Track 8: Bara Suwa Yo – A Song for Eṣu (The End)
The second half of this multidimensional song for Eṣu carries a playful, childlike, trickster energy—highlighting the many facets of this powerful Oriṣa. Like its counterpart, it stands alone as a complete expression of this complex energy.
More about this track and its counterparts (The Beginning & Complete)
This song holds many personal firsts for me. From present to past: it is the firstborn of the album’s songs; it was my very first arrangement/composition when I began exploring Pro-Tools in 2007; and Eṣu was among the first Oriṣa I encountered during my Afro-Latin Percussion Instruments class in 2003. Learning about Eṣu marked the beginning of a deeper awareness around the ongoing erasure, demonization, and appropriation of African traditions and cultures—often fueled by ignorance, entitlement, savior complexes, and intentional manipulation.
For me, the presence of this song on the album and the intentional space I’ve given it, combined with the still-prevalent colonial-influenced misunderstandings about Eṣu, create a pathway to break through what is neither mine nor my ancestors’. This work, and this song in particular, guide me—and others—back to remembering and embodying our healed state.
I love this song. I love Eṣu. And I am deeply grateful for the many paths he has helped open and close in my life.
This track is my arrangement of a series of Afro-Cuban Oricha songs dedicated to Eṣu. I preserved the lyrics as I learned and remembered them but took creative liberties with vocal melodies and harmonies to fit the musical composition. I blend traditional and non-traditional instrumentation and rhythms, sometimes overlapping them, to honor the multidimensionality of the song. Originally recorded as one track, it naturally divides into two parts, both capable of standing independently. I honored this by allowing the song to exist in three forms: The Beginning, The End, and Complete. It is fitting that one of Eṣu’s sacred numbers is 3.
Track Credits
ONYI LOVE: Vocals, Piano, Shekere, Agogo (Cowbell)
Lazaro Galarraga: Bata
Bobby Wilmore: Bata
Greg Allison: Violin, Viola
JP Maramba: Upright Bass
Simon Carroll: Snare Drum
Tristan de Liège: String Co-Arrangement
Arranged, Composed, and Produced by ONYI LOVE
Recorded, Mixed, and Co-Produced by Bobby Easton at Fuzzy Sound Lab
Mastered by Nic Chaffee at Woodshed Music
Did this track speak to your spirit?
Let’s keep the dialogue going—through music, ritual, healing, or collaboration. Your journey is welcome here.