What is Gagá?: Sounds

This example is from a gaga celebration on a batey near Elias Piña, a small town on the Domino-Haitian border. It was originally recorded by Verna Gillis in 1977 and appeared on her compilation Caribbean Revels: Rara in Haiti and Gaga in the Dominican Republic. "This gagá song is not played with the traditional instruments [that Gillis had witnessed used in Haiti. However, these instruments are in fact "traditional" gagá instrumentation.] The drums used here are Dominican palos [catalié]...This group represents both Haitian and Dominican musical traditions."

This song is in praise of Simbi, the lwa of water.
Creole Lyrics English Translation
Simbi minan, minan, minan Simbi
Ayi bobo
Sa m’fè la’a
Pou lwa vlé manjé mouin Simbi mina*, mina, mina Simbi
Ayi bobo
What did I do
That the lwa wants to eat me.
*Mina is a word in langaj, coded words of significance to some initiates of Vodou.


This example is from the town, Haina, home to a rich gagá tradition in the bateyes that surround it. This too comes from Verna Gillis Caribbean Revels. Recorded April 16, 1977.