Ethiopian Music
February 24,2017
Tizta – one of the four scales of Ethiopian Music – is popular among Ethiopians. Chances are music with Tizta scales could bring about nostalgic feelings of the good old days.
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As many of Ethiopian traditional songs, the above animated video of masinko song is mainly about fond memories of hometowns and villages. In this case, it is Wollo, a region in north central Ethiopia. Yet, signer also laments a romantic feeling which he puts to the level of pain in the following lyrics in which he pleads his love not to avoid showing up at the harvesting work (manual of course) as she could simply sit by his side as he works:
ከጤፉም አጨዳ ለምን ትቀሪያለሽ
ከስንዴው አጨዳ ለምን ትቀሪያለሽ
ተቀመጭ ከጎኔ አንችም አንድ ህመም ነሽ
His description of her and how the lover seeks to be protective of her is captured in the following lines
ተንታ ከገበያው ለምን ትወጫለሽ
ብርጭቆ አትገዢ ብርጭቆ አንገት አለሽ
ብርሌ አትገዢ ብርሌ አንገት አለሽ
ቀታፊ（？） ልብሽን ታስወስጂዋለሽ
Perhaps this makes sense only in the context of Ethiopian culture and certainly in the old days. In those lines, while the singer reflects on the physical attraction his love has,he is skeptical of of the heart.And the feeling of skepticism over possible cheating if she go out to open market for shopping as she her beauty could capture the attention and hearts others. It does not sound possessiveness. Not sure if there is such thing as greed in love but the feeling is somewhat close to it. If it is not about the music, perhaps the song could take us to what is now gender politics and domestic issues. But again the song is motivated by an emotion of love rather rather.
What do you like about Tizta song? Share your thoughts in the comment section below.
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