HIVE OPEN MIC Week 127 (Theme - Tevazu/Humility): Cover Song "Mama Shabalala" by Johnny Clegg/Juluka
Hello everybody on Hive and especially the Hive Open Mic Community! My name is Jasper and I'm writing (and singing) to you from Cape Town South Africa!
This is Week 127 of the Hive Open Mic Challenge, and the theme for the week is "Tevazu"! According to Google Translate, this is the Turkish word to describe "Humility / Humbleness / Modesty".
I think I have the perfect song for this. It is about an old South African lady who has lost everything, but because of her humility and inner strength, she doesn't fall apart and can keep on going.
The band I am covering is a wonderful South African band I have mentioned before called Juluka, which was formed in the middle of Apartheid (forced racial segregation era in South Africa) where a white man called Johnny Clegg became an "honourary Zulu" and formed this band that played a mixture of Western and Zulu musical styles and became a symbol against Apartheid.
Please see the original version here, as well as the lyrics, and a rough translation of the isiZulu chorus:
Lyrics
An old lady walking down the dusty farm road
Looking for a simple home
She doesn't want anything extremely smart
And she doesn't need a telephone
She's the child of a refugee running from the zulu war
Living from hand to mouth, dodging the wrong arm of the law
She's old and she's bent, her eyes can hardly see
And she's going home forever to weenen county
Uhamba njalo wemashabala (You are always on the move Mama Shabalala)
Ukhumbula ku-phi? (Do you remember where?)
Uhamba njalo wemashabala (You are always on the move Mama Shabalala)
Ukhumbula ku-phi wena? (Do you remember where you are?)
Ukhumbula ku-phi wena? (Do you remember where you are?)
Uthwala 'nzima wemashabalala (You carry it hard Mama Shabalala)
Iya-phi indlela? (Where does the road go?)
Uthwala 'nzima wemashabalala (You carry it hard Mama Shabalala)
Izinto zomhlaba (The things of the world)
Izinto zomhlaba (The things of the world)
She's built more homes than fingers on her hands
A sharecropper's wife living on county crown land
And then they wrested the harvest from the land and it's lords
And when her man died she could cry no more tears
And she had lost everything that she ever had to lose
So she picks up her walking stick and puts on her car-tyre shoes
And she's walking in a dream listening for that special sound
The echo of the plough whip over weenen county ground
"Weenen county you took my man" she says
"You took my home, you took my land
You left me all alone - now I'm coming home."
Weenen county in the springtime
Hadeda's on the wing (A hadeda ibis is a type of large bird here in South Africa)
Blue morning
Blue morning
Uhamba njalo wemashabala (You are always on the move Mama Shabalala)
Ukhumbula ku-phi? (Do you remember where?)
Uhamba njalo wemashabala (You are always on the move Mama Shabalala)
Ukhumbula ku-phi wena? (Do you remember where you are?)
Ukhumbula ku-phi wena? (Do you remember where you are?)
Uthwala 'nzima wemashabalala (You carry it hard Mama Shabalala)
Iya-phi indlela? (Where does the road go?)
Uthwala 'nzima wemashabalala (You carry it hard Mama Shabalala)
Izinto zomhlaba (The things of the world)
Izinto zomhlaba (The things of the world)
▶️ 3Speak
Awesome @jasperdick 🤙
Thanks so much! I owe you a special post of Johnny Clegg / Juluka songs as well!
Looking forward to that big time 🤙
Johnny Clegg was an incredible influence and guiding light in ZA music.
Nicely done. 👏
It's a great, great song... now going to be added to my "Rise in Love" playlist.
Perhaps one day I'll sit outside Wynberg Magistrate Court and sing it for them. ❤️💥
Thank you so much for listening! I'm a big Johnny Clegg fan - he took it really seriously. There is some documentary footage where he explains and plays pure traditional Zulu songs to explain how he learnt to incorporate it into the Juluka blend!
It's been great to discover you and some other new South Africans this week... I think we have at least 20-30 to build a Community around if we so choose. If @zakludick doesn't do that soon then perhaps I should... haha!
