Edited by Azizi Powell
Latest Revision- April 27, 2019
This is the second post of a three part series on the "Funga Alafia" song and the Funga (Fanga) dance. This second post showcases lyrics to the "Funga Alafia" song.
Part #1 in this series focuses on the history of the Fanga dance and the "Funga Alafia" song.
Click http://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2011/11/real-history-of-funga-alafia-fanga-song.html for that post.
Part #3 of this series showcases seven selected YouTube videos of the "Funga Alafia" song and/or dance. Click http://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2011/11/the-funga-alafia-fanga-song-part-3.html for that post.
The information in this post is presented for folkloric, sociological, educational, entertainment, and aesthetic purposes.
This post does not purport to be a comprehensive presentation of all of the versions of the song "Funga Alafia". Nor are the sources that are cited in this post the only sources online that contain these lyrics.
****
PART II: LYRICS OF FUNGA ALAFIA
The word "funga" is a folk etymology version of the word "fanga". Although the term "funga alafia" is less authentic than "fanga alafia", I usually use the title "Funga Alafia". I do so partly because that's the title I'm most familar with, and also because that title is the one that appears to be most often used for that song and may have been the title that was given to this original African American song.
With those prefacing remarks, here are three examples of the "Funga Alafia" ("Fanga") song/chant along with information about their lyrics.
VERSION #1 (Example A)
(composed by LaRocque Bey, 1959, or the early 1960s; to the tune of the 19th century American song "Li'l Liza Jane")
Fanga alafia, ase, ase(2x)
Ase, ase, Ase, ase
Fanga alafia, ase, ase
Ikabo alafia, ase, ase (2x)
Ase, ase. Ase, ase
Ikabo alafia, ase, ase
Eleba (or Elegua) alafia ase , ase (2X)
Ase, ase. Ase, ase
Eleba alafia, ase, ase
Source: http://www.reynders-bonhagen.nl/ritme/funga_baba_olatunji_per_list_member_.html
-snip-
Information about these words is given below.
****
VERSION #1 (Example B)
http://www.paulnas.eu/wap/fanga.html
"Fanga is rhythm, from Liberia that has been thought [sic] by Babatunde Olatunji, a West African Percussion teacher who, with his lessons and personality, inspired many Djembe players in the United States. The transcriptions are from various email exchanges throught [sic] the Djembe-L mailinglist. The song he used to sing to accompanie [sic] the rhythm is in the Yoruba language."
Fanga Alafayia, ashé ashé (4x) Ashé, Ashé, ashé, ashé.
Asé, Asé, Asé, Asé
Ikabo A Lafiya Ashé Ashé (4x) Ashé, Ashé, ashé, ashé.
Asé, Asé, Asé, Asé
Eluga A Lafiya Ashé, Ashé, ashé, ashé.
Asé, Asé, Asé, Asé
-WAP-pages / Paul Nas / Last changed at 30-04-2004
****
VERSION #2
(to the tune "Li'l Liza Jane"); composition date uncertain, but after Version #1)
Call-Fanga (or Funga) Alafia
Response-Ashé Ashé
Call-Fanga (or Funga) Alafia
Response-ashé ashé
[repeat both call and response several times]
Call-Ashé Ashé
Response-Ashé Ashé
[Repeat both call and response several times]
Source- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZTWySGpPVv0 Baba Olatunji Plays Fanga [This is video #1 on Post #3 of this Pancocojams' series.]
These words can be considered the "chorus" of Version #1, and this song/chant is the one that is used by most dance companies before the Fanga drum beat and dancing begins.
This same chant is used in Video #2 of that same post. After that drum & dance performance, the hostess "translates" the chant as "Funga Alafia Ashe Ashe. That means "Welcome. Blessings. Amen Amen."
[end of quote]
Although this isn't the actual etymological meaning of these words, it may be correct to say that this is what "Funga Alafia" means since words have the meaning or meanings that people assign to them, and those meanings can change overtime or change depending on the context within the same population (and different populations) at the same time.
****
VERSION #3
(To the tune "Li'l Liza Jane"); composition date uncertain, but after Version #1's composition & probably also after Version #2's composition)
Call: Funga alafia
Response: Ashay ashay
[Repeat as necessary].
Funga alafia, Ah-shay Ah-shay. Funga alafia, Ah-shay Ah-shay.
Funga alafia, Ah-shay Ah-shay. Funga alafia, Ah-shay Ah-shay.
[Drum solo and ¼ turns around in a circle.]
Funga alafia, Ah-shay Ah-shay. Funga alafia, Ah-shay Ah-shay.
Funga alafia, Ah-shay Ah-shay. Funga alafia, Ah-shay Ah-shay.
With my thoughts, I welcome you.
With my words, I welcome you.
With my heart I welcome you.
See, I have nothing up my sleeve.
Funga alafia, Ah-shay Ah-shay. Funga alafia, Ah-shay Ah-shay.
Funga alafia, Ah-shay Ah-shay. Funga alafia, Ah-shay Ah-shay.
cakes4africa; 2008
-Source: http://answers.yahoo.com/activity?show=AA11326712 “What are all of the verses to the African song Funga Alafia?”
