VOCAL MUSIC
Singing is as common among the Manóbos as among their countrymen of the Christian tribes. The fond mother croons her babe to sleep with a lullaby. In festive hours the song is the vehicle of praise, of joke, of taunt, and of challenge, and in religious celebrations it is the medium through which the priests address their deities.
THE LANGUAGE OF SONG
The language used in singing is so different from the common vernacular that Bisáyas and Christianized Manóbos who speak and understand perfectly the ordinary dialect of conversation find the language of song unintelligible. I have had several songs dictated to me and found the song words to be plainly archaic. This observation applies also to the song-dialect of Mañgguáñgans, Debabáons and Mandáyas.
As interpreted to me on many occasions, songs are improvisations spun out with endless repetitions of the same ideas in different words. To give an instance, a mountain might be described in the song as a "beauteous hill," a "fair mount," a "lovely eminence," a "beautiful elevation," all depending on the facility with which the maker25 can use the language. This feature of the song serves to explain its inordinate length, for a song may occupy the greater part of a night, apparently without tiring the audience by its verbose periphrases and its exuberant figures.
25Pán-dui, a smith or maker.
THE SUBJECT MATTER OF SONGS
The subjects of songs are as varied as those of other nations, but legendary songs, in which the valiant deeds of departed warriors are recounted, seem to be the favorite. As far as I know, the songs are always extemporaneous and not composed of any set form of words and verses.