11 “Gganga Had a Narrow Escape” or “They Chopped Off His Fingers”

The performer of the first version, Ssemambo Ssebuwufu (ca. 1959–2015), shared this story about the song’s history:

During his performance of the song, Ssebuwufu sings to the accompaniment of a seventeen-slab xylophone called akadinda. Because the performance requires at least two musicians to play the instrumental part, I play with him. Ssebuwufu serves as omunazi (literally, “initiator”) or player of the song’s primary melody, while I act as omwawuzi (literally, “divider”) or player of the composition’s secondary melody. We sit on opposite sides of the xylophone and play alternating or interlocking notes, with each of our strikings comprising two notes separated by an interval of an octave. Ssebuwufu plays his initiator part on the beat, while I play my divider part on the offbeat. Together, our parts form isorhythms, and their interlocking allows for the parts to contribute equally to the realization of the song’s overall instrumental melody, which supports Ssebuwufu’s singing.

We begin performing the interlocking instrumental parts at a slow tempo and in triple meter, with Ssebuwufu starting with the initiator part before my divider part joins soon after. Our performance gradually increases in speed and intensity until we abruptly stop and deconstruct the piece halfway through the performance. Ssebuwufu then begins to play his initiator part again, this time at a much slower tempo than before. His vocal accompaniment joins in with the mix and ambles along with the initiator, instrumental, part for the rest of the song’s performance, quietly yet consistently. He sings various lyrics to the accompaniment of this part for the rest of the performance, pausing a couple of times to reset the alignment of his instrumental and vocal parts:

Ssebuwufu’s singing has a mournful or somber tone that captures the emotion of the song’s overall storyline. He emphasizes the significance of some of the textual phrases by repeating them, in varied ranges. His vocal phrases tend to follow a similar pattern, in which he starts out on high notes and descends to a lower range for the end of each phrase. He repeats the ends of some phrases verbatim but with a slight rise in intonation, as if reiterating a question. As he plays and sings, I mark the downbeat with a snapping or clacking sound that results from hitting my beaters together, a sound that also serves as a timeline for the overall rhythmic framework of the song for the second half of its performance. Overall, the complementarity of our instrumental parts and that of the xylophone parts and Ssebuwufu’s voice has a mutual relationship. That is, these parts are not just equally important; there are also defined by each other’s existence.

The lyrics of “Gganga Had a Narrow Escape” convey Gganga’s sentencing through metaphorical language. “Fingers” (lines 1–4, 6–8, and 12) and “meat” (lines 1–2 and 6–8) serve as euphemisms for the male and female sexual organs, while “to eat” (line 12) is a euphemism for sexual acts.2Ssebuwufu interview, June 23, 2009. “Householder” (lines 9–11) refers to the king, “touch him” (lines 9–10) means disturbing his peace, and “will cry ‘yaaye’” (lines 9–10) suggests one will regret disturbing him. With this context in mind, the otherwise vague lyrics of “Gganga Had a Narrow Escape” illuminate its variety of meanings. Without this explicit context, however, interpreting the song will take various directions. It is important for us to note how the lyrics never explicitly blame or criticize the punishers’ decision. Instead, the singer suggests alternate ideas for how the king could have punished Gganga (line 12). This process of advocating, rather than criticizing, is a delicate semantic balance that court music performers and subjects alike tend to consider when speaking with the king. Even the justification for the alternate punishment is indirect. Rather than saying that the king caused the “thief” to be unable to eat, it says that his punishers should have left his fingers because they made eating possible (line 12). The only active part of the lyric is the fingers, as they “allowed” the “thief” to eat. The basic meaning of the lyric remains the same; however, by using less causal language, these lyrics reflect criticizing the punishment rather than the king. Even the story of the song itself remains somewhat passive, as the description of the meat thief is an illusion to hide the true events behind the song. The closing lyric (line 12) suggests that the original performers of “Gganga Had a Narrow Escape” pleaded (on behalf of Gganga) for a less permanent punishment as well as a sentence that was not death, shedding light on the context of court judicial decisions.

Albert Ssempeke Bisaso (b. 1979), the presenter of the alternate version of “Gganga Had a Narrow Escape” titled, “They Chopped Off His Fingers,” opens his performance with the rapid plucking of the bow harp (ennanga). This is followed by an instrumental featuring two parts that interlock in a manner like that of the xylophone parts described earlier. Bisaso plucks the strings of the bow harp with his thumbs and index fingers, and the two instrumentals quickly lock into a part that uses a consistent, swift tempo that he maintains throughout the duration of his performance. Following the instrumental introduction, his vocals soon follow, characterized by a mellow delivery while at the same time covering a range of different notes. Bisaso’s voice fluctuates up and down in tonal range quite a bit before his performance ends very abruptly after the final lyric. Contrary to Ssebuwufu, Bisaso sings with more confidence, staying completely calm, as he sings the full version of “They Chopped Off His Fingers”:

Bisaso’s repetition of the lyric “Gganga had a narrow escape” (lines 2, 10, 21, and 23) highlights its importance to the identity of the song. The recurrence of this statement suggests the king’s power and omnipotence, which his subjects never question. Bisaso also centers on the response that the royal court gave to Gganga’s less-than-reputable behavior. Although Ssebuwufu’s version describes this behavior, Bisaso’s focuses far more on the process of deliberation that preceded the court’s decision regarding Gganga’s fate. In a couple of lyrics (lines 6 and 22), the singer asks the king what he should do, perhaps wondering what punishment would be best, given Gganga’s crime. Other lyrics mention that Gganga should have hired a lawyer so that he could have a role in the deliberative process and fight for his freedom and life through his own means (lines 9 and 20). Throughout the song’s narrative, we repeatedly hear of Gganga’s fingers (lines 1, 3, 5, 8, 9, 11, 13–16, and 19–20), which remind us of the punishment he received: the amputation of his penis. The loss of fingers represents both the price Gganga paid for misbehavior and the compassionate way the court spared his life. We also hear of his crime (stealing food) in line 12. While Bisaso’s overall take on the story of Gganga speaks to the deliberation and consensus that might go into the king’s decisions, it is clear here that this punishment is not the sole decision of the king, as the song evokes many other figures that impact the trial’s outcome. These include court musicians, who might have collectively struggled to save the life of one of their colleagues despite the risks of such an undertaking. Some historical sources posit that to avoid immediate death, the musicians composed “Gganga Had a Narrow Escape” and imbued it with indirect communication, complex hermeneutics, and subversive undertones which meant to sway Mwanga II to act differently.