The line "Drum solo and ¼ turns around in a circle." obviously provides performance information and is not vocalized. From watching numerous videos of this song, and from my direct experiences observing dance groups perform this song, it appears that the “(See)I have nothing up my sleeve" line is often omitted from renditions of this version of "Funga Alafia".
This version of "Funga Alafia" (except for the last line) is the one that appears to be most often sung in the United States, regardless of the races/ethnicities of the persons singing.
The lines "with my thoughts (my words; my heart) I welcome you" are usually performed in a call & response manner. It appears to be quite common for group singing this song to stand in a circle and just perform the gestures that fit the words (both hands touching the side of your head for "with my thoughts" (which I've also seen as "with my mind"); hands touching the side of your mouth for "with my words"; hands crossed and touching your heart for "with my heart". It appears that the standard movement for the group response "I welcome you" is to extend both arms out in front in front of your waist. Instead of standing in one place while singing these words and performing those gestures, I've also seen videos of children (especially pre-schoolers) walking around in a circle and stopping in place to make those gestures, and then after saying the "with my __" starting walking around the circle again. Note that the participants are walking and not dancing or strutting, or gliding around the circle while singing or chanting this song/chant.
My sense is that this rendition is most common because the movements are far easier to do for all ages instead of performing dance movements. However, I'm concerned that people who teach these movements and songs and those they teach it to would think that this really is the traditional way that Fanga was performed, or that it was the way that African Americans orginally choreographed that traditional African dance. For instance, when the blogger cakes4africa shared the above lyrics she (since she chose an icon of a female) also wrote “Fungu Alafia is a traditional song from Western Africa (Nigeria) sung in the Yoruba language and means "welcomes and blessings". Funga Alafia, a West African Welcome Song".
****
VERSION #4
(To the tune "Li'l Liza Jane"); composition date uncertain, but after Version #1's composition & probably also after Version #2's composition; I believe this version is sung or chanted much less frequently than Version #3).
Fanga Alafia*
Funga Alafia Ah-Shay Ah-Shay
Funga Alafia Ah-Shay Ah-Shay
Peace be with you and all thse [sic]you meet
peace be with you and all those you meet
-HaloTnt104; 2009
Source: http://www.youtube.com/all_comments?v=SmJfBJZURH4
* These words are probably given as the title of the song and therefore aren't supposed be sung.
This version focuses on "Funga Alafia" as a welcome song, emphasizing the definition of the word "alafia" as "peace" (be with you).
****
EXPLANATIONS OF THE NON-ENGLISH WORDS FOR THESE VERSIONS OF FUNGA ALAFIA
Here's some information about the non-English words in that song (given with United States pronunciations)
FANGA
To date, I've not found any online source that definitely indicates the origin and meaning of the word "fanga" The word "fanga" can be found in several traditional African languages. However, words in several African languages that are spelled the same and may be pronounced the same don't necessarily have the same meaning.
For instance, here's an excerpt from Hillary Sargent's website: http://www.fanga-music.com/myFanga:
"The word FANGA! Originates from the West African Mandingo lingo.
Literally it translates: Power! - It hits you to the core, in its multifaceted, powerful meaning: everybody has his or her own FANGA! - To me it is resilient, not only powerful, in essence the African rhythm in FANGA! inspires me with a spiritual enlightenment which has become the matrix of my soul identity."
-snip-
Another example of the word "fanga" is found in this description of a Malian film:
Taafe-Fanga is the title of a highly acclaimed film from Mali, West Africa. The film is produced "in Bambara and Kaado [languages] with English [language] subtitles", and the title means "Skirt-Power". http://newsreel.org/video/TAAFE-FANGA.
-snip-
Presumably, the word "fanga" also means power in one of those African languages cited above.
Another example of the use of "fanga" is the French afrobeat group by that name. Here's information about that interracial group's name from http://cd1d.com/en/artist/fanga:
"Fanga means 'Force' (spiritually speaking) in Dioula, one of the numerous dialects of Western Africa. This French group of 7 musicians, deeply immersed in Afrobeat - a musical language pioneered by Fela Kuti in the 70's, combining African music, jazz and funk - was born from an encounter between the hip-hop programmer Serge Amiano and the rapper Yves Khoury (aka Korbo) of Burkina Faso."
I've also read that "Fanga" is a Vai (Liberia) word and I've usually seen "fanga" used as the name for the rhythm and accompanying dance which are based on a traditional Vai (Liberia, West Africa) welcome dance. Given those three examples, I believe that it's likely that the Liberian word "fanga" also means "force" or "power".
It should be noted that the authors of The Dance That Claimed Me: Biography of Pearl Primus by Peggy & Murray Schwartz indicate that drummers and dancers in different American companies didn't perform "Fanga" with the same tempo or in the same way. http://books.google.com/books?id=DbsxMmONyIsC&pg=PA91&lpg=PA91&dq=the+dance+that+claimed+me+primus+fanga++drumming&source=bl&ots=xPGkQ2cvGR&sig=BGwsXvv0l9gBPMDRPRyN2ZbRap0&hl=en&ei=pkO9Tu_0LaTk0QHKjIW0BA&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CBsQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q&f=false, page 91.
