. Introduction
Singing is an activity that happens in every society. But the ways that texts and music
align with each other and the ways meanings are conveyed, and how the activity fits
into larger contexts vary considerably from society to society. The study of song
draws in not only the discipline of musicology but also many fields of linguistic
inquiry*phonology, poetics, morphology, semantics and pragmatics. Like words and
morphemes, songs are form-meaning units to be included in any complete language
description. The papers in this volume reveal songs to be highly structured art forms
that have the ability to convey complex associations of meaning beyond everyday
spoken language. The papers arise from a workshop that aimed to explore the
linguistic features of song in a cross-disciplinary context with a view to strengthening
ties between linguists, musicologists and anthropologists working in this field.1
The papers relate to two main areas of investigation: (i) the formal properties of
song; and (ii) the meanings of songs. The formal properties of song involve at the
least, a textual component and a musical component.2
The text may be subject to
constraints; it may draw on words from a limited vocabulary, require a set number of
syllables per line or a rhyme in particular positions. The musical component too is
usually organized within a set tonal structure and rhythmic meter, and can also
involve significant contrasts in tempo, dynamic range and voice quality. Accompanying instrumentation may also be part of the musical structure of song. Song may also
+ We would like to thank Jane Simpson for providing helpful comments on an earlier draft of this paper.
1 Workshop on the Language of Song held by the Australian Linguistics Society conference at the University of
Adelaide on 2728 September 2007. We thank all the participants at the workshop for their insightful comments
about issues involved in working on song, and especially for the discussion during the final session which arose
from the question of how to analyse songs, given that by their very nature they require expertise in language,
music and specific cultural knowledge.
2 Here we draw upon the work of Dell and Halle (2008).
ISSN 0726-8602 print/ISSN 1469-2996 online/10/010001-17 # 2010 The Australian Linguistic Society
DOI: 10.1080/07268600903133998
Australian Journal of Linguistics
Vol. 30, No. 1, January 2010, pp. 117
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require text and music to align in a set way, for example stressed syllables to align
with a strong musical beat. Many of the songs considered in this volume are part of a
much larger performance involving dance, gesture, costumes and designs. These may
also be part of the formal properties of song, and their alignment with text and music
should also be considered.
In the area of meaning, songs are of particular interest as they frequently have
distinct readings from that which would be assigned to them on the basis of
straightforward compositional semantic principles, in the same way that phrasal
idioms do. As well, song often conveys more meanings, significances and resonances
than an ordinary speech utterance, and in this respect songs resemble poetry. In
songs, meanings are encoded not only in the text, but also through a complex
interaction of the music, dance, visual designs and their associations with specialized
knowledge, including knowledge about the context of performance. This has led a
number of researchers to perceive songs as a package (Berndt 1965: 247; Tonkinson
1978: 112; Kartomi 1984: 60; Wild 1984: 192; Sutton 1987; Barwick 2000: 329, 2003:
8283; Turpin 2005). A song text itself is often what Sperber and Wilson (1986) call
‘weakly communicative’. This means that the hearer is required to make many
inferences to receive a message, and as a result many interpretations of the message
are possible. Such texts can be described as opaque (Walsh 2007). This contrasts with
various types of ‘strongly communicative’ spoken utterances where the choice of
syntax and words makes explicit the intended message. The ways in which
enculturated listeners derive meanings from songs involve investigating semantic
and pragmatic aspects of the song text,3
as well as specialized cultural and real-world
knowledge, including knowledge of the song performance as a speech event.
Knowledge in all these areas may be evoked when hearing particular songs. The
aesthetic pleasure speakers derive from interpreting songs with opaque song texts
may, in part, arise from the ‘recomposition of something anew’ rather than the
‘composition of something new’ (Fabb 1997: 8).4
1.1. Scope and Context of this Volume
The articles in this volume are concerned with the form and/or meaning of songs,
with a particular focus on the song texts. Viewed as a composite of text and music, a
comprehensive study of song favours a cross-disciplinary approach. Unfortunately,
studies of song do not always travel well between linguistics and musicology since the
same terms can be used in different ways. For example, the terms ‘rhythm’, ‘stress’ and
‘tone’ have different, specific meanings in linguistics and musicology. In order to
manage this issue, we have encouraged authors to define all technical terms to foster
understandings across the disciplines.
3
Following Dell and Elmedlaoui (2008) we use the term ‘enculturated listener’ to refer to the singers or listeners
of songs within a culture, in much the same way one uses the term ‘native speaker’ when referring to linguistic
competence.
4
See Wild (1987) for a discussion of this in Warlpiri.
