Editors' note: This song was not included in the original article, "Initiation and the Balance of Power - The Tshikanda Girls' Initiation School of the Venda of the Northern Transvaal" (1969), but it is discussed in "Tonal Organization in the Music of Two Venda Initiation Schools" (1970).

Song No. 10  1 Tshibobobo, tsho nkhwela mubva:   The cotton snuff-pad climbed on me when I was lazy:  2 Tshibobobo, tshiwa tsha Vho-Mutangwa:   The cotton snuff-pad, the gift of Mr. Mutangwa.  Chorus: Eeeye, yahee yawee!   Tshibobobo is a cotton pad used in snuff boxes to prevent extravagance. By association of ideas it can refer to a woman, but in this case it is said to be a euphamistic substitute for tshigogonomo (clitoris). The first line therefore refers to a recognized, but not recommended position of sexual intercourse. Tshizwa is the hindleg of a beast, which is always reserved as an important gift in marriage. However, interpretations of the words of songs often differ from one area to another: tshibobobo can refer to the phallus, so that the precise meaning of the song, though not its general content, is reversed.

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