| for Sekupu and Voice Transcribed from the performance of an Unnamed Sotho women’s group by Lindiwe Maxolo |
He! Wena Tjobolo! is Basotho women’s music performed during Mokhibo dance for cultural ceremonies accompanied by clapping and drums. Mokhibo is a dance whereby women dance knelt down emphasizing shoulders and hips in celebration of femininity. They play ‘Sekupu’; a drum originally made out of ale tree trunk, carved-out and covered both sides with cow skin and played using hands.
Tjobolo is a very beautiful bird. It is known for being a wanderer. It does not build its own nest.
Interpretations of the song vary. Mpho Molikeng explained that the song itself is poem or a metaphor of/for a promiscuous man who goes around destroying other people’s families. He knows the dangers yet decides to just do it anyway. He thrives in ruins and moves on without any care of his actions or repercussions thereof.
Other specialists have interpreted the text as being O ikentse sekalakati seyalemalapa (she is behaving like someone who moves from house to house) in reference to a woman who gossips.
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