**
ALAFIA (ah-LAH-fee-ah)
A number of online sources indicate that the word "alafia" is a greeting word used by Yoruba people of Nigeria, West Africa.
According to various online sites, the "Yoruba" word "alafia" originated from the Arabic word "alaafiyah" meaning "health" or "good health" and entered the Yoruba language by way of the Hausa (Nigeria) modification "lafia la".
Facebook post [given as Article #4 without any posted comment responses]
From https://www.facebook.com/575706419187357/photos/pb.575706419187357.-2207520000.1468493353./1067659546658706/?type=3 IFA: Òrìṣa Scientific Spirituality, July 12, 2016 ·
"For many, the Yoruba term "alafia" (also spelled alaafia) is used to mean "inner-peace" and said as a greeting like the use of the Kemetic word "hotep" and the Arabic word "salaam."
In the past ten years, there has been much controversy about the term alafia and whether or not it is truly Yoruba or derived from Arabic.
It is noted that the Yoruba word alafia shares its meaning with the Hausa (Northern Nigerians) word "lafiya" which means good health. They derived the word from Arabic's al-afiyah which means "the good health." When said as "zaman lafiya" in Hausa, it comes to mean innerpeace.
The indigenous Yoruba word for good health is ilera. Hence the popular Yoruba phrase, "Ilera loro" which means "health is wealth."
However, does all this mean that alafia is not a Yoruba word? Not necessarily....
All of this being said, alafia (whether indigenous or of Arabic origin) is not traditionally a greeting as seen in the Arab's salaam. That is definitely an attempt for people to immitate [sic] the Arab's greeting pattern of "peace" instead of learning Yoruba conversational protocol."....
-end of quote-
From at least the late 1960s, some afro-centric African Americans have used "alafia" as a greeting word that means "hello", "welcome, and/or "peace". I believe that "alafia" was first used by African Americans as a traditional African language for of the Arabic phrase "A salaam alaikum" (Peace be unto you).
-snip-
Click http://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2017/02/excerpts-from-online-articles.html for a pancocojams post on the origins and meanings of the word "alafia"
**
ASE ("àṣẹ" =pronounced ah-shay, and usually written "ashe")
Ase is the Yoruba term for the energy of creation; the spark of life. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yoruba_mythology ; hereafter given as "Wikipedia: Yoruba Mythology"
-snip-
From http://asheselah.wordpress.com/about/whats-an-asheselah/
"Ashe ( ah-SHAY, also Ase) – A Yoruba word meaning power, command, and authority. The ability to make whatever one says happen. Often summarized as “so be it”, “so it is”, or “it definitely shall be so”.
-snip-
Colloquially, "ashe" is often considered (in the United States anyway, as meaning the same as the Biblical word "Amen".
**
IKABO (correctly given as "Ekaabo" or "Ekabo"; I'm unsure of the pronounciation since I've never heard this word used)
"Ekabo" is a Yoruba word that means "welcome".
From various sites including http://www.youtube.com/all_comments?v=H5-08U6q7Bc comments for video "Fanga by Alafia"
"I am not sure that Fanga is a commonly known word in the Yoruba language. It might be something that Mr. Olatunji might have created or re-definition from another language, but i do not believe it to be a word from the language of Yoruba. E kaabo is the word for "welcome" in Yoruba. Alafia however is a Yoruba word that does mean "peace"."
-OluvTosin; 2009
Like many others, that commenter incorrectly assumed that Yoruba percussionist & recording artist Babatunde Olatunji composed "Funga Alafia". Although incorrect, that assumption is easy to make since "Funga Alafia" has several Yoruba words and because Olatunji & his company sung that song in the beginning of many of his performances.
**
ELEBA [Correctly given as Elegba or Elegua]
Elegba (e-LEH-bah) [also known as Ẹlégbara (e-leh-BAH-rah); Eṣu (e-shoo); Elegua (e-leh-guah)]
From http://www.ileorunmilaoshun.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=category&id=37&layout=blog&Itemid=65 [Hereafter given as article: Orisha Worship]
"Esu the Divine Trickster
Esu is the Divine Spirit of Communication, the well-spoken orator who speaks all languages. Esu translates messages between humans and Orisha. Without Esu our prayers would not be understood in heaven and we would be unable to understand the language of Orisha or our ancestors (Egun). Esu is the guardian of the crossroads, as such he opens and closes all doors and ceremonies."
****
PANCOCOJAMS EDITOR'S NOTE/CONCLUSIONS
Contrary to what is commonly believed about this song, "Funga Alafia" (or "Fanga Alafia") is an American song. Except for its inclusion of some words from traditional African languages, there's nothing at all traditional about any version of the "Funga Alafia" song.
It's ironic that so many people worldwide consider this song to be African. "Funga Alafia" is only African in as much as it was composed by an African American. The "with my words I welcome you" etc lines were composed to correspond to the dancers' movements. There is no known composer for that version.
And with regard to the obvious mime gestures that some folks do while standing & singing or chanting "Funga Alafia", I believe that Pearl Primus would probably cringe were she to see what has been done to her dance that performed that way, isn't even a dance.