2 M. Turpin and T. Stebbins
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The definition of song we use in this volume is a sequence of syllables (‘text’) that
is sung,5 where singing is recognized within the relevant community as the most
appropriate method of delivering the text. Song cannot simply be defined as a
musical setting of words, as many songs contain vocables, such as ‘tra-la-la’, which are
not words and yet are part of a song text (the article by Apted in this volume is a case
in point). Sometimes a whole line may have no identifiable words (Strehlow 1971;
Garde 2007: 41). Our definition of song excludes the spontaneous singing of speech,
as, although this may draw on notions of song, often for humorous effect, the text
itself is not considered a song. By ‘singing’ we mean a vocal style with rhythmic and
usually also melodic properties. In some languages what are often translated as
‘songs’ may be delivered through intoning, wailing or reciting where there is rhythmic
but not melodic variation.6 Different linguistic communities may well define the
boundary between speech and song differently. In casting our net widely, our
definition of songs includes those genres that may be performed without an apparent
melodic structure, such as chants.
In the past 20 years there have been a number of collections concerned with
Australian Aboriginal songs (Clunies Ross et al. 1987; Barwick et al. 2005). Most
recently Studies in Aboriginal Song: A Special Issue of Australian Aboriginal Studies
(2007) contains excellent collaborative work between musicologists and linguists on
Australian Aboriginal song.7
The present volume furthers work on Aboriginal songs
and extends the geographic area of research by including articles on songs from a
diverse range of language communities including English, French, Spanish and lesser
known musical genres from the Pacific and South-East Asia.
We turn now to consider the two main areas of exploration in detail. In Section 2
we consider the form of songs and in Section 3, the meanings of songs. In each
section we describe the types of analytical issues that arise and highlight the
approaches taken by the authors of this volume to these areas.
2. Form and Structural Organization of Songs
At the most basic level, a song must involve text and music. Finer-grained analysis
reveals organizational units that combine to form a song. The organizational units
found in many English songs include lines, couplets, refrains, verses, choruses and
stanzas,8
all of which occur in the songs considered by Rodrı´guez-Va´zquez in this
volume. In many languages the organizational units are not named, just as
grammatical units might not be named. Instrumental introductions, musical
interludes, vocal sections (analogous to verses) and text phrases (analogous to lines)
5 Our use of ‘text’ means the syllables as they are uttered; they need not be a written version or performance of a
written version.
6
Rumsey, for example, refers to such genres in Papua New Guinea as ‘chanted tales’ (2001, 2005).
7
See also Clunies Ross (1986), and Koch and Turpin (2008) for a recent overview of the language of Aboriginal
songs.
8 Note that a ‘line’ of song does not refer to the same thing as a ‘line’ of speech.
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are organizational units in the Kaddikkaddik songs of west Arnhem Land identified by
O’Keeffe in this volume. The organizational structure of a song can have scope over
both text and music. A refrain, for example, is a repeated line of text and melody. A
verse, on the other hand, has the same melody but a different text. Sound patterning
such as rhymes often (but not always) occurs at the end of organizational units. In
this volume Morey finds various types of obligatory rhyme in Tai Phake songs of
north-east India, whereas Walsh finds an absence of rhyme in Aboriginal songs,
though he acknowledges other possible types of sound patterning.9
The musical component alone may have its own structure. For example, the
pitches of notes are bounded by the tonal structure of the particular musical genre or
the musical system of the enculturated listeners. In many songs rhythm is organized
into a repeating pattern of isochronous beats where some beats are stronger than
others, i.e. rhythmic meter. The articles by Nancarrow and O’Keeffe discuss meter in
Aboriginal songs. Duple meter is where every second beat is weaker than the first,
while triple meter is where every second and third beat is weaker than the first (such
as a waltz). Meter is often hierarchically ordered so that in addition to the tactus*the
beats to which one taps*it is possible to recognize larger or smaller divisions of the
beat.10 Where the beat divides into two units this is referred to as simple meter, and
where the beat divides into three units this is referred to as compound meter. In
Australian Aboriginal songs, polyrhythmic meters, where the percussion accompaniment is performed at a different meter to that performed by the voice, are also
common (see Nancarrow, in this volume). Similarly, tempo*the speed of the beats
or underlying pulse of the song*may be constrained by the genre of the song. In
many Aboriginal songs tempo is constrained by the particular meter and beating
accompaniment of the song. This cluster of rhythmic features has led to the term
‘rhythmic mode’ (see O’Keeffe, in this volume).11
In addition to the grammar of the spoken language, a song may have specific
textual conventions. Some songs may prefer particular parts of speech or particular
sounds in the same position of a line. Some may draw from a limited vocabulary,
have a reduced syntax, or a different phoneme inventory to that of the spoken
language.12 In this volume Apted finds a greater number of vowels in Inyjalarrku
songs of north-east Arnhem Land than in everyday speech, a finding in common
with songs from other areas (Strehlow 1971: 67; Sherzer 1990: 16; Turpin 2005:
272). It is important to remember that song is an art form that features the voice as
a musical instrument (Fornas 2003: 49) and vowels are the main pitch-bearing unit
of the voice. Particular types of vowels can help overcome the adverse effects of
9 Many Arandic songs, for example, are subject to alliteration on the final syllable of each line whereby the first
couplet of a verse ends in a pattern which is reversed for the second (final) couplet of the verse, thus creating a
palindrome e.g. a, ay; ay, a (Turpin 2007b).
