The Elephant Song... TheHealingDrum.com

This is a song from the CD "Healing Drums of Power" www.TheHealingDrum.com
It is a traditional sacred shamanic drum rhythm of the Ifa religion from Nigeria West Africa

Category:

Music

Tags:

• World
• Music
• Reggae
• Drum
• Yoruba
• Djembe
• Conga
• Elephant
• ganesha
• africa
• ifa
• santeria
• afro
• cuban
• ritual
• orisha
• unsigned

[richardolatunde]

very nice, great..ok, but this"shamanic" rythmn, not traditionally played on djembe,(not a Nigerian drum) but all the INDIAN GANESH imagery makes it confusing..are trying to draw a cross-cultural parallel here??? I'd like to know

[theholographicmind]

Yes, you are correct the Djembe is not a traditional Yoruba drum. This rhythm was taught to me by an Ifa Priest from Ijebu Nigeria, his name is Baba Ayodele Adeyemi. Every drum rhythm in the song was originally a spoken chant and was converted to drums. I don't when that happened or what kind of drums were originally used, but he taught me the song using djembe, djun djuns and bell.

[theholographicmind]

It is a shamanic rhythm used in rituals. The drums tell a story about a heroic snail who defeats a demon terrorizing the Human race and as a result, he is given a "very special Horse" which is actually an elephant. I do put the ganesh images because one of the rhythms in the song says "All Wisdom Come to me" Ganesh in Hindu represents wisdom. In the west, we say, "An Elephant never forgets." These rhythms have impacted me very much and I do try to find the universal connection between religions.

[richardolatunde]

and what do you attribute "gbong gu gbong" to mean?

[theholographicmind]

The way it was explained to me... Gbong Gu Gbong loosely translated means "in a wonderful way" The lead drums are singing about the hero's feats and another set of drums responds saying "Gbong Gu Gbong". i.e.. (Lead) "the snail did this... (Response) In a wonderful way?. Yes, in a wonderful way.." I believe that the dialect is a very old dialect of Yoruba similar to hearing latin in a Catholic service. Anyway, it's hard for me to explain without being in person to illustrate... Hope that helps.

[OyaRevolutionary]

@theholographicmind Loving It! Thanx!

[wcatlin03]

wow! i have listened to this song for a long time and i never untill now knew it was a verbal story that was converted to drum beat. amazing story and amazing drum playing.

[narayanr]

Eternal Bliss & Infinite Rhythm!

Thanks!

[richardolatunde]

thanks again

[richardolatunde]

thats wonderful - thanks