STAYING CAVY

Oluebube Cleopatra
5 min readJan 16, 2022

Today I listened to “Crazy lover” by The Cavemen.

While sitting on a small stool, separating palm kernels from palm nuts, I listened to my songs on shuffle with my headphone as I’ve recently learned to do as a means of distracting myself from the feast mosquitoes were having on my bare legs. The song came on, the sound calm and the volume low, “You’ve taken my heart away, you make me go insane, you’re my crazy lover” the first line came on and I listened. The singer’s voice took me places. Calm with a beautiful Igbo accent, he serenades his lover and describes how she makes him feel in a way unique to only an Igbo man. His voice took me places, made me imagine things, scenarios, and people.

The song reminded me of a beautiful night in an Igbo bar in Owerri, listening to bongo music and watching two beautiful dancers on stage shake their waists to the beat of the song while delighted customers watched, talked, drank beer, smoked cigarettes, and just had a delightful evening. I remember putting on my glasses to be able to see the dancers clearly and explaining to my friend the difference between the way both dancers moved their bodies.

The song made me imagine drinking palm wine from a red plastic cup (which will be a very odd way to drink palm wine) and dancing on the beach late at night with a friend I might have a secret crush on while the gentle breeze blows. The song made me imagine eating delicious nkwobi with an igbo boy I like and him calling me “Omalicham” to get my attention. I like the sound of that. “Omalicham”. It is usually followed with a knowing smile of love and more igbo praises and sometimes, the promise of money. That’s my favorite part.

It also reminded me of those Igbo epic movies I watched while growing up. The prince returns from “Obodo oyibo” and needs a wife so the King and his cabinet members call for a dancing competition for all the maidens in the village and the winner will automatically become the Prince’s wife. All the maidens would gather at the village square on the “D” day, with two wrappers, one tied over their bosom, and the other tied over their waist, covering their buttocks but exposing their long legs. Their waists are adorned with beautiful beads that make beautiful sounds when they bend to dance “egwu Owerri”. On their ankles will be similar beads, two or three on each foot, and similar beads on their wrists too. The competition kicks off and the maidens will dance with smiles on their faces, shaking their waists, moving their hands, and dancing on their toes in the traditional Igbo dances. The Prince will notice the beautiful girl who dances like she was born on the dance floor. She will be the girl that almost missed the competition because she didn’t have money to buy the best beads or wrappers to impress the Prince but her mother advised her to go regardless. The song captures the moment the Prince falls In love with this beautiful dancer amidst the noise of the drummers and the jealous stares of the other dancers.

Then there comes the beautiful female voice in the song, smooth and soulful, beautiful and capturing. Her voice makes me want to kiss her on the lips so I can have a taste of the source of such beautiful sound. Maybe she will be able to pass them unto me when our lips meet or I might just steal the voice away, put it in a jar and keep it on a shelf just to admire it.

This was not my first time of hearing the song. I remember downloading “The Roots” album by The Cavemen and not understanding the hype surrounding them. To me, they sounded like city boys that fell in love with Igbo music and decided to try it out, enjoyed it, and decided to continue it but only as a hobby. I called it noisy music and made fun of the tune and even teased my friend who is a die-hard fan. I left the album on my phone anyway and always skipped it or hissed whenever it came on. But today, in the cool evening, with the breeze blowing and engaging in an activity I completely detested with mosquitoes feasting on my legs, I fell in love.

I imagine being that dancer. Beads on my waist, my neck, my wrists and ankles, whining my waist slowly to the rhythm of the song in the way I know how to do best, lost in the sound, only light visible being the moon light while the drums play by the side. Being the eye candy and giving my audience a show. When it comes to dancing, I am confident in my moves the way the most beautiful girl in a pageant is confident in her looks. My body recognizes great music, beautiful music, melodious sounds and it moves with no restrictions. My body recognized the beautiful songs in The Cavemen album today, the high pitched sounds they make sometimes in their songs that sounds like they are joking around, the melodious sounds they make towards the end of the song “Iro”, the beautiful way they sang “Obiageri -with - mama” the chorus in “beautiful rain “ and of course the very beautiful “crazy lover” OH LORD!!!

This is the beauty of music!.

It captures you, takes you places, makes you remember things, makes you forget things while leaving you entrapped in the sound while you enjoy the lyrics.

I want to dance, wearing a short flowery dress in the evening, under the moonlight, drinking fresh palm wine, eating peppery suya while The Cavemen play from the speakers in the compound in my village. My friends will be there too as I want them to experience this beautiful feeling I feel when I listen to The Cavemen music now.

Right now as I listen to “Obiageri -with- mama” while laying on my bed, I remember seeing their picture on Twitter a few days ago and seeing all the love under the post and thinking to myself “what beautiful men The Cavemen are”.

I still feel they speak Igbo like city boys, the same way I speak Igbo but Igbo is a very beautiful language with several different dialects that can sound foreign and strange to another Igbo speaker. That being said, I love the way they speak.

I still don’t understand their style of music but I’ve fallen in love with it, I love the way they sing so calmly meaning every word they say and making you paint a picture of watching them perform in your head, wanting to hear them in person. And that female voice in their songs already owns my heart and I already know I will do an intense dive in the internet tonight to find out who she is.

“ yeaah……….., you take my heart away……….yeaah….”

I guess it is safe to say, I just entered the cave.

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Oluebube Cleopatra
Oluebube Cleopatra

Written by Oluebube Cleopatra

With every piece, I create a new and different character and then I build a story around them. Welcome to my world.

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