10 See Patel (2008: 96179) for a detailed discussion of the hierarchical organization of rhythm in music.
11 For examples of rhythmic modes see Barwick (2003), Barwick et al. (2007), Marett (2005) and Treloyn (2007,
2009).
12 See Fabb (1997) and Foley (1997) for an overview of the formal features of many types of verbal art.
4 M. Turpin and T. Stebbins
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consonant production on tune and tone and allow one to sing softly or quickly
without losing the pitch (Emmons 2002); the voice may thus use sounds purely for
their aesthetic effect. Unlike other instruments, however, the voice also produces
spoken language. We are challenged then to avoid viewing song as a derivative of
speech.
There may also be constraints on the linguistic variety used in song. Recent work
on northern Aboriginal songs has found that particular song genres are associated
with particular languages (Barwick et al. 2007: 8).13 In this volume Apted considers
how Inyjalarrku songs are entirely spirit language and contain no words from
everyday speech. Non-speech words are common in Australian Aboriginal songs, and
researchers have often viewed song texts in terms of their divergence from spoken
language (see, for example, Alpher 1976; Dixon 1984; Donaldson 1984; Merlan 1987;
Sutton 1987; Tunstill 1995). In contrast, the papers by Rodrı´guez-Va´zquez, Crozet,
Morey, Sollis, and Stebbins and Planigale consider songs whose linguistic variety is
primarily that of everyday speech.
Finally, there can be requirements on how text, music and song structure interact.
The length of lines may adhere to a regular count of some aspect of linguistic form.
This is called poetic meter.14 As an example, Dell and Elmedlaoui (2008) find that in
many Berber songs, lines adhere to a repeating four-mora pattern that is referred to as
a ‘foot’.15 In addition, they find that every second syllable of the foot must align with a
strong beat. A similar approach is taken by Rodrı´guez-Va´zquez in this volume. She
compares the extent to which lexical stress must align with strong musical beats in
English and Spanish folk songs, a well-documented requirement for English songs
(Hayes 1983; Hayes & Kaun 1996; Hayes & MacEachern 1998). She also compares the
extent to which the principle of ‘one syllable be set to one note’ exists in English and
Spanish songs.16
Both Morey and Sollis in this volume, consider the way in which lexical tone aligns
with musical pitch.17 To what extent song melodies are constrained by the melody of
speech is a particularly relevant question in relation to tone languages. Morey
observes in Tai Phake songs a trade-off where alignment of one aspect of text to
music provides freedom in how another area of text is aligned. He finds that when
lexical tone and musical pitch align, grammatical units need not match the
organizational units of the song. However, when lexical tone and musical pitch do
13 Arandic songs have a large proportion of their text in a neighbouring linguistic variety (Turpin & Green
in press).
14 Strictly speaking poetic meter refers to the fixing of the length of lines by counting some aspect of linguistic
form, and this counting is associated with control over poetic rhythm or the placement of word boundaries, or
some other aspect of the line’s form (Fabb 1997; Fabb & Halle 2008). Dell and Elmedlaoui put text-setting in the
purview of metricality (2008).
15 Sanskrit song texts also adhere to a four-mora pattern (Deo 2007).
16 This is also the case in many central Australian songs*see Turpin (2007a) for a discussion of a song style
where the temporal unit encodes a syllable, and thus a long note (two temporal units) encodes two syllables.
17 Rumsey (2007) considers how lexical tone is overridden by melody in Tom Yaya sung narratives from Papua
New Guinea; see also Patel for a broader consideration of this issue (2008: 217).
