ABSTRACT
This chapter examines the rare autobiographical songs composed by two Sikh American women who settled in California's Sacramento Valley in the 1950s and 1960s. My analysis of these women's songs suggest that their riverine imaginaries were partially transposed onto new oceanic ones after they migrated overseas, gathering new meanings resulting from their life experience and mobility. In contrast to the Sikh hymns of the previous chapter, the autobiographical songs are influenced by an eclectic range of musical genres of folklore, especially love legends inspired by the tragic love story of Hīr-Ranjhā. These songs capture the emotions of longing, loss, and nostalgia through representations of oceanic and riverine imagery, as well as disruptions in shared musical performances in the diaspora. These women composed lyrical poetry as a form of emotional catharsis for themselves, rarely performing their songs for others. In essence, these were songs in search of listeners.
