The translation is off. ori ori o ola jumo'ke nlo is from a Yoruba folktalke. The was a town where a very vain and conceited girl named Olajumoke lived. Olajumoke tended to do as she pleased and never listened to her mother. One day, Olajumoke went to the market and saw the most handsome man she had ever seen. This man was obviously a stranger from another town because all the men from Olajumoke’s town were ugly (according to Olajumoke). She decided that he was the man that he was going to marry. Her mother warned her against marrying him because he was a stranger. The strange man warned her against marrying him too, but Olajumoke was stubborn. So Olajumoke and the strange man got married. But the strange man was from a land of evil spirits. Before coming to the town where he met Olajumoke, he borrowed several body parts from vendors on his way. After he and Olajumoke married, they left the town and as they were leaving he returned the body parts he borrowed until only a skull was left. Olajumoke was petrified and decided that she was going to run away. However, whenever the skull went to the farm, he placed a tortoise to watch over Olajumoke. Whenever Olajumoke tried to run away, the tortoise would yell “ori, ori o, Olajumoke nlo” meaning “Skull, skull, Olajumoke is leaving” and the skull would return quickly back home. This went on for a while and Olajumoke eventually became friends with the tortoise. One day she made the turtle his favourite meal of ekuru (white moin moin, google it. idk how to describe it). As the tortoise was eating, Olajumoke began to run away. But because the tortoise had his mouth full, he was unable to alert the skull. So Olajumoke ran back to her town and returned to her mother.
Wow! That’s a beautifully summarized story. Thanks a bunch for this. I’ve been searching for the meaning of this song for yonks though it’s one of my favourite songs from AK.
Hoo cette chanson m fait vibré
The translation is off. ori ori o ola jumo'ke nlo is from a Yoruba folktalke.
The was a town where a very vain and conceited girl named Olajumoke lived. Olajumoke tended to do as she pleased and never listened to her mother. One day, Olajumoke went to the market and saw the most handsome man she had ever seen. This man was obviously a stranger from another town because all the men from Olajumoke’s town were ugly (according to Olajumoke). She decided that he was the man that he was going to marry. Her mother warned her against marrying him because he was a stranger. The strange man warned her against marrying him too, but Olajumoke was stubborn. So Olajumoke and the strange man got married.
But the strange man was from a land of evil spirits. Before coming to the town where he met Olajumoke, he borrowed several body parts from vendors on his way. After he and Olajumoke married, they left the town and as they were leaving he returned the body parts he borrowed until only a skull was left. Olajumoke was petrified and decided that she was going to run away. However, whenever the skull went to the farm, he placed a tortoise to watch over Olajumoke. Whenever Olajumoke tried to run away, the tortoise would yell “ori, ori o, Olajumoke nlo” meaning “Skull, skull, Olajumoke is leaving” and the skull would return quickly back home.
This went on for a while and Olajumoke eventually became friends with the tortoise. One day she made the turtle his favourite meal of ekuru (white moin moin, google it. idk how to describe it). As the tortoise was eating, Olajumoke began to run away. But because the tortoise had his mouth full, he was unable to alert the skull. So Olajumoke ran back to her town and returned to her mother.
That's a fabulous story, so thanks for that, the translation and the clarification!
Aah, childhood folktales..The beauty of African folktales..
Thank you for this. We have a story just like that in Togo! You lnow, a good amount of our Togolese people come from some Yoruba.
Wow! That’s a beautifully summarized story. Thanks a bunch for this. I’ve been searching for the meaning of this song for yonks though it’s one of my favourite songs from AK.
thanks for the translations. i was 5 when this song came out...straight from TOGO!!
You are very welcome.