Edited by Azizi Powell
Latest edition -November 30, 2024
This is Part III of a four part 2024 pancocojams series on the song "Funga Alafia".
This post presents my speculation about the word "funga" in the song "Funga Alafia".
This post also presents all of the visitor comments and my replies from Part I and Part II of the 2019 pancocojams series about "Funga Alafia". (Part III doesn't have any comments as of the publication date for this 2024 post.)
Click https://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2024/11/the-real-origin-of-song-funga-alafia_26.html for Part I of this 2024 pancocojams series. That post is a complete reprint of my 2019 pancocojams post entitled "The REAL Origin Of The Song "Funga Alafia" - Hint: It Isn't A Liberian Song, Or A Nigerian Song, Or A Traditional African Song."
Click https://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2024/11/what-is-origin-of-word-funga-in-song.html for Part III of this 2024 pancocojams series. That post presents information about the word "funga" and "fanga". That post also presents all of the visitor comments and my replies from the 2019 pancocojams series about the song "Funga Alafia".
Click https://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2024/11/five-youtube-videos-of-fanga-dance.html for Part V of this pancocojams series. That post showcases five YouTube performances of the Fanga dance in the United States.
The content of this post is presented for historical, etymological, and cultural purposes.
All copyrights remain with their owners.
Thanks to all those who are quoted in this post.
****
BASIC INFORMATION ABOUT THE SONG "FUNGA ALAFIA"
1. The song "Funga Alafia" was composed by African American drummer and dancer LaRocque Bey in Harlem (New York City) in 1959 or 1960.
2. The word "funga" is a folk processed form of the word "fanga" from Vai (West African language) or from the Mandinka (West African language).
"Funga" is pronounced like the English word "fun" + "gah".
3. The word "ase" is from the Yoruba (Nigeria, West Africa) language.
"Ase" is often (incorrectly) spelled "ashe" or "ashay" in the United States. People in the United States pronounce "ase" "AH-shay".
4. The word "alafia" (aalafia) is a loan word in the Yoruba language. "Aalafia" was derived from the Hausa (Nigeria) word "lafiya" which means "good health". The Hausas derived the word from the Arabic word "al-afiyah" which means "the good health.
5. The English words that are spoken in the song "Funga Alafia" and their accompanying gestures weren't part of the original song.
6. The tune for the song "Funga Alafia" is the same tune for the American song "Little Liza Jane"
(Click https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ELNIe_D79xs for a sound file of Nina Simone singing "Little Liza Jane".)
****
WHAT DOES THE WORD "FUNGA" MEAN IN THE SONG "FUNGA ALAFIA"?
"Funga" ( pronounced the same as the English word "fun" + gah) is a folk processed form of the word "fanga".
There's no definitive meaning for the word "funga" in the song "Funga Alafia". However, that word probably was/is a referent to the Fanga dance.
I have two theories for how LaRocque Bey used the word "funga" instead of "fanga" for "Funga Alafia" song.
1. La Rocque Bey purposely changed the word "fanga" to "funga" because he wanted to distinguish his song and his beat from other Fanga chants and beats that were being played in the United States.
2. LaRocque Bey accidentally mispronunciation of the word "fanga" as "funga" and he kept that accidental pronunciation because he liked it.
I lean toward theory #1.
-snip-
in 2024 LaRocque Bey is still honored in Harlem (New York City) by a school of dance in his name- The LaRocque Bey School of Dance
https://www.harlemonestop.com/organization/961/la-rocque-bey-school-of-dance
SOME HISTORY OF THE FANGA DANCE IN THE UNITED STATES
Excerpt #1
From https://dance1400.wordpress.com/2011/09/12/the-story-of-fanga-from-sule-greg-wilson/ "The Story of Fanga, from Sule Greg Wilson, September 12, 2011 [website: African Dance At Cuyahoga Community College]
"Fanga (pronounced nowadays, almost, like “Funga”, as in “fungus”. Originally, it was closer to “Fahnga”), Fanga is a dance of welcome that, interestingly, came to the United States from a place the United States founded: the West African nation of Liberia (recently infamous for its revolutionary troubles). Liberia was a new nation carved out of traditional territories to house any “slaves” in the U.S. that wanted to return to Africa.