But these words & gestures didn't just materialize out of thin air. Instead they have their bases in the program notes that were written in at least one dance program that Pearl Primus performed in 1951:
"Then Fanga was performed ([Pearl] Primus, [Charles] Blackwell, [George] Mills,[Charles] Queenan), with the program note “I welcome you. My hands bear no weapons. My heart brings love to you. I stretch my arms to the earth and the sky for I alone am not strong enough to greet you."
Source: http://books.google.com/books?id=DbsxMmONyIsC&pg=PA264&lpg=PA264&dq=the+dance+that+claimed+me+meaning+of+the+word+fanga&source=bl&ots=xPGkQ2euFS&sig=NWewIa9Aki-BwHifcXYzrcJeAdU&hl=en&ei=CUu9TpCHFInV0QHU6ZWsBA&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CCQQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q&f=false
I recall dancers in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania performing this dance facing in different directions (East, West, North, South) and extending their arms out and then heavenward, which brings up another point: It's interesting that the description of this dance as an "invocation to the earth and the sky" is seldom used and instead this dance is described as a "welcome dance". Of course it could be both, but it's certainly easier to mime a welcome dance than it is to mime an "invocation to the earth and the sky". Few people nowadays-including me-even know what "invocation" means.
****
Thanks for visiting pancocojams.
Visitor comments are welcome.
Showing posts with label Assata Dafor. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Assata Dafor. Show all posts
Friday, November 11, 2011
The Funga Alafia Song - Part 1
Written by Azizi Powell
Latest revision - April 7, 2026
This is the first post in a three part pancocojams series on the "Funga Alafia" song and the Funga (Fanga) dance. Part #1 in this series focuses on the history of the Fanga dance and the "Funga Alafia" song.
Part 2 of this series provides text versions of the "Funga Alafia" song/chant, including information about the meanings of the Yoruba words in an early version of that song/chant. Click http://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2011/11/funga-alafia-fanga-song-part-2-lyrics.html for that post.
Part 3 in this series showcases seven selected YouTube videos of the Funga (Fanga) song and/or dance. Click http://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2011/11/the-funga-alafia-fanga-song-part-3.html for that post.
The content of this post is presented for folkloric, cultural, entertainment, and aesthetic purposes.
All copyrights remain with their owners.
Thanks to LaRocque Bey, the composer of "Funga Alafia". Thanks to all those who are quoted in this post.
****
THE FUNGA ALAFIA (FANGA) RHYTHM AND SONG
"Funga" (more accurately "Fanga") is a traditional Liberian rhythm & dance. "Funga Alafia" is a song which was composed by an African American to be sung while performing (usually non-traditional) versions that African rhythm and dance.
The word "funga" is a folk etymology version of the word "fanga". Although the term "funga alafia" is less authentic than "fanga alafia", I usually use the title "Funga Alafia". I do so partly because that's the title I'm most familar with, and also because that title is the one that appears to be most often used for that song.
and appears to have been the title used by that song's composer, African American dancer, choreographer
LaRocque Bey.
"Funga" is usually pronounced "fun-gah" or "foon-gah". The word "fanga" is pronounced "fahn-gah".
THE ORIGIN OF THE FANGA RHYTHM & DANCE
The Fanga rhythm and dance is traditional to the Vai people of Liberia. The rhythm is played and the dance is performed as an evocation to the earth and the sky (http://www.pbs.org/wnet/freetodance/biographies/primus.html" [website no longer available April 2019]
The first person to introduce the Fanga drum rhythm & drum to the United States may have been Asadata Dafor.
From http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asadata_Dafora
"Asadata Dafora Hortan (August 4, 1890 – March 4, 1965) widely known as Asadata Dafora was a Sierra Leonean multidisciplinary musician. He was one of the first Africans to introduce African drumming music to the United States, beginning in the early 1930s...
In 1929 Asadata Dafora journeyed to New York City to try and pursue his career as a musician. He was then 39 years old...
Dafora was a multifaceted artist, talented in opera and concert singing, dancing, choreographing and composing. In 1934, Dafora created Kykunkor (The Witch Woman), a successful musical/drama production utilizing authentic African music and dance and is considered one of the pioneers of black dance in America.
He also co-authored a radio play with Orson Welles entitled "Trangama-Fanga" [in 1941]."
Sierra Leone borders Liberia, and some members of Assata Dafor's dance company were from Liberia. It's therefore likely that Dafor would have known the Fanga rhythm and dance. In her PhD dissertation, dance historian Marcia Heard indicates that Asadata Dafor was the first person to introduce the Fanga dance to the United States, and he called that dance "Fugale". Furthermore, multi-instrumentalists, writer, and educator Sule Greg Wilson, who drummed with Babatunde Olatunji, asserts that Assata Dafor was the first person to introduce Fanga to the United States. (I'll write more about Olatunji later in this post).
A source for this assertion about Olatunji is http://books.google.com/books?id=DbsxMmONyIsC&pg=PA90&lpg=PA90&dq=the+dance+claimed+me+primus+and+olatunji+fanga&source=bl&ots=xPGkQ1bvHR&sig=SCiHLpjgsBfklV8KBBBBVPgiAYw&hl=en&ei=uBi9To_jCsPl0QGz2ei5BA&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CBoQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q&f=false; page 89; hereafter referred to as "Schwartz: Pearl Primus Biography".
