Nigeria held presidential elections last weekend, and it seems things went pretty bad. Lost ballots, closed voting stations, and lots of people killed. Too bad.
This song is for my very sweet friend (and father of my super son) Christopher who's in Nigeria right now. Peace!!!
It's my favourite Fela song, probably one of the saddest, and the story he's telling in it is completely true... he really carried his mother's coffin to General Obasanjo's barracks after hundreds of his soldiers had attacked his house, destroyed his recording studio, an thrown his 80-year-old mother out of a window. That same Obasanjo who was a military dictator then is president now... and he even seems to be one of the "better" lot, compared to today's political elite of the country.
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nice very nice thanks for this.....
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...sadly, the only reason that we even know about any of this here this
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Good work micki for bringing this to our attention. I worked with a musician who went to Nigeria twice to run sound on national tours. His stories were at minimum amazing and frequently horrifying.
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Thanks for this. I just heard an NPR story on the election and some inerviews with people on the street. It was amazing to see how hopeful some were that positive changes could happen with some changes at the top. For most though, they felt it would be (dirty) business as usual. Love this track and the prelude to the same story (I think),Sorrow Tears and Blood.
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Thanks for this, and amen to good people
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Thanks, Chris, Pimp (re-incarnated), Rawk...
John and Cody, I've actually been there, and I found it hard to even DESCRIBE life in Lagos to somebody who's never been to a "3rd world" mega-city... and/or Africa... a great and rich country, and at the same time the worst imagineable corruption and exploitation.... for me, it felt like some terrible apocalypse...
one thing is for sure, though: Everybody I met knew Fela's music. People young and old can sing along to dozens of his songs, and even people who despise his drug use, promiscuity, un-christianity, or overall antics like doing shows dressed in underpants only, still respect him as political rebel number one, wayyy bigger than, say, Ken Saro-Wiwa.
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lol PIMPS don't DIE
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Valuable info and Fela's potent music. Thanks, micki.
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@ pimp: yeah, I notice. At least not this one. RAWK AWN ;-)
@ Mike: Potent, as in potent weed, too, kinda sorta 8-) (sometimes in infantile moments like now I wish mog supported smileys ;-)
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Army Arrangement would be a good song for this subject....."If you like; good. If you don't like..you gonna hang"