Singing His Story: Eulogistic Language and the Expression of Cultural and Religious Beliefs in Selected Yorùbá Gospel Songs

Abstract This study examines how eulogistic language expresses cultural and religious beliefs in selected Yorùbá gospel songs by Bola Are and Tope Alabi. Adopting a qualitative descriptive approach, the study analyses selected expressions drawn from eight purposively selected songs, four by each artiste. The analysis covers fourteen groups of eulogistic expressions. Hymes’ ethnography of communication guides the contextual analysis of the praise expressions. The analysis interprets figurative language, lexical intensification and structural patterning as interacting resources for representing divine purity, protection, greatness, justice, eternity and mystery. Within this interpretation, images of material strength convey protection, repeated titles emphasise authority, and temporal parallelism expresses eternity. Contrasting descriptions also present divine greatness alongside personal nearness. The study concludes that within the selected songs, eulogistic expressions articulate Christian beliefs through Yorùbá expressive resources. Keywords: Yorùbá gospel music, eulogy, divine attributes, cultural expression, ethnography of communication