Visit Fiji, and you’ll soon believe that every local is born with a beautiful voice and the ability to sing perfect harmony. Look for an opportunity to join a sing-along, most likely around a bowl of kava. Historically, Fijians used song to communicate their feelings, and even today, men have been known to write love songs to women they admire. But songs or chants were also used to intimidate opponents in battle and to tell stories, since Fiji didn’t have a written language until Methodist missionaries developed a version in the early 1800s.