But it's Pearl Primus and not Asadata Dafor who is usually cited as being the first person to bring Fanga dance to the United States.
From http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pearl_Primus:
"Pearl Primus (November 29, 1919, Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago – October 29, 1994) was a dancer, choreographer and anthropologist. Primus played an important role in the presentation of African dance to American audiences.
Primus was born in Trinidad in 1919 to Edward and Emily (Jackson) Primus... When Pearl Primus was two years old she, with her two brothers were brought to New York City where they were reared...
Primus and the late Percival Borde, her husband and partner, ...taught African dance artists how to make their indigenous dances theatrically entertaining and acceptable to the western world."...
From http://www.vam.ac.uk/content/articles/h/black-dance/:
"[Pearl Primus] was born in Trinidad before her parents immigrated to Harlem in 1919. She worked at the New Dance Group Studios which was one of few places where black dancers could train alongside whites. She went on to study for a PhD and did research on dance in Africa. Her most famous dance was the Fanga, an African dance of welcome which introduced traditional African dance to the stage."
From The Dance Claimed Me: A Biography Of Pearl Primus by Peggy Schwartz & Murray Schwartz:
""Fanga" was central to Pearl's school, her performances, and her lectures. A dance of welcome that she brought back from her first trip to Liberia it was probably a variation of a traditional dance that she continued to change over the decade." [page 88]
-snip-
Pearl Primus' Fanga dance was picked up by other African dance companies in the United States and was reconstructed by them. Babatunde Olatunji was the first company to do so, because two dancers from Primus' company left to perform with Olatunji. (Ibid). Master percussionist, educator, social activist, and recording artist Babatunde Olatunji (April 7, 1927–April 6, 2003) is probably most often credited with the popularization of the Fanga rhythm & dance. But Baba Olatunji didn't write the "Funga Alafia" ("Fanga Alafia") song. The composer of that song was LaRocque Bey, an African American choreographer, dancer, percussionist, and founder of the Harlem dance school that still bears his name.
Here's a quote from The Dance Claimed Me: A Biography Of Pearl Primus (p. 88):
""Funga alafiyah (usually given as alafia) ashe ashe is pronounced in the USA "FOON-kah ahlLAH-fee-ah AH shay AH shay". The correct spelling for the Yoruba word "ashe" (meaning "life energy/power") is "ase".
Virtually every black community dance company in America has its version of "Fanga" and most start with the chant "Fanga alafiyah ashe ashe, fanga alafiyah ashe ashe"* as its accompaniment. This chant was added by LaRocque Bey, a percussionist in New York in the late 1950s, was not part of the original work. Primus used two other chants "gehbeddy jung jung jung" with a strong, active, insistent rhythm, or "dum dake dake dum dake, dum dake dake dum dum dake", gentler, and with a swing and a sway to it."
-snip-
There are good reasons why most American dance companies who perform "Funga" ("Fanga") start with the chant "Funga alafiya/ ashe ashe":
1. "Funga Alafia" (as composed by LaRocque Bey) uses a familiar tune ("Li'l Liza Jane").
2.That song has an uptempo beat, and easy to pronounce African words, making it appear authentically "African" for those African musical & dance performances.
3. Furthermore, the call & response pattern of the song "Funga Alafia" helps galvanize audience interests & involvement, thus setting a positive tone for the rest of the performance.
4. That "Funga Alafia" is considered to be a "welcome song" makes it a perfect fit for the beginning of African dance performances.
There are also several reasons why the Pearl Primus chants given above weren't adopted whole cloth or slightly changed by other dance companies (as the Funga Alafia song has been and continues to be). One of those reasons probably was that those chants were too closely associated with Primus' dance company. Reportedly, Pearl Primus wasn't at all thrilled that other American companies were including the Fanga dance based on her choreography in their programs. Presumably, she also wouldn't have been thrilled by those companies' use of the chants that she composed. However, I think that other reasons that Primus' chants weren't used by other companies were the chants themselves. Those syllables & words appear to be just a way to keep the beat. They didn't have (or weren't given) any other meanings However, the words & syllables of those chants "sound like" words that have negative meanings, particularly the "dum" in the "dum dake dake dum" chant.
Furthermore, the Pearl Primus chants aren't as easy to remember as the Funga Alafia chant. Also, those syllables & words aren't nearly as aesthetically pleasing to African Americans' and other Americans' sound preferances as the "funga alafia ashe ashe" chant. If those words were longer, or ended in "u", they wouldn't be as pleasing to Americans' ears. And if those words contained unfamiliar consonant clusters such as "dj" or "gb", they would be more difficult for Americans to pronounce & remember. There are reasons why afro-centric African Americans have most often adopted names and used words & phrases from Arabic, Swahili, Yoruba, Akan, and Wolof languages. All of those widely used languages in Africa are closer to American preferences in word length, word endings, and sound aesthetics than names and words from some other traditional African languages.