The Language of Song 5
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not align there is strict matching of grammatical units with the half-line unit. In
exploring the relationship between linguistic tone and melody in pikono songs from
Papua New Guinea, Sollis finds that linguistic tone contours and melodic contours
match within the constraints of the melodic structure. A melodic phrase cannot
descend further than an interval of a fifth. Where an intonational decline is over a
long portion of text, this musical constraint forces a misalignment of linguistic tone
contour with melody. In many respects songs show a sensitivity to the relationship
between speech prosody and music. The nature and cross-linguistic variation of this
relationship is the concern of the sub-field of text-setting (Lerdahl & Jackendoff 1983;
Halle & Lerdahl 1993; Kiparsky 2006; Fabb & Halle 2008; Hayes 2008; Hayes & Kaun
1996; Rodrı´guez-Va´zquez 2007, Turpin 2007a).
In general we find that the highly structured nature of songs can force
adjustments to the text not normally seen in the spoken form of the language.
This competition between the desire to adhere to the song structures and the desire
to remain faithful to the spoken language has led to Optimality Theory in
phonology being applied to text-setting in song (Hayes & MacEachern 1998).
Rodrı´guez-Va´zquez, in this volume, uses this methodology to show that constraints
which regulate rhythm in spoken language are also those that determine how words
are set to musical rhythm in stanzaic Spanish and English folk songs. This provides
an interesting comparison to Dell and Halle’s work on text-setting in French and
English songs (2008). Rodrı´guez-Va´zquez finds that in Spanish, a so-called syllabletimed language, different texts set to the same melodic line are more likely to
contain the same number of syllables than in English songs, although often at the
expense of aligning prominent syllables with strong musical beats. The reverse is the
case in English, a so-called stress-timed language, where lines are more likely to
contain differing numbers of syllables but less likely to contain stress mismatches.
Such research supports the view that the relation of lyrics to music in songs is
rooted in the sound structure of the language (Fabb 1997), yet contrasts with the
view that the sound structure of speech, literary language and song might have quite
different explanations (Kiparsky 2006: 7; Fabb & Halle 2008).
The use of language to draw attention to the sound qualities of the message itself
rather than its meaning is what Jakobson calls the poetic function of language (1960,
1987: 71). By selecting equivalent and contrasting aspects of languages to create a
sequence, such ‘parallelism’ (Jakobson 1987) gives a temporal dimension to language,
as each sound relates to what comes before and after it. Parallelism can also be
applied to semantics and syntax.18 Walsh, in this volume, considers various types of
parallelism in applying Friedrich’s theory of polytropy (1991) to Aboriginal songs. A
related feature is the repeated use of formulaic expressions. These may be limited to a
particular position in the song or line, and are often set to the same musical pattern.
In contrast to parallelism, a formula need not occur in a regular sequence. In this
18 As an example, Central Australian and Kimberly songs often prefer verbs in line final position (Strehlow
1971: 213; Austin 1978: 531532; Keogh 1990: 74; Ellis 1998: 435; Turpin 2005: 335).
6 M. Turpin and T. Stebbins
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volume Sollis, Apted, Walsh and Morey identify formulaic text in the songs they
investigate.19 As well as drawing attention to the song’s own form, parallelism and
formulas may assist in the memorizing of songs.
To ascertain the structure of a well-formed song it is not always possible to identify
‘ungrammatical’ songs in the same way ungrammatical speech can be identified. In
some cases songs may form a finite set, and may be perceived as being created
by spirits rather than living people. In such cases it may not be easy to access native
speaker intuitions about a proposed ill-formed song, as the singer may evaluate the
song in terms of its origin rather than its structure. It may be important to analyse
multiple performances of a song in order to understand what aspects of a song’s
structure do not vary and are thus significant and defining, and what aspects are open
to variation and creativity. Variation may signal features of a particular singer, or a
particular social context of a given performance. Crozet, in this volume, considers
three very different versions of La Marseillaise, where she relates their differences to
the socio-cultural discourse of their times; yet all are regarded as exemplars of ‘the La
Marseillaise’.
3. The Meanings and Significances of Songs
Songs are often much more difficult to translate than speech. In some instances the
difficulties may be due to the text containing words that are not of everyday speech or
because the songs represent concepts that are difficult to grasp. In some communities
certain songs are only translatable to particular members of society (e.g. Keen 1977;
Clunies Ross 1986: 242). Thus the inability to translate a song may be due to its
inherently restricted nature, as discussed by Stebbins and Planigale in this volume.
