TRACK 33 (Mar99-04-s07) Song 20: Walakandha No. 3 [142]
| Sung text | Free Translation |
| karra walakandha-ga kiminy-gimi-vini kunya aven-andjakan-gu kavulh-wuwu duwarr kubuwemi-gukarra walakandha kudinggi-yirrir kuniny purangang ngindji ngandjenkubuwemi nidin-ngin-a | Walakandhas! They are saying, ‘where has everyone gone?’As for here, Kubuwemi is desertedThe Walakandhas [i.e., Dumoo, Kundjil and Mullumbuk] are wandering around at a certain other coastal estateKubuwemi! My dear country! |
In this song by Philip Mullumbuk, a group of Walakandhas (in this case, the ancestral dead) find Kubuwemi deserted and ask where everyone has gone. They are told that everyone (here ‘Walakandha’ refers to the living) has gone to another coastal estate. This song refers to an occasion on which Wagon Dumoo, Les Kundjil and Philip Mullumbuk went south to the estate of the Murriny Patha-speaking Yek Nangu clan, to perform ceremony. Perhaps this was the burn-im rag ceremony for Johnny Ninnal held in Nangu country sometime around 1990, which gave rise to a djanba song describing an encounter between performers of wangga and wurltjirri songs (Barwick, et al., 2010, djanba 65). [143]
Formally the song shows Philip Mullumbuk’s love of long, grammatically elaborate text phrases, each of which is often sung to the same melody. We will see this pattern repeated in the following song.
Song structure summary
VOCAL SECTIONS 1-2
Melodic section 1
Text phrase 1
Rhythmic mode 1 (without clapsticks)
| karra | walakandha | -ga | kiminy | -gimi | -vini | kunya | aven | -andja |
| SW | walakandha | TOP | 3AUG.A.R say | talking | UAUG | 3AUG.S.R stand | where | true |
Walakandhas! They are saying, ‘where has everyone gone?
| kan | -gu | kavulh | -wuwu | duwarr | kubuwemi | -gu |
| right here | TOP | MIN.S.R lie | empty | ground | place name | TOP |
As for here, Kubuwemi is deserted’
Melodic section 2
Text phrase 2
Rhythmic mode 1 (without clapsticks)
| karra | walakandha | kudinggi | -yirrir | kuniny | purangang | ngindji | ngandjen |
| SW | walakandha | 3AUG.S.R look | go round | 3AUG.S.R walk | sea | one | different |
The Walakandhas [i.e., Dumoo, Kundjil and Mullumbuk] are wandering around at a certain other coastal estate
| kubuwemi | nidin | -ngin | -a |
| place name | country | 1MIN.O | PERF |
Kubuwemi! My dear country!
INSTRUMENTAL SECTION 1
Rhythmic mode 5a (fast even)
INSTRUMENTAL SECTION 2
Rhythmic mode 5b (fast doubled)