The dance, “Fanga” was made part of the repertoire of the African American concert dance pioneer Asadata Dafora. Dafora came to the U.S. from his native Sierra Leone (a nation set up in West Africa for former British slaves) in 1929, and his early company included persons from Sierra Leone, Liberia, and other nations (and colonies). Among the repertoire he developed in the 1930s for his dance company was a staging of the mimed, storytelling dance (as Hawaiian Hula tells stories through gestures), Fanga.
Dancer/choreographer Pearl Primus (1919-1994), who came up after Dafora, went to Liberia, herself, learned the dance/rhythm., and staged it in the States The choreography moved on to Alvin Ailey’s dance company, and it has since become part of U.S. African, and now drum circle, culture.
The lyrics, however, are another matter. Why does the melody sound so much like “Li’l Liza Jane”? Because….that’s what it is. LaRoque Bey, the leader of a local New York children’s African dance school, placed Yoruba (from Nigeria) words to the “old time”/plantation days melody, and added that to the dance."...
****Excerpt #2
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fanga_(dance)
"Fanga is a dance "interpretation of a traditional Liberian invocation to the earth and sky".[citation needed] The dance originated in Liberia[1][2] or Sierra Leone.[2] The first performance of a version of Fanga in the United States may have been by Asadata Dafora in 1943;[2][3][4] Marcia Ethel Heard believes that Pearl Primus hid Dafora's influence on her work.[5] The dance was written by Primus in 1959 in conjunction with the National Dance Company of Liberia.[citation needed] Fanga was one of the dances through which Primus sought to stylize and perpetuate African dance traditions by framing dance as a symbolic act, an everyday practice, and a ceremony.[6] It was then further popularized by Primus' students, sisters Merle Afida Derby and Joan Akwasiba Derby.[3][2] Babatunde Olatunji described Fanga as a dance of welcome from Liberia and he, and many others, used a song created by LaRocque Bey to go with the rhythm and dance, assisted by some of the students in his Harlem studio, during the early 1960s. Bey used words from the Yoruba and Vai languages (alafia = welcome; ashe = so be it; fanga = drum) and an African American folk melody popularized by American minstrels (Li'l Liza Jane).[7]"
-snip-
The definitions that are given for the words "alafia", "ashe", and "fanga" aren't their original meanings. Also, the Yoruba word "ashe" is correctly spelled "ase" in English.
****
Excerpt #3
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."
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.
[Here's a quote from the book The Dance Claimed Me: A Biography Of Pearl Primus by Peggy Schwartz & Murray:
"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." (Schwartz, Pearl Primus Biography, p. 88).
****
EXAMPLES OF THE WORD "FANGA" IN SOME WEST AFRICAN LANGUAGES
The word "fanga" is found in more than one West African language. 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.
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 possible that the Liberian word "fanga" also means "force" or "power".
Here's some information about the Vai language from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vai_language
"The Vai language, also called Vy or Gallinas, is a Mande language spoken by the Vai people, roughly 104,000 in Liberia, and by smaller populations, some 15,500, in Sierra Leone.[2]
Writing system
Vai is noteworthy for being one of the few African languages
to have a writing system that is not based on the Latin or Arabic script. This
Vai script is a syllabary invented by Momolu Duwalu Bukele around 1833,
although dates as early as 1815 have been alleged. The existence of Vai was
reported in 1834 by American missionaries in the Missionary Herald of the
ABCFM[3] and independently by Rev. Sigismund Wilhelm Koelle, a Sierra Leone
agent of the Church Missionary Society of London.[4]…
Phonology
Vai is a tonal language and has 11 vowels and 31 consonants"...
