Distinctive Song

As a boy, I would fall asleep every night, every week, every year, to what I have called Gilbertese chants. It is very distinctive music, unlike anything else in the world -- a plaintive woman's voice, and an often monotonous bass -- usually joined by others. Another woman would add a high descant, and there was a beat -- sometimes a communal drum (like thunder). This singing deeply moves me even today. The singers here are Kakoroa and Terengaruru.