What Ya Singin’ ‘Bout, Patrick?
My husband has a CD by a popular Congolese musician that he listens to all the time. He especially likes the vocals. So he’s decided to learn to sing one of the songs phonetically.
The other night he happily sang it to me. He learned it in the car driving to and from gigs. “What do you think?” he asked. He was looking very pleased with himself.
“Very good,” I said.
He explained to me which parts were difficult to learn. Then he sang it again. “Maybe I’ll sing it on a gig.”
When I asked him what it meant, he said that he had no idea. How could he consider singing something in public if he has no idea what it means? “It could mean anything,” I told him. “You could be singing kill whitey.” We laughed.
I think he’s still determined to sing it on a gig. I just hope no Congolese people are in the audience when he does.