****
AN ALTERNATIVE EXPLANATION FOR THE WORD "FUNGA"
[I just found this comment on November 27, 2024 after this post was originally published. This comment isn't included in the 2019 pancocojams post.]
From https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XUdQSELj1-M "Funga Alafia (Lyric Video)", published by Edison Shockers Music, May 21, 2019
Practice video for K-5 BR Spring 2019 Concert.
[comment]
@edeyoruba1421, 2023
"I found this song interesting, but the lyrics are kind of
weird. The words are supposed to be Yoruba, and this is how it's supposed to
go;
Fún wá l'àláfíà
Àṣẹ! Àṣẹ!!
Fún wa l'àláfíà
Àṣẹ! Àṣẹ!!
interpretations:
Give us peace
So shall it be! So shall it be!!
Give us peace
So shall it be! So shall it be!!"
-snip-
I checked Google translate for the Yoruba to English results for the words "
While it's possible that LaRocque Bey, the African American drummer from New York City who composed the song "Funga Alafia" in 1959 or 1960 may have know those Yoruba words, I think it's highly unlikely. I still think he accidentally mispronounced the word "fanga" which was the Liberian beat that he and other drummers were playing.
There are a lot of words throughout the world that have the same or similar spelling and pronunciation but don't have the same etymology (origin and meanings). I believe that's the case with the word folk processed word "funga" in the African American song with some Yoruba words and with the Yoruba words that @edeyoruba1421shared.
-snip-
I added this comment to that YouTube discussion thread with a link to Part I of this pancocojams series.
****
SELECTED COMMENTS FROM THREE 2019 PANCOCOJAMS POSTS ABOUT THE SONG "FUNGA ALAFIA"
These comments are numbered for referencing purposes.
PANCOCOJAMS POST 2019 PART I - "Funga Alafia" - Hint: It Isn't A Liberian Song,
Or A Nigerian Song, Or A Traditional African Song."
1. AKOGUNOFYORUBALAND, May 8, 2020 at 12:15 PM
"Hello.I saw the video(s) on YouTube and I had to search for
the meaning of what they were saying 'Fanga Alafia' and the 'ase' that follows.
My comments:
1-The closest thing to the word 'Fanga' in Yoruba nation is
'Fanda' which means 'majestic'. Let me use the word in Yoruba then I'll
translate it. *mo yan Fanda be oba* meaning I am walking majestically like a
king.
2 - So if I say 'Fanda Alafia' means majestic peace or a
kingly peace. Depending on sentence or message I want put down.
3- Ase is a response used by traditional worshipers of
Yoruba nation after saying prayers maybe during festivals,sacrifice(s)...
example, when saying a prayer to some who is about leaving town *wa lo re wa bo
re* meaning- you will go in peace and return in peace. The response of the
traveller will be 'ase' meaning so be it.
4- Looking at the way the dancers move there body in one of
the presentations by Baba Olatunji( not sure I get the name correctly), it was
majestic. So to say Fanda/Fanga Alafia means welcome is not correct. Except
there other words that was said before or after the chant-like song.
Note: During the era of human continental-reshuffling;
languages, character,culture, tradition and stuffs were only verbally passed to
children and grandchildren and non of these attribute were written down for
actual learning. So it is basically what brains could pick and transmit was
been said to each other. And along the line, the original sound and lettering
went missing.
If say FANGA was substituted for FANDA, I will say to you
that the origin of 'FANDA ALAFIA' 'ASE' is from the Yoruba nation. But like you
said that Fanga could be traced to the people of Liberia...
On a final note, I will say if the words were not pronounced
in the exact way due to poor documentation and communication gap from source to
the children, then the exact word will be 'FANDA ALAFIA' 'ASE'. If I am to
reconstruct this word it will be *ni ajo to nlo yii, wa yan FANDA ninu ALAFIA
o* then the response will be *ASE* . I just said a prayer that could have been
said to one subject in the re-shuffling menace. Saying "In this journey
you are about to embark on, you will walk majestically in peace" and
response will be "so be it".