A key difference between speech and song is the more deeply embedded and
artefact-like status of the text, a feature in common with poetry, proverbs, rhyming
slang, proper names and religious sermons. Yet unlike these purely linguistic forms,
song also includes music. This combination of the song text and musical components
has the ability to convey different types of meanings in complex ways. Where song
performance also involves dancing, painting and adornment of special items, these
non-verbal aspects can also contribute to the meaning of a song. So far we have used
the word ‘meaning’ rather loosely as a term covering many types of meanings and
associations. A complete account of song meaning requires a distinction between
different types of meaning and the ways in which meanings are conveyed. Nancarrow
identifies three ways in which Lardil burdal songs convey meaning: through the text
of a song, through the rhythm (musical meaning) and through interpretations
transmitted independently of the song text, what she calls ‘culturally ascribed
meaning’. In the next section we identify different types of meanings that songs can
convey: lexical or word meaning, song text meaning (the meaning of the words in the
19 Rumsey identifies formulas in songs from Papua New Guinea (2001: 194, 2005, 2007). In Australian
Aboriginal songs there is a tendency for formulas to occur at the ends of lines; see, for example, Barwick (2003:
32) and Koch and Turpin (2008: 180).
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context of the particular song), connotative and interactional meanings; and we also
consider the ways in which these are conveyed.
3.1. Word Meaning
All the articles in this volume identify, or are concerned with identifying, the words in
songs and their meanings. Word meaning can also be conveyed through music, such
as the downward interval in ‘Swing Low, Sweet Chariot’ which reflects the meaning of
the downward movement to earth (Patel 2008: 342). Such word painting can also be
conveyed through dance. Nancarrow, in this volume, shows how the accompanying
dance emulating a brolga is the only aspect of the song conveying the meaning
‘brolga’ in a Mornington Island song.
It is not uncommon for words to have a different or broader lexical meaning in
song than in speech.20 As well, songs, like poetry, may have multiple competing
lexical meanings. Here, it is necessary to distinguish the meanings intended by the
composer (which may be multiple and intentional), and those constructed by
listeners interpreting the song. Intentional ambiguity (which is the basis of puns) may
be more widespread in orally transmitted song traditions, as the written form
necessarily favours only one lexical form, obfuscating the aesthetic pleasure of
holding two simultaneous interpretations of a text. Stebbins and Planigale note that
the word ame¯che¯linga in a Mali Baining song means both ‘lizard species’ and
‘ceremonial mask’. Walsh, in this volume, argues that ‘(s)he used his/her hands’ and
‘(s)he said/did’ are two distinct meanings of the same segment of text available to
listeners of a Murriny Patha song, although it is not known whether this was the
intention of the composer.
The music and formal requirements of a song can make it difficult to distinguish
the words of a song and can lead to a listener reinterpreting the original text. A classic
example of this in English has provided a name for this phenomenon, ‘mondegreens’.
It is based on a mishearing in the second line of the English couplet ‘... They have
slain the bonny earl of Moray, and laid him on the green’, which was later reinterpreted
as ‘... and Lady Mondegreen’.21 Mondegreens are no doubt more common in orally
transmitted traditions than in written traditions. Schebeck’s warning against making
hasty interpretations about the form of place names based on interpretations by
native speakers who may be ‘pressed for answers under the assumption that there
must be a simple answer’ (2002: 147148) applies equally to song translation.
So far we have considered the lexical meaning of words*their dictionary
definition. It is also important to consider the referential meaning of words. Again,
it is necessary to distinguish the meanings intended by the composer, and those
constructed by listeners interpreting the song. To illustrate the difference between
20 Compare Fabb’s discussion of Iatmul songs of Papua New Guinea where verbs have more general meanings
when they occur in songs (1997: 7); Koch and Turpin for examples in Aboriginal songs (2008: 180).
21 This term was coined by Sylvia Wright (1954), in an article called ‘The Death of Lady Mondegreen’, in
Harper’s Magazine, November 1954.
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lexical and referential meaning consider a song analysed by O’Keeffe in this volume.
The third line is Kaddikkaddik ka-wokdjanganj, ‘The oyster catcher spoke/sang/cried
out’. Interpreting the lexical meaning of the words in this line involves knowing what
sort of entity an oyster catcher is, including entailments such as it is a type of bird,
and what type of vocal action wokdjangan refers to, and the sorts of entities that
typically perform this action. Referential meaning is, for example, the specific oyster
catcher to which the song refers, which in the case of many Aboriginal Dreaming
songs is a specific ancestral being. Referential meaning is obtained by parsing the
words and constructing an interpretation of them, so a listener may have different
referents from those intended by the composer. For example, the composer of ‘The
bonny Earl of Moray’ had one earl in mind, whereas listeners might have different
referents depending on which Earl of Moray they thought the song was about.
Referential meanings are often more ambiguous in song than in speech. Spoken
explanations about whom or to what a song refers, and knowledge about the song
style or performance context, can play a role in conveying referential meaning.
