Say My Name
Unveiling the Divine Tapestry: Rediscovering Identity in Ndukwe Onuoha's Melodic Odyssey
Lyrics
My name is Ifeanyichukwu
Introducing the speaker's name as Ifeanyichukwu.
Nothing is heavy for God
Emphasizing that nothing is too burdensome for God.
You see, where I come from,
Explaining the cultural context of the speaker's origin.
God is a sweet burden we carry in our names
Viewing God as a positive and comforting presence in their lives.
Chinonyelum.
Listing traditional names, suggesting cultural richness and identity.
Chukwudubem.
-Ikemsinachi.
-And we had him on our lips way before we learned of His blue-eyed, goldylocked beauty
Reflecting on the early awareness of God before exposure to external influences.
Way before we buried Ani in the earth and cast her shadow on the moon
Referencing the burial of Ani and its impact on cultural beliefs.
We built our bodies as his temple
Describing the devotion to God through body, art, and tradition.
Nsibidi
-Uli.
-Stretched our bodies as parchments upon which we wrote His laws
-Like signposts, our bodies marked the passover
Symbolizing the sanctity of the anointed and the prophet.
Touch not my anointed and do my prophet no harm
Comparing their trials to the biblical Gethsemane.
This was our Gethsemane
-But as the oil of gladness poured over our olive bodies
Encountering messengers of a different faith and the impact on their lives.
The messengers of the One True God washed ashore in their humble might
-Asked us to kneel in prayer
Being introduced to a new religious perspective emphasizing safety and provision.
Said The Lord was our shepherd
-Reminded us how we wanted for nothing
-Under the shadow of his terrible might
Expressing confidence in the protection of God.
We were assured of safety
Unexpectedly losing their land in exchange for a foreign religion.
And by the time we said amen
-They had our land, and we had their bible
-Sprawled out as missionaries
Transforming into missionaries, detached from their cultural roots.
Ready to do work for which we had been bred
-We were a new creation
-One ready to do his master’s bidding
-Dead to our past, our names became an abomination to be spat out like ujiri seeds
Describing the abandonment of their past and the rejection of their names.
Old things were passed away.
-So here we stand
Presenting the current state of a generation unaware of its cultural heritage.
A faithful generation that doesn’t know its name.
-So ignorant of our ignorance
-The flavour of palm oil is foreign to our lips
Highlighting the estrangement from cultural symbols and traditions.
And proverbs have no taste
-But we had God in our hearts once
Recalling a time when God was central in their lives, expressed through blessings.
And with our lips we spoke his blessings in each sentence
-Like an incantation at dawn.
-I buola chi?
Pose a series of questions about the future, identity, and cultural preservation.
Chi nyele ugo.
-Echi di ime.
-Tomorrow is pregnant.
-For who knows the belly that will birth the king
-Or the tree that will hang his body?
-Who will reach into the dark place and bring forth the light
-That we may find our way?
-Who will remind my people of our beauty?
-Of deep mysteries etched in our souls like carvings on sacred wood?
-Who will speak our names with conviction?
-Or march into the sea when all else fails?
-Who will say our names?
Expressing the concern about the preservation of individual and cultural identity.
Who will speak my name?
-Who will remember?
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