TRACK 24 (Kof86-01/2-s15) Song 11: Pumurriyi [132] (Two items)
Sung text | Free Translation |
mana walakandha pumurriyi kin-kurr-nginanga-yaee mana pumurriyi kin-kurr-nginanga-yaee mana pumurriyi kin-kurr-nginanga-ya | Brother Walakandha, it [a breaker] hit me at Pumurriyi and I couldn’t stop itEe brother, it [a breaker] hit me at Pumurriyi and I couldn’t stop itEe brother, it [a breaker] hit me at Pumurriyi and I couldn’t stop it |
Pumurriyi is an important and well known site of the Marri Ammu people [133] and the performance of a song about Pumurriyi acknowledges that the Marri Ammu are also participants in the Walakandha wangga repertory. Here the impact of death on the singer is likened to being hit by a breaker.
Two items, the first with four vocal sections and the second with three, are sung without a break. Because the text is stable from performance to performance, only the first item is included in the song structure summary. The arhythmic stickbeating at the very end of the track is a signal that a performance session has concluded.
This and the following four tracks were recorded by Frances Kofod at Wadeye on 16 June 1986. This song—one of those that seem to have fallen out of use by 1988— is sung to the same melody as ‘Mirrwana’ (track 19).
Song structure summary
Item 1
VOCAL SECTIONS 1-4
Melodic section 1
Text phrase 1
Rhythmic mode 1 (without clapsticks)
mana | walakandha | pumurriyi | kin | -kurr | -nginanga | -ya |
brother | walakandha | place | 3MIN.S.R move | -hit | 1.MIN.ADVERS | PERF |
Brother Walakandha, it [a breaker] hit me at Pumurriyi and I couldn’t stop it
Melodic sections 2-3
Text phrases 2-3
Rhythmic mode 1 (without clapsticks)
ee | mana | pumurriyi | kin | -kurr | -nginanga | -ya |
eh | brother | place | 3MIN.S.R move | -hit | 1.MIN.ADVERS | PERF |
Ee brother, it [a breaker] hit me at Pumurriyi and I couldn’t stop it
INSTRUMENTAL SECTIONS 1-3
Rhythmic mode 5a (fast even)
INSTRUMENTAL SECTION 4
Rhythmic mode 5b (fast doubled)