In societies that recognize composers*individual(s) who are the creators of
songs*these people are often regarded as the legitimate source of meaning, and any
listener’s reinterpretation is regarded as ‘wrong’. In contrast, in societies where songs
are perceived as pre-existing rather than composed by individuals, as in much of
Aboriginal Australia, meanings are legitimized according to the status and genealogy
of the person interpreting the song. A reinterpretation of lexical or referential
meaning is thus of little relevance to the enculturated listeners (see, for example, Wild
1987: 109; Tunstill 1995: 64; Keogh 1996; Turpin 2005: 332).
While words in some songs have multiple lexical meanings, some may have no
lexical meaning. Apted, O’Keeffe and Nancarrow discuss songs where the texts, or
parts of the text, include words that the majority of enculturated listeners cannot
interpret. Where the text makes use of words that are not from everyday speech,
people may perceive the text to involve words whose meaning is no longer known.
Songs are often repositories of archaic words, as they tend to be stable entities due to
their tightly structured form. Alternatively people may perceive the words to involve
spirit language, whose lexical content remains unknown to people, or known only to
specialists of spirit language22 (Apted, O’Keeffe, in this volume). A third possibility is
that the text may contain ‘vocables’*syllables used to fill the structural requirements
of the song or simply for their acoustic properties (Clunies Ross 1986: 242; Koch &
Turpin 2008: 171). Apted observes that non-lexical units are ‘‘‘meaningful’’ in the
more abstract sense of this term’ (see Section 3.3 below). O’Keeffe similarly finds that
the spirit language represents the call of an oyster catcher bird, and a spoken narrative
reveals the oyster catcher to be the subject of the song style; thus the song text
‘encodes the relationship to external narratives’.
22 Marett discusses particular songmen in Arnhem Land who have the ability to interpret songs that are in spirit
language (2005: 43).
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3.2. Text Meaning
For some songs it can be difficult to know what a line or the song as a whole means,
even when the lexical meaning of words is known (see also Merlan 1987: 150). This is
often the case with song texts that have anaphoric words or where there is no
semantic link between lines. Stebbins and Planigale refer to this level of meaning as
‘text meaning’. An example of the difference between word meaning and text meaning
can be illustrated with a line of the Mali Baining song whose words Stebbins and
Planigale gloss as ‘maybe I can go with you’. They explain the text meaning of the
song as ‘a man missing his brother and wishing to go and be with him’. However, not
all songs have readily accessible text meanings. Walsh finds ‘The ‘‘pelican song’’ is
almost entirely composed of ‘‘actual’’ words but remains rather cryptic for this
observer’. He suggests exploring different types of tropes*imagistic, modal, formal,
contiguity-based and analogical*in order to elucidate broader meanings and
structures in songs.
Where songs form part of a larger corpus, particular text meanings can sometimes
be obtained in relation to other songs in the corpus. Curran, in this volume, finds
that a Warlpiri song containing the word for a particular type of tree ‘at this point in
the song cycle indicates that the women are no longer in their home country’.
As with word meaning, there may be multiple, intentional text meanings of a song.
A Pitjantjatjara song with the word ‘cup or mound shape’ is said to be about a termite
mound by one singer, a women’s breast by another, and an insulator on a telegraph
pole by another; and the particular textual meaning one derives, or is given, depends
on one’s own level of knowledge (Ellis 1985: 6264). A number of researchers of
Australian Aboriginal songs have suggested that the ability to have multiple text
meanings ensures songs have relevance and applicability to many contexts
(Tonkinson 1978: 102; Marett 2005: 199).23
Many of the articles in this volume show that specialized cultural knowledge is
required to deduce text meanings (Crozet, Curran, Nancarrow, Stebbins and
Planigale, and Walsh).24 In many societies not everyone has access to the same level
of specialized cultural knowledge, and so there can be varying degrees to which a
listener is enculturated in relation to a particular genre or song. Thus the ‘trajectory’
of understanding of a song will vary depending on one’s knowledge (Walsh, in this
volume).
Some songs have accompanying explanations in the form of a narrative or exegesis
(Donaldson 1979, 1984; Strehlow 1971).25 These elucidate not just text meaning, but
23 In relation to Lirrga songs of Northern Australia, Barwick too finds that the performer has a choice in which
text meanings to highlight in any one performance (2003: 82). Ellis and Barwick note that these multiple text
meanings ‘are never in conflict with each other; and ... are in fact mutually supportive’ (1987: 4445).
24 See, for example, analyses by Austin (1978: 529), Donaldson (1984: 247), Merlan (1987: 146), Hercus (1994:
311), Tunstill (1995: 63), Dixon and Koch (1996: 26), Hercus and Koch (1999: 81), Marett (2005) and Walsh
(2007). Marett conjectures that this is a significant reason why Aboriginal songs are difficult for outsiders to
appreciate (2005).
