Kyenkyen Bi Adi Mawu > Comments > "Review of Kyenkyen Bi Adi Mawu"
Piece Comment
Commenter Profile
- Michael Johnson
- Username: mjsf1
- Location: San Francisco, CA
- Joined PRX: Apr 22, 2004
Piece Information
- "Kyenkyen Bi Adi Mawu"
- Summary: The exhiled son of Ghana's former emir, king of the Muslim people, remembers the song his father listened to as he carried the burden of leading Ghana's Muslim people.
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Review of Kyenkyen Bi Adi Mawu
Michael Johnson
Posted on July 21, 2006 at 10:20 PM
Ths piece originally produced for Weekend America's Song & Memory features, is a tightly paced and moving story of a king and his son, and the song that connects them through the son's memory of his father, an emir in a muslim community in Ghana, While the circumstances may sound extraordinary at first blush, the tale of father and son, and how a pop song recalls memories for the son living abroad in America is a story of connection, sense memory, familial affection, and reminds this reviewer or the story songs of Harry Chapin. The wish of a father to reconnect with his far flung progeny, the decision to return home, the song, happy and upbeat to the ear, but stirring deep emotions as it recalls a painful time of life.
This feature is produced by the same team who put together the effective "And I Walked..." feature on immigrants crossing into the US from Mexico. It's another bullseye that could work as a drop in on a world music program, or a Father's Day special.
?Kyenkyen Bi Adi Mawu? may be a hard to pronounce song from Ghana pop music culture, but it will ring familair as much as any Sinatra song a parent hums, a lingering melody that serves as a portal, a snapshot, another opprtunity for a story from the past to resonate in the present generation.