Explain the "Rise in Love" and Wynberg Magistrates comment? So you are Cape Town based? So are we! (Zak, Claire, Steve, Therneau, myself, etc...)
Well I consider myself a citizen of the world these days.
But it's always cool to meet fellow South Africans 😊
The Rise in Love thing is a playlist I'm adding to all the time. I"m a bit of an activist by nature. I can't not get involved in things that need getting involved in as it turns out. I blame my parents. Of course 😁
The courts? Not today. More will follow on Hive about our "justice" system. But not today. It's a beautiful day in Cape Town today. Summer seems to have arrived early! 🌼
Hmmm, I also have a story about the SA justice system that I need to write... not good.
We should start a band.
I'll get there 😋. Soon
That was a beautiful song and presentation by you. 👏👏👏
Thank you so much! This Hive Open Mic challenge where you have to find and learn an appropriate song for the Theme is keeping me on my toes!
Lol.. it surely does 😅
First I love your setup and the angle of the camera.., and the guitar playing..
It's also a beautiful song and singing Sir.
This story sounds a bit familiar with the African story we often hear..
Great to have you here Sir..
Ah! I see the sun went down as I was setting up and I'm actually quite in the dark!
Yes, unfortunately there is a lot of poverty all over Africa, and our elderly still struggle and suffer much more than we'd like...
You found a perfect song for the week, indeed. And your rendition is awesome too!
Thank you for being here on the stage!
Goodness me, I remember you from my first weeks on HIVE about 4-5 months ago! I'm still chugging away, but the HIVE Open Mic and Three Tunes Tuesday are great posts to focus on my music and learn new songs with!
Just fantastic. You play and sing with such passion. What a great song too.
Takes one to know one! Lots of potential songs for next week's theme, I just have to recover from this little procedure I had done on Monday!
Yes I already recorded a song for next week. I knew straight away what I would sing. I hope whatever procedure you're recovering from, that you feel better very quickly.
I love what the song represents.
Your performance is fantastic, I love it.
You play and sing so wonderful 🥰🥰🥰🥰🎶
Thank you so very much! It helps when the song is that good and that emotionally compelling!
You are welcome.
That's cool.
This is a really beautiful song for this week's theme, I love the song and the lyrics is really so touching as well.
Thank you so much - yes, there is something about the thought of our elderly struggling with strength and dignity that can make anybody feel emotional.
You're welcome..., yes you are right, I'm sure it has to do with their experiences as well.
Hope you are having a great day?
really great version!!
Thank you so much! I've just read your most recent post with tips on being a professional musician. Wow, it sounds like a very scary, risky undertaking, as well as a lot of work and stress! Luckily I enjoy my main career and find it meaningful (Engineering/Renewable Energy Development) and will want to keep doing it, even if my musical abilities do improve. I am starting to get the odd bit of money out of playing music when I find the time, which is a lovely bonus to a hobby I enjoy... but I am a naturally shy introverted person, and probably need more time to mentally prepare, and then recover from, each gig than a seasoned pro!
There is definitely a part of me that wants to support and appreciate the people who go all-in on music!
hahaha it is funny to me because I am now doing a masters in Sustainable Development, very related to your field. I plan on keeping music as my main income, but music is crazy, and sometimes I wouldn't mind having a second skill.
Oh wonderful - I actually did a Masters with a focus on Carbon footprint, life cycle assessment and other things to do with Sustainable Development as well as Renewable Energy so hopefully we can chat more about your focus or if you've chosen a thesis topic yet?
Originally my focus was unofficially Renewable Energy, but I'm broadening out a bit, I especially find mining for Renewable Energy very intriguing, with the obvious environmental contradictions. I was kind of inspired to study Sustainable Development after travelling around the world performing music, and seeing that the same problems were in every place that I went.
Thank you my dear friend for your beautiful participation and music. The story you are talking about is exactly what I was thinking when choosing this theme. Even if we lose everything, we must not lose our soul, our essence, and we must find the right path. I wish you a week full of music...👏👏👏👏👏👏
Thank you so much! Ah, so you were the one who set this week's theme! I hope you are enjoying seeing what people around the world are choosing to sing for you?