25 Compare with proverbs in English, or with the Apache place names discussed by Basso (1996).
10 M. Turpin and T. Stebbins
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can reveal word meanings, especially where the text has a highly constrained form.
Such narratives may form a unique type of speech event (Hymes 1970), distinct from
explanations of other types of phenomena. Where the narrator must be of a
particular social status interactional meanings are also encoded in the speech act. In
parts of Australia only an owner of a song can provide an explanatory narrative.
Understanding the communicative behaviour of specific cultural settings, such as
song performance and explanation, is the subject of investigation of ethnographies of
speaking (Hymes 1970; Bauman & Sherzer 1974; Sherzer 1990).26
Nancarrow, in this volume, refers to the meaning of some songs as ‘learnt’ rather
than ‘interpreted through analysis of song text’, and refers to this source as ‘popular
opinion’. This can be compared to the way school children are sometimes ‘handed
down’ the meaning of their Latin school song rather than through textual translation.
The detailed meanings of songs discussed by Curran demonstrate how text meanings
of Warlpiri songs rely on a listener having specialized environmental, ceremonial and
other types of cultural knowledge.
3.3. Songs as Mnemonics
The tightly interwoven nature of text and music enables songs to be used as mnemonic
devices, especially in preliterate societies, where song and poetry has been documented
as a mnemonic aid for events and places (Weiner 1991: 45; Feld & Basso 1996: 109; Basso
1996).27 Even in contemporary literate societies we find songs used as mnemonics
(consider the ‘ABC’ Alphabet song in English). Recently the Bee Gees ‘Staying alive’ has
been promoted by pediatrics as a song to sing while administering CPR to help people
find the correct compression rate.28 It is not difficult to imagine how a song can then
gain additional significances*especially emotional responses*by use in such different
contexts. It has often been stated that Aboriginal songs act as mnemonics for linked
places, and so the song series as a whole is akin to a musical map (Strehlow 1970: 94).
The case studies of Aboriginal songs in this volume (Curran, O’Keeffe, Nancarrow,
Apted, and Walsh) all include songs that stand for particular places.
3.4. Interactional Meanings
Like other kinds of speech acts, songs have interactional meaning. Interactional
meaning refers to the attitude and expectations between the speaker and the hearer.
26 Merlan’s analysis of how people explain songs from the Roper River area (1987: 146), which contrasts with
casual conversation and narratives, is reminiscent of this approach.
27 Strehlow (1970: 94) argues that the performance of a song series acts as a mnemonic for the location of
important sites. When Central Australian people travelled the country on foot, the location of such places would
have been essential knowledge for survival.
28 See http://firstaid.about.com/od/cprbasics/qt/07_cpr_tips.htm, October 2008. See also ABC News Available
at: http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/OnCall/story?id3837780&page1, November 2007, last accessed 25
November 2008. Note that many other songs, such as Queen’s Another One Bites the Dust have the correct
beat for CPR, however due to their less suitable lyrics these have not been promoted.
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In singing, where the role of the singer is often fixed (not anyone can sing), and the
speech act context-driven (singing can only occur at certain times and places),
interactional meanings are dependent on the genre of the song. For example, by
attending a concert featuring a singer, a listener expects to be moved emotionally*or
at least be aesthetically pleased by the singing. In contrast, the addressee of ‘Happy
Birthday’ interprets this singing interactionally to mean that s/he is a special person,
and that the singers think him/her worthy, especially if followed by ‘For s/he’s a jolly
good fellow’. In the genre of political songs analysed by Crozet, the singer signals as
interactional meaning that they want to spur the addressee into political action,
assuming the role of teacher to the listener. In this genre the addressee is
simultaneously the government (often the subject of the songs) and the everyday
citizen listening to the song. Traditional Aboriginal songs can also have multiple
addressees: fellow performers (usually countrymen), listeners (usually outsiders) and
ancestral spirits. This leads to interactional meanings of identity such as ‘I am from
this country’ (see Curran, in this volume; compare also national anthems), ‘I have a
strong attachment to my spiritual ancestors’, or as Apted states ‘... the potency of
one’s spiritual life, which manifests in one’s ability to receive and sing songs from the
spirits’. In Central Australia, singing particular songs can bring about changes to the
physical worlds (e.g. bring about rain), also a type of interactional meaning.
