber tone of mourning, it also provides criticism for the dead king, ridiculing him for what he has done in life (lines 6–7), even giving reasons why his death might be a positive event (lines 5 and 10). As these two narratives unfold, the song simultaneously uses allegory to elude explicit affirmation of either of the meanings just described. In this way it becomes at once a tune of mourning, celebration, warning, criticism, and remembrance. “Householder” and the other songs discussed in part 1 originally utilized criticism as a political vehicle for enacting change and meeting public demands.