THERE IS FIRE ON THE MOUNTAIN BT BISOLA ELEMIDE (ASA)
This song speaks to certain social sensibilities and political realities that have been ravaging the progress and the development of the country. Asa in a symbolic way refers to these multifaceted challenges as “Fire on the Mountain.” This metaphorical expression, which is actually deployed to reflect the appalling situations of the country, establishes the problems of this country in terms of gravity and urgency.
SOCIAL IMPRUDENCE
There is fire on the mountain
And nobody seems to be on the run
Oh there is fire on the mountain top
And no one is running.
From these opening lines, she reveals that the problems of Nigeria are not just apparent in so many ways but the disposition of her citizens in the face of these realities seems to be pathetic and somewhat ridiculously relaxed. No concerted effort is being made in any way by those directly affected to curb this ever-growing social decadence, economic profligacy and political despotism ransacking the nation. The word “Fire” here is a figurative metaphor for the consequences of corruption, social insecurity, political instability, judicial injustice, ethnic loyalty, misappropriation of public funds among other challenges which are not only impeding the growth of the nation but also leading her in a retrogressive direction. This proverbial song attempts comparing a post-colonial Nigeria to a figurative mountain fire capable of destroying lives and properties within a very short period of time.
POLITICAL INSTABILITY AND INSECURITY
However, she goes further to a more critical appraisal of the society as she draws some clear instances which reverberate the detrimental state of the country.
I wake up in the morning
Tell you what I see on my TV screen
I see the blood of an innocent child
And everybody’s watching
Through these lines, she mirrors a societal experience of arrant insecurity of lives and properties by reflecting the type of tragic news that greets an average Nigerian citizen each day. Some of these news items are the massive killings of the innocent ones across the country, the massacres of fellow countrymen by religious sects, the various cold-blooded murders of citizens, political insurgencies, ethnic or tribal clashes etc which remain strongly as the various “flames” that have engulfed this nation. The morning of an ideal society is supposed to provide the people with encouragements and inspired invigorations unlike what is obtained in Nigeria. The media (television and radio stations as well as the newspapers) are condensed with several kinds of unpleasant news, some of which subject matters are those of total violation of the fundamental rights of the citizens and outright disregard of human dignity. Her attention shifts towards her physical environment as she sees a “soldier through her window” who should have ordinarily been a beckon of hope in a very gloomy situation.
Now I’m looking out my window
And what do I see
I see an army of a soldier man
Matching across the street
The military is expected to be an assurance of hope and absolute security for the civilian. Though there seems to be casualties everywhere, yet the “soldier man matching” invokes a sense of a military man on duty assumed to give the citizens a reliable sense of protection. Nevertheless, the subsequent lines totally negate this opinion.
Hey soldier man
Tomorrow is the day you go to war
But you are fighting for another man’s cause
And you don’t even know him
The Nigerian Armed Forces which is an institution believed to serve the interest of the people has regrettably become an organization monopolized by a little fragment of the political population as an instrument of self aggrandizement and empowerment of individual egocentric objectives which oftentimes is to the detriment of the impoverished populace. She satirizes the unfortunate reality obtained in the military arm of government which is fast becoming an institution at the service of an influential few.
This stanza in the song is also a very crucial one to the thematic focus Asa attempts to address. The import of certain lines like “Tomorrow is the day you go to war” speaks to the imminent social disaster which could lead to the destruction of lives and properties, displacement of loved ones, casualties in an unimaginable degree and a lot of other forms of devastations. It evokes a mental picture of a world at the brink of collapse, a nation at the fringe of anarchy and a country at the edge of destitution. Even the word “tomorrow” in this context enlightens on the proximity of this looming doom and the nearness of the danger she preempts. Moreover, this is not as pathetic as the fact that the loyalty of the Nigerian Army has been transferred from the people to a few top officials which she calls “him.” The “him” here represents the supreme authority who capitalizes on his political strength as a means of perpetrating evil. Nigeria as a nation has seen such tyrants like Sani Abacha, Ibrahim Babangida, Yakubu Gowon, among others, who at one point or the other in her political history manipulate their relevance as a means of relishing their despotic tendencies.
CIVILIAN PITFALLS
There is fire on the mountain
And nobody seems to be on the run
Oh there is fire on the mountain top
And no one is running
The repetition of these lines places an emphasis on the horrendous sociopolitical challenges of the country and the reckless lackadaisical disposition of Nigerians in the face of these realities. She however transfers her attention from military decadence to civilian pitfalls. Using the motif of “love,” she appraises a very fundamental aspect of the society.
Hey Mr. Lover man
Can I get a chance to talk to you?
Cause you are fooling with a dead man’s corpse
And you don’t know what you do
“Mr. Lover man” in this context denotes civilians in an affectionate relationship with either human or material entity. Asa does not deny the universality of love as a relevant aspect of human experience, but she tries to redefine its essence by evaluating the means it is shown. These lines: “you are fooling with a dead man’s corpse, and you don’t know what you do” expatiate the uncultured manner man can express his desire and satisfy his emotional lust. In Africa, the dead are expected to be treated with great respect by according them proper burial rites as they are deemed to be custodians of certain esoteric powers. Fondling with a corpse for any poignant reasons is seen as the height of human desperation possible. It should also be mentioned at this juncture that it is not just human beings that can be loved. In fact, it is a popular belief that civilians, especially politicians of the 21st century Nigeria are deeply in love with the enlargement of their financial capacities which may sometimes inspire them to be malevolently desperate. Human beings are axed down in several ritualistic killings and their body parts (usually private parts) dismembered to satisfy the greed and financial lust of these wicked ones. More than enough incidents have been reported through the media about these heart-rending homicide of innocent people feared to have been used for fetish purposes by the power drunk and money thirsty civilians.