Besides all of that, "funga alafia ashe ashe" sounds like what Americans think African languages should sound like. That's fitting because these words are African (except for "funga" which is a folk etymology form of the African word "fanga"). However, prior to that song, the words "fanga alafia ashe ashe" had never been used together in any African song or saying. Their use in this chant was pure delux African American. This chant probably would not have been created had there not been a community of Yoruba Ifa worshippers in Harlem who were open to sharing their "adopted" culture with others through their drumming & dancing performances and otherwise. Engaging in the call & response Funga Alafia chant helps fulfill the desire of African Americans' and other non-Africans in the Western world to say & do something "African" and multicultural.
****
Click http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Babatunde_Olatunji for more information about Babatunde Olatunji. Click http://www.larocquebey.org/ for more information about LaRocque Bey & his dance company. And click http://dance1400.wordpress.com/2011/09/12/the-story-of-fanga-from-sule-greg-wilson/ for an essay about Fanga that was written in 1994 by Sule Greg Wilson.
Although Baba Olatunji routinely used "Fanga Alafia" in his programs and workshops, I don't believe that he ever recorded that song on any album. Thankfully, there's a 1993 video of he & other drummers playing drums and him singing "Fanga Alafia". Click http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZTWySGpPVv0. That video will also be featured on a pancocojams post of several Fanga videos.
The song/chant "Fanga Alafia" that was composed by LaRocque Bey is found in the 2nd post of this series. That version includes two Yoruba words: "alafia" and "ase" (usually written in the United States as "ashay". Here's how an African American man in Harlem in 1960s likely became familiar with those Yoruba words: In the late 1950s and early 1960s (and since then) a small number of African Americans practiced/practice the Yoruba religion of Ifa in Harlem. The Yoruba Temple in Harlem was under the leadership of Baba Oserjeman, the first African American to be initiated into the traditional Yoruba religion of Ifa. Baba Oserjiman, a former dancer with Katherine Dunham, was initiated into that religion in Cuba in 1959. Source http://www.bnvillage.co.uk/news-politics-village/99564-south-carolina-voodoo-sect.html
It's likely that LaRocque Bey was familiar with Baba Oserjiman and the Yoruba drummers & dancers (if he himself wasn't a member of that drum group). And it's also likely that some of the Yoruba drummers and dancers were (also) members of Bey's drum company. The community of afro-centric African Americans wasn't all that large in the late 1950s and the 1960s. I counted myself as a member of that community-through my affiliation with the Newark, New Jersey cultural nationalist group that was headed by Amiri Baraka (Le Roi Jones). As a matter of fact, I received a spiritual reading in New York City from Baba Oserjeman in 1970 which turned out to be quite evidentary. That may have been one of the last readings that Baba Oserjeman conducted before he and his followers left New York and founded a Yoruba community in South Carolina. Click http://www.oyotunjiafricanvillage.org/?id=1 for more information about that community.
To be clear, there probably were chants used for the traditional Fanga drum rhythm that originated with and was performed by the Vai people of Liberia, West Africa. And there were earlier chants used in the United States for the choreographed dances that were derived from that traditional Liberian dance. However, because the first composer of a song that included the words "Funga Alafia" was African American LaRocque Bey, Funga Alafia should rightfully be considered an African American song.
****
This concludes Part I of this three part pancocojams series.
Thanks for visiting pancocojams.
Visitor comments are welcome!
Share! Learn! Enjoy!
Latest revision - April 7, 2026
This is the first post in a three part pancocojams series on the "Funga Alafia" song and the Funga (Fanga) dance. Part #1 in this series focuses on the history of the Fanga dance and the "Funga Alafia" song.
Part 2 of this series provides text versions of the "Funga Alafia" song/chant, including information about the meanings of the Yoruba words in an early version of that song/chant. Click http://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2011/11/funga-alafia-fanga-song-part-2-lyrics.html for that post.
Part 3 in this series showcases seven selected YouTube videos of the Funga (Fanga) song and/or dance. Click http://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2011/11/the-funga-alafia-fanga-song-part-3.html for that post.
The content of this post is presented for folkloric, cultural, entertainment, and aesthetic purposes.
All copyrights remain with their owners.
Thanks to LaRocque Bey, the composer of "Funga Alafia". Thanks to all those who are quoted in this post.
****
THE FUNGA ALAFIA (FANGA) RHYTHM AND SONG
"Funga" (more accurately "Fanga") is a traditional Liberian rhythm & dance. "Funga Alafia" is a song which was composed by an African American to be sung while performing (usually non-traditional) versions that African rhythm and dance.
The word "funga" is a folk etymology version of the word "fanga". Although the term "funga alafia" is less authentic than "fanga alafia", I usually use the title "Funga Alafia". I do so partly because that's the title I'm most familar with, and also because that title is the one that appears to be most often used for that song.
and appears to have been the title used by that song's composer, African American dancer, choreographer
LaRocque Bey.
"Funga" is usually pronounced "fun-gah" or "foon-gah". The word "fanga" is pronounced "fahn-gah".
THE ORIGIN OF THE FANGA RHYTHM & DANCE
The Fanga rhythm and dance is traditional to the Vai people of Liberia. The rhythm is played and the dance is performed as an evocation to the earth and the sky (http://www.pbs.org/wnet/freetodance/biographies/primus.html" [website no longer available April 2019]
The first person to introduce the Fanga drum rhythm & drum to the United States may have been Asadata Dafor.
