Tongo
This song is thought to be Polynesian, probably from the Solomon Islands. Sometimes you'll see this listed as a song from the Philippines. It seems likely that it is Polynesian but that it's sung in the Philippines.
Tongo
Tongo
Call and Response Song
Call and Response Song
(Unidentified Language)
(English)
Leader: Tongo
Group: Tongo
Leader: Jimnee bye bye oh
Group: Jimnee bye bye oh
Leader: Tongo
Group: Tongo
Leader: Oom ba de kim bye oh
Group: Oom ba de kim bye oh
Leader: Ooh a lay
Group: Ooh a lay
Leader: Mah le ka ah lo way
Group: Mah le ka ah lo way
If anyone can provide a translation of this song and any info about the language, please email me.
Thanks! Mama Lisa
Notes
Tongo means mangrove in the Kiribati and Tonga languages. Mangroves grow in saline water on the coast.
"Tongo" is believed to be a canoe song.
If the song is Kiribati, I found the word "bwe" (in the place of "bye" above) to have a definition related to canoeing in this Kirabati - English Dictionary:
An oar, a steering oar or it can mean "move" in a game.
*****
Ashley Wickham wrote:
"I am from New Georgia in Solomon Islands. I am 70 and have not heard that song before.
'Oom ba' when said together means 'why' in the Roviana language. But the rest don't make sense to us.
'Tongo' is also the word for mangrove in the Gela language of the Florida group in Solomon islands."
*****
Ian Robinson wrote, "Our community choir in Moruya, Australia is singing this song. My Pacific friends say it is not in Tongan, Fijian or Samoan. If it is Solomon Islands, as a couple of websites say, they are Melanesian NOT Polynesian."
*****
If anyone can provide any information about this song, please email me. Thanks! -Mama Lisa
Comments
This is also a Girl Scout song.
Thanks!
Thanks!
Thanks!
Thanks and Acknowledgements
Thanks to Ashley Wickham and Ian Robinson for commenting on this song!
Image: Women at Nore Fou in Canoes, trading with ship, Lau Lagoon, Malaita Island (Solomon Islands), 1906.