I have only made my comments/observation as a Yoruba man not
based on any research. Thank you.
Thank you for your research on Fanga Alafia. I hope one day
we will all agree on who we really are. God bless you."
**
Reply
2. Azizi Powell, May 8, 2020 at 4:19 PM
"AKOGUNOFYORUBALAND, Thanks for your comments.
I appreciate your sharing your thoughts on these words with me and those who visit pancocojams.
And whether we all agree or not on who we really are, we
still are- and that's important for us to really know."
**
3. Anonymous, January 19, 2021 at 11:45 AM
"thanks so much for this info! I'm working on the song for a
church project. Up until 5 mins ago, I would have told everyone "it's an
old Nigerian folk song" "
Reply
4.
"Thanks for your comment, Anonymous.
As indicated in this post, I'm convinced that "Funga Alafia" isn't "an old Nigerian (or Liberian) folk song, but is a song composed by an African American who combined (and adapted) the West African words "fanga", "alafia" and "ase" (ashe).
Best wishes for your church project!"
5.
"I appreciate your research....and brief historical info. We
as american africans need to be recognized for our inspirational creativity. I
still love the version I know and teach...Baba Olatunji's version. Peace."
**
Reply
6. Azizi Powell, January 26, 2021 at 8:47 PM
"Thanks for your comment, Unknown.
Peace to you also and àṣẹ."
7.
"Thanks for your research as always. I am sharing what Baba
Chuck Davis told us at a workshop. He said the song was composed spontaneously
as the drummers played the rhythm as a way to remember the rhythm. He was the
one who told us the tune was Lil Liza Jane. I hope my addition helps. But I
have a question. Did Pearl Primus introduce the dance or not."
**
8. Azizi Powell, March 11, 2021 at 1:39 PM
"[I first wrote this reply on January 29, 2021, but deleted
it because I misspelled Baba Chuck Davis' name.]
" "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]
Azizi Powell"
9. Andrea Early, March 11, 2021 at 10:47 AM
"thank
Reply
"You're welcome, Andrea Early.
Best wishes!"
****
PANCOCOJAMS POST 2019 (PART II- Three YouTube Videos Of Funga Alafia Songs & Dances)
https://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2019/04/three-youtube-videos-of-funga-alafia.html
1. Azizi PowellApril 28, 2019 at 5:57 PM
"I first wrote about the song "Funga Alafia" in
2011.
I decided to revisit this subject because of the apparent widespread inclusion of "Funga Alafia" in United States and other non-West African nations and also because of the widespread misinformation about the provenance of that song.
Even if people prefer later arrangements of a particular song, I believe it's important to document and share that song's provenance (origin/source).
If possible, it's important to know who composed the song - if not the actual composer/s than which population it came from. It's also important to know what the original words were, which tune and tempo was originally used and what performance activities, if any, where used while singing or chanting the composition.
Knowing where the song came from can help determine the overall meaning of the song itself as well as the meanings of specific words/phrases (including slang and colloquial expressions).
Knowing the provenance of a song can also help instill and reinforce group self-esteem and personal esteem in people from that particular population.
Reply
Thank you for sharing!! I plan on teaching this to my
kiddos."
**
Reply
Azizi Powell. January 3, 2022 at 5:03 PM
"You're welcome William Tillman, Jr.
I hope your children enjoy dancing to this song and drumming.
Best wishes!"
Unknown, April 19, 2022 at 3:26 PM
"
Azizi Powell, April 19, 2022 at 9:00 PM
"You're welcome, Unknown."
This concludes Part III of this four part 2024 pancocojams series on the song "Funga Alafia".
Thanks for visiting pancocojams.
Visitor comments are welcome.
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