From http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asadata_Dafora
"Asadata Dafora Hortan (August 4, 1890 – March 4, 1965) widely known as Asadata Dafora was a Sierra Leonean multidisciplinary musician. He was one of the first Africans to introduce African drumming music to the United States, beginning in the early 1930s...
In 1929 Asadata Dafora journeyed to New York City to try and pursue his career as a musician. He was then 39 years old...
Dafora was a multifaceted artist, talented in opera and concert singing, dancing, choreographing and composing. In 1934, Dafora created Kykunkor (The Witch Woman), a successful musical/drama production utilizing authentic African music and dance and is considered one of the pioneers of black dance in America.
He also co-authored a radio play with Orson Welles entitled "Trangama-Fanga" [in 1941]."
Sierra Leone borders Liberia, and some members of Assata Dafor's dance company were from Liberia. It's therefore likely that Dafor would have known the Fanga rhythm and dance. In her PhD dissertation, dance historian Marcia Heard indicates that Asadata Dafor was the first person to introduce the Fanga dance to the United States, and he called that dance "Fugale". Furthermore, multi-instrumentalists, writer, and educator Sule Greg Wilson, who drummed with Babatunde Olatunji, asserts that Assata Dafor was the first person to introduce Fanga to the United States. (I'll write more about Olatunji later in this post).
A source for this assertion about Olatunji is http://books.google.com/books?id=DbsxMmONyIsC&pg=PA90&lpg=PA90&dq=the+dance+claimed+me+primus+and+olatunji+fanga&source=bl&ots=xPGkQ1bvHR&sig=SCiHLpjgsBfklV8KBBBBVPgiAYw&hl=en&ei=uBi9To_jCsPl0QGz2ei5BA&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CBoQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q&f=false; page 89; hereafter referred to as "Schwartz: Pearl Primus Biography".
But it's Pearl Primus and not Asadata Dafor who is usually cited as being the first person to bring Fanga dance to the United States.
From http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pearl_Primus:
"Pearl Primus (November 29, 1919, Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago – October 29, 1994) was a dancer, choreographer and anthropologist. Primus played an important role in the presentation of African dance to American audiences.
Primus was born in Trinidad in 1919 to Edward and Emily (Jackson) Primus... When Pearl Primus was two years old she, with her two brothers were brought to New York City where they were reared...
Primus and the late Percival Borde, her husband and partner, ...taught African dance artists how to make their indigenous dances theatrically entertaining and acceptable to the western world."...
From http://www.vam.ac.uk/content/articles/h/black-dance/:
"[Pearl Primus] was born in Trinidad before her parents immigrated to Harlem in 1919. She worked at the New Dance Group Studios which was one of few places where black dancers could train alongside whites. She went on to study for a PhD and did research on dance in Africa. Her most famous dance was the Fanga, an African dance of welcome which introduced traditional African dance to the stage."
From The Dance Claimed Me: A Biography Of Pearl Primus by Peggy Schwartz & Murray Schwartz:
""Fanga" was central to Pearl's school, her performances, and her lectures. A dance of welcome that she brought back from her first trip to Liberia it was probably a variation of a traditional dance that she continued to change over the decade." [page 88]
-snip-
Pearl Primus' Fanga dance was picked up by other African dance companies in the United States and was reconstructed by them. Babatunde Olatunji was the first company to do so, because two dancers from Primus' company left to perform with Olatunji. (Ibid). Master percussionist, educator, social activist, and recording artist Babatunde Olatunji (April 7, 1927–April 6, 2003) is probably most often credited with the popularization of the Fanga rhythm & dance. But Baba Olatunji didn't write the "Funga Alafia" ("Fanga Alafia") song. The composer of that song was LaRocque Bey, an African American choreographer, dancer, percussionist, and founder of the Harlem dance school that still bears his name.
Here's a quote from The Dance Claimed Me: A Biography Of Pearl Primus (p. 88):
""Funga alafiyah (usually given as alafia) ashe ashe is pronounced in the USA "FOON-kah ahlLAH-fee-ah AH shay AH shay". The correct spelling for the Yoruba word "ashe" (meaning "life energy/power") is "ase".
Virtually every black community dance company in America has its version of "Fanga" and most start with the chant "Fanga alafiyah ashe ashe, fanga alafiyah ashe ashe"* as its accompaniment. This chant was added by LaRocque Bey, a percussionist in New York in the late 1950s, was not part of the original work. Primus used two other chants "gehbeddy jung jung jung" with a strong, active, insistent rhythm, or "dum dake dake dum dake, dum dake dake dum dum dake", gentler, and with a swing and a sway to it."
-snip-
There are good reasons why most American dance companies who perform "Funga" ("Fanga") start with the chant "Funga alafiya/ ashe ashe":
1. "Funga Alafia" (as composed by LaRocque Bey) uses a familiar tune ("Li'l Liza Jane").
2.That song has an uptempo beat, and easy to pronounce African words, making it appear authentically "African" for those African musical & dance performances.