So you say you have a lover
And you love her like no other
So you buy her a diamond
That someone has died on
Don’t you think there is something wrong with this?
She continues in her curiosity by raising a very important philosophical question about the means through which the “Lover man” satisfies his emotional inclinations. It can be deduced from the above lines that the lover prioritizes the entity of his love all every other things. Nevertheless, in the bid to celebrate the object of his love, his transactions become questionable. Purchasing a diamond upon which a man died is an inventive conceit which illustrates the activities of many civilians who can go any length to gratify their individual monetary and material lust. The diamond upon which “a man died” can be said to refer to a precious possession wrestled out of a bloody combat or at the expense of another man’s life.
CULTURAL AND MORAL DECADENCE
Tell me who’s responsible
For what we teach our children
Is it the internet?
Or the stars on television?
Why o why o
She does not only lament the lapses of the sociopolitical system or the moral decadence of the various stakeholders of these parastatals, she also wails over the defective cultural upbringing of the younger generation who are believed to be the beckon of hope of this nation. Every ideal African society seeks to instill her cultural values and traditional principles in the lives of the younger generation and any lapses encountered at this point can result to total alienation and separation from ones’ root. As a matter of fact, the continuity of a society’s cultural peculiarity is directly proportionate to the effectiveness of her transference of her philosophies and moral laws from one generation to another. Any form of marginalization from ones’ historical antiquity means a lost identity.
She therefore, attempts a critical evaluation of the younger generation though living physically in a cultural context where morality and self discipline are considered necessary but have a totally different life. She reveals that they are not just regrettably disconnected from their cultural root but also brutally exposed to odious and offensive western principles through the agency of the internet and television. The 20th Century technological advancement has contributed immensely to the globalization of the world leading to all kinds of messy cultural conglomeration as a result of national and ethnic contacts. African traditional values are miserably drifting towards extinction as a result of the overwhelming influence of westernization among Nigerian youth who blindly imitate and incorporate this adulterated lifestyle. Asa elucidates this through the illustration of a little girl she calls “Lucy”.
So little Lucy turns sixteen
And like the movie she’s been seeing
She has a lover in her daddy
She can’t tell nobody
‘till she makes the evening news
Little Lucy here represents a typical Nigerian youth whose uncensored exposure to the internet and television is ultimately informing the kind of personality she is gradually becoming. Apart from being a teenager who is not expected to imagine emotional relationship in a real African society, her sexual urge towards her father is considered the height of abomination to the custom of the land. This, therefore, reverberate the tragedy of the modern day cultural dissipation among the youths through the adequate availability of myriad of technological entrapments.
There is fire on the mountain
And nobody seems to be on the run
Oh there is fire on the mountain
And no one is running
Again, Asa reiterates the severity of our condition and the hopelessness of the future if the “I don’t care attitude” of the citizenry persist. Everywhere, the country seems to be sinking aggressively into a chaotic chasm and it is sad that the masses are doing practically nothing to avert the looming doom. She therefore, closes the song with an insightful prognostication:
One day the river will overflow
And there’ll be nowhere for us to go
And we will run, run
Wishing we had put out the fire.
CONCLUSION
By bringing this particular song to a close, she tacitly projects the likely future of the country if nothing is done. We, as a nation, are gradually progressing towards a cataclysmic end and when the import of our carelessness is totally aggravated, each and everyone will be made to reap the dividend of his nonchalant character.
In conclusion, Asa has authoritatively shown that music is not just a means by which we are merely entertained but can also serve as a powerful instrument of social and political analysis. By critically evaluating the social insecurity, political despotism, civilian desperation, moral decadence among the youths, she is able to carefully reveal the distressing state of our country. It can be entailed that she advises a counter-reactive response to these multifaceted challenges if a devastating potential tragedy will be averted.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Title Page I-II
Certification III
Dedication IV
Acknowledgements V
Abstract VI
Table of Contents VII-XI
Music, Literature and Society 1-4
CHAPTER TWO
SECTION ONE
Music as A Means of Entertainment 16
Music as A Means of Education 17
Music as an Instrument of Socio-Political Criticism 18-19
SECTION TWO
SECTION THREE
CHAPTER THREE: THE THEMATIC APPRAISAL OF 9ICE’S AND ASA’S SONGS
A Critical Appraisal Of 9ice’s Musical Style 32-34
PETEPETE
Post-Colonial Disillusionment 35-36
Social Recklessness and Its Effects 37-38
THERE IS FIRE ON THE MOUNTAIN
Political Instability and Insecurity 43-45
Cultural and Moral Decadence 47-48
IYA NI
Sociopolitical Servitude 51-52
CHAPTER FOUR: A CRITICAL ANALYSIS OF LAGBAJA’S SONGS
An Appraisal of Lagbaja Musical Style 53-54
The Roles of the Citizens in a System of Corruption 55-57
Relevance of His Masked Tradition 57-58
Criticism of the Social Culture of Scapegoatism 58-60
Restoration of Moral Values as the Way Forward 60-61
200 MILLION MUMU (PART THREE)
Political Avariciousness 62-63
CHAPTER FIVE
Conclusion 69-70
Recommendations 71
Works Cited 71-74
Appendices 75-83WORKS CITED
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