Examining Beauty and Morality in Music through Ebenezer Obey's The Horse, the Man and His Son

https://doi.org/10.36349/olijhe.2024.v.01i01.014

Abstract

Music is as ancient as the existence of man and this fits well into the musical practice and expression in the African culture. This is seen in the mixture of music with life, events and activities of Africans, many of this music are focused on the socio-cultural aspects of the people than only amusement purpose therefore, music is seen as a means of uniting people, reinforcing morals and meeting other practical needs of the people. Building on this fundamental purpose of African music, it is discovered that, the contemporary music betrays this goal of music in the African context and it is seen that, modern music are missing on morals, cultural orientations among other factors that contributes to having a healthy presentation. With the understanding that music communicates the intention, emotion and thought of an individual, which has  been seen in the musical content of many African evergreen songs, this paper evaluates one of the finest songs by Ebenezer Obey, “The Horse, the man and his Son” which encapsulates; morals, entertainment and cultural value. The paper thereby sees music as one of the means to ensure sanity and moral stability in the society and as such recommends thatthere should be synergy and mentorship between ancient singers and modern singers in order to promote cultural and moral value in African music continually.