3. Furthermore, the call & response pattern of the song "Funga Alafia" helps galvanize audience interests & involvement, thus setting a positive tone for the rest of the performance.
4. That "Funga Alafia" is considered to be a "welcome song" makes it a perfect fit for the beginning of African dance performances.
There are also several reasons why the Pearl Primus chants given above weren't adopted whole cloth or slightly changed by other dance companies (as the Funga Alafia song has been and continues to be). One of those reasons probably was that those chants were too closely associated with Primus' dance company. Reportedly, Pearl Primus wasn't at all thrilled that other American companies were including the Fanga dance based on her choreography in their programs. Presumably, she also wouldn't have been thrilled by those companies' use of the chants that she composed. However, I think that other reasons that Primus' chants weren't used by other companies were the chants themselves. Those syllables & words appear to be just a way to keep the beat. They didn't have (or weren't given) any other meanings However, the words & syllables of those chants "sound like" words that have negative meanings, particularly the "dum" in the "dum dake dake dum" chant.
Furthermore, the Pearl Primus chants aren't as easy to remember as the Funga Alafia chant. Also, those syllables & words aren't nearly as aesthetically pleasing to African Americans' and other Americans' sound preferances as the "funga alafia ashe ashe" chant. If those words were longer, or ended in "u", they wouldn't be as pleasing to Americans' ears. And if those words contained unfamiliar consonant clusters such as "dj" or "gb", they would be more difficult for Americans to pronounce & remember. There are reasons why afro-centric African Americans have most often adopted names and used words & phrases from Arabic, Swahili, Yoruba, Akan, and Wolof languages. All of those widely used languages in Africa are closer to American preferences in word length, word endings, and sound aesthetics than names and words from some other traditional African languages.
Besides all of that, "funga alafia ashe ashe" sounds like what Americans think African languages should sound like. That's fitting because these words are African (except for "funga" which is a folk etymology form of the African word "fanga"). However, prior to that song, the words "fanga alafia ashe ashe" had never been used together in any African song or saying. Their use in this chant was pure delux African American. This chant probably would not have been created had there not been a community of Yoruba Ifa worshippers in Harlem who were open to sharing their "adopted" culture with others through their drumming & dancing performances and otherwise. Engaging in the call & response Funga Alafia chant helps fulfill the desire of African Americans' and other non-Africans in the Western world to say & do something "African" and multicultural.
****
Click http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Babatunde_Olatunji for more information about Babatunde Olatunji. Click http://www.larocquebey.org/ for more information about LaRocque Bey & his dance company. And click http://dance1400.wordpress.com/2011/09/12/the-story-of-fanga-from-sule-greg-wilson/ for an essay about Fanga that was written in 1994 by Sule Greg Wilson.
Although Baba Olatunji routinely used "Fanga Alafia" in his programs and workshops, I don't believe that he ever recorded that song on any album. Thankfully, there's a 1993 video of he & other drummers playing drums and him singing "Fanga Alafia". Click http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZTWySGpPVv0. That video will also be featured on a pancocojams post of several Fanga videos.
The song/chant "Fanga Alafia" that was composed by LaRocque Bey is found in the 2nd post of this series. That version includes two Yoruba words: "alafia" and "ase" (usually written in the United States as "ashay". Here's how an African American man in Harlem in 1960s likely became familiar with those Yoruba words: In the late 1950s and early 1960s (and since then) a small number of African Americans practiced/practice the Yoruba religion of Ifa in Harlem. The Yoruba Temple in Harlem was under the leadership of Baba Oserjeman, the first African American to be initiated into the traditional Yoruba religion of Ifa. Baba Oserjiman, a former dancer with Katherine Dunham, was initiated into that religion in Cuba in 1959. Source http://www.bnvillage.co.uk/news-politics-village/99564-south-carolina-voodoo-sect.html
It's likely that LaRocque Bey was familiar with Baba Oserjiman and the Yoruba drummers & dancers (if he himself wasn't a member of that drum group). And it's also likely that some of the Yoruba drummers and dancers were (also) members of Bey's drum company. The community of afro-centric African Americans wasn't all that large in the late 1950s and the 1960s. I counted myself as a member of that community-through my affiliation with the Newark, New Jersey cultural nationalist group that was headed by Amiri Baraka (Le Roi Jones). As a matter of fact, I received a spiritual reading in New York City from Baba Oserjeman in 1970 which turned out to be quite evidentary. That may have been one of the last readings that Baba Oserjeman conducted before he and his followers left New York and founded a Yoruba community in South Carolina. Click http://www.oyotunjiafricanvillage.org/?id=1 for more information about that community.
To be clear, there probably were chants used for the traditional Fanga drum rhythm that originated with and was performed by the Vai people of Liberia, West Africa. And there were earlier chants used in the United States for the choreographed dances that were derived from that traditional Liberian dance. However, because the first composer of a song that included the words "Funga Alafia" was African American LaRocque Bey, Funga Alafia should rightfully be considered an African American song.
****
This concludes Part I of this three part pancocojams series.
Thanks for visiting pancocojams.
Visitor comments are welcome!
Share! Learn! Enjoy!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)