3.5. Connotive Meanings
Songs can connote particular situations, behaviours and events. Such pragmatic and
associated knowledge is comparable to what McConnell-Ginet calls ‘conceptual
baggage’ (2008). Curran, in this volume, argues that visual images in both the song
text, the dance movements and visual designs connote certain concepts, for example
circular shapes ‘represent home, women and protection’. Walsh, in this volume,
discusses connotative meanings of place names in northern Australian Aboriginal
songs, which act as
a kind of shorthand to invoke a chain of connectedness between one specific place,
the other places in the vicinity and/or on the same Dreaming track, the stories
associated with that place through Dreamings, ancestors and exploits by living
relatives at that place to their country as a whole.
Some connotations may be evoked only in the context of a particular song style
and so are the results of knowledge of the particular song style speech event. This can
be compared to the way English speakers know ‘Auld Lang Syne’ is sung on New
Year’s Eve, and so the song connotes the significance of this annual event and
associated behaviours. Stebbins and Planigale refer to this level of meaning as
‘meaning in context’. While this is similar to other context-dependant speech acts
such as religious services (compare ‘Ashes to ashes, dust to dust’), music provides an
additional modality for evoking the social context of the songs. Indeed, even without
the text, simply humming the melody of a song can evoke its context. The Dreamings
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connoted in the songs discussed by Apted are the result of the religious context of
their performance rather than from any lexical meaning of the text.
In the songs discussed by Curran and O’Keeffe, a word for a plant or animal occurs
in a song genre associated with the Dreaming. Through knowledge of this genre a
number of connotations and associated meanings are available to the listener. For
example, in Central Australia a Dreaming song can evoke the place where this totemic
being originated, its activities in the Dreamtime, and the people who own the
particular Dreaming. All this in addition to the non-genre dependant connotations of
the song*such as the cultural uses of the plant or animal and the listener’s/singer’s
own personal experiences with that plant or animal. It may turn out that
connotations of particular flora and fauna may be widespread; for example the
connotation of the peaceful dove with loneliness, noted by Walsh, in this volume, is
also found in Central Australian songs where the emotion relates to the activities of
this bird in the Dreaming and the plaintive nature of its call. Knowledge of the
particular song style speech event may affect the ability to derive not just connoted
meanings but also text meaning, as Stebbins and Planigale find for different styles of
Mali Baining songs.
3.6. Emotional Responses
Music, poetry and other forms of language all have the ability to provoke emotional
responses, yet their means for evoking emotions differ. Crozet, in this volume, argues
that in the French La Marseillaise the combination of march-like music with combat
vocabulary helps put soldiers in an emotional state suited to killing and to selfsacrifice. In Central Australia, Ellis finds traditional wailing begins on a set pitch, and
so for enculturated listeners this pitch can be associated with mourning, even when
the pitch occurs in a different context (1985: 67). While certain broad musical genres
can become associated with particular emotional states,29 specific songs can have
particular meaning through the tight association between text and music, even when
their text is absent or altered. Consider a well-known tune such as ‘God Save the
Queen’, where from the music alone an enculturated listener can derive meanings
related to the text. The ability of a song’s tune to carry associated meanings of its
absent text is the basis of the parody in the songs analysed by Crozet. A related
phenomenon is where well-known songs are used in novel contexts for particular*
often humorous*effect, particularly in news reports, documentaries and in
conversation amongst people who share knowledge about a particular song.
Finally, certain connotations or emotional responses may develop through the
frequency of particular vocabulary or sound sequences occurring in song (see also
Patel 2008: 343). The question raised by Walsh of whether particular vocabulary or
29 Consider the Monty Python skit where a song text ‘Here comes another one’ is set to a different musical
idiom following a request for the song to have more of a particular emotional effect, from their album
Contractual Obligation, 1980 (Charisma Records).
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tropes are widespread in particular languages or traditions, may also reveal these to
have connotative or emotional significances. A phrase or word uttered in the context
of conversation may connote a song or song genre and all that this song signifies for
an enculturated listener. This use of language can be a source of humour and
intellectual pleasure in everyday interaction.
4. Conclusion
Our understanding of the arrangement of musical components and their effect on
linguistic form is still in its infancy. Song, as a universal genre of language, and one ‘in
which musical and linguistic meanings intertwine’ (Patel 2008: 342) also offers a rich
field for investigations into meaning. Collaborative research between linguists and
musicologists is already underway on Aboriginal Australian songs (Marett & Barwick
2007). We hope that this volume highlights the importance of such collaborative
work on songs from all areas in order to promote a deeper understanding of the
nature of song: how particular cultures use language to create song, how language
and music interact, how songs convey meaning, the sorts of meanings they convey,
their intended audience and how knowledge of songs can further our understanding
of linguistic prosody.

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