The place and role of some songs in the Yorùbá indigenous health care system

Abstract

Songs belong to a subcategory of oral Yorùbá poetry that is distinguished by its highly musical mode of rendition different from the recitative mode. Songs can be accompanied by instrumentation and dance because of their regular rhythmic rendition. Recitations are not usually accompanied among the Yorùbá. Ògúndèjì (1991:17–23) and Orímóògùnjẹ́ (1986; 1996:43–46) have worked on this aspect of oral Yorùbá literature. The Yorùbá like other peoples believe that song has a psychological power of relieving tension if it is positively used. This study was not so much concerned with the classification of songs, but rather focused on the relevance of songs to health-related issues among women. The existing works on the classification of Yorùbá songs include Babalọlá (1976), Vidal (1980), Oyeṣakin (1983) and Ògúndèjì (1991). There are various types of songs among the Yorùbá. Based on the criterion of what they are used for, and in line with the work of Ògúndèjì (1991:95–124) on the classification of Yorùbá songs, five types are distinguished (festival songs, children's songs, folktale songs, proverbial songs and dance music). The first two – orin-ọdún ìbílẹ̀ (festival songs) and orin-ọmọdé (children's songs) were selected for this study, because they are mostly used for health management among the Yorùbá. These songs are rendered by women to boost the morale of the people in the Yorùbá health care delivery system.