testo di Jacopo Bassi e Deborah Paci, traduzioni di Gianluca Canè

voci di Jacopo Bassi e Gianluca Canè

Ascolta la registrazione di questa puntata, andata in onda su Radio Ca’ Foscari il 21 aprile 2016.

Peter Gabriel, Biko, in Peter Gabriel III, 1980
testo di Peter Gabriel

September ’77 Port Elizabeth weather fine It was business as usual In police room 619 Oh Biko, Biko, because Biko Oh Biko, Biko, because Biko Yihla Moja, Yihla Moja The man is dead When I try to sleep at night I can only dream in red The outside world is black and white With only one colour dead Oh Biko, Biko, because Biko Oh Biko, Biko, because Biko Yihla Moja, Yihla Moja The man is dead You can blow out a candle But you can’t blow out a fire Once the flames begin to catch The wind will blow it higher

Oh Biko, Biko, because Biko Yihla Moja, Yihla Moja The man is dead And the eyes of the world are watching now watching now

Artists United against Apartheid, Sun City, in Sun City, 1985
testo di Steven Van Zandt

Sun City, na na na na na, Sun City Na na na na na… We’re rockers and rappers United and strong We’re here to talk about South Africa We don’t like what’s going on It’s time for some justice It’s time for the truth We’ve realized there’s Only one thing we can do You got to say I, I, I Ain’t gonna play Sun City I, I, I ain’t gonna play Sun City Everybody say I, I, I Ain’t gonna play Sun City I, I, I, I, I ain’t gonna play Sun City Relocation to phony homelands Separation of families I can’t understand 23 million can’t vote Because they’re black We’re stabbing our brothers And sisters in the back I wanna say I, I, I Ain’t gonna play Sun City I, I, I ain’t gonna play Sun City Our government tells us We’re doing all we can Constructive engagement is Ronald Reagan’s plan Meanwhile people are dying And giving up hope This quiet diplomacy Ain’t nothing but a joke I, I, I ain’t gonna play Sun City I, I, I ain’t gonna play Sun City Na na na na na… It’s time to accept our responsibility Freedom is a privilege Nobody rides for free

Look around the world, baby It cannot be denied Somebody tell me why We’re always on the wrong side I, I, I ain’t gonna play Sun City I, I, I ain’t gonna play Sun City Boputhuswana is far away But we know it’s in South Africa No matter what they say You can’t buy me I don’t care what you pay Don’t ask me Sun City Because I ain’t gonna play I, I, I ain’t gonna play Sun City Lemme hear you say I, I, I, I, I, I Ain’t gonna play Sun City I don’t wanna play Sun City Relocation to phony homelands Separation of families I can’t understand 23 million can’t vote ’Cause they’re black We’re stabbing our brothers And sisters in the back I, I, I ain’t gonna play Sun City I, I, I ain’t gonna play Sun City…

Stetsasonic, A.F.R.I.C.A., in On Fire, 1986
testo di Frukwan, Daddy-O, Delite

A-f-r-i-c-a Angola Soweto Zimbabwe Tanzania Zambia Mozambique And Botswana So let us speak about the motherland (Free free free Free free free Free free free Nelson Mandela) (3x) (Africa Africa) (4x) I know this girl whose name is Lola She lives in a country called Angola Her president’s name is Dos Santos And a man named Savimbi’s playin him too close She says, “Hey brother, my country’s in a war, we are Fighting rebels backed by Pretoria” Upon hearin this I was pretty upset You know what? I went and told the Stet And the Stet said Yo, is Lola’s last name Falana? (No) Well, my cousin lives in Botswana (Are they in war too?) Is a heel on a shoe? My man, they know apartheid like I know you The president is Masire, capital Gaborone Where the fight for freedom is a (universal tone) So are you with it? (I’m in beyond a shadow of doubt) So let’s spell it on, spell it on, spell it on out A-f-r-i-c-a Angola Soweto Zimbabwe Tanzania Zambia Mozambique And Botswana So let us speak about the motherland Speak about the motherland (about the motherland) Speak about the motherland (about the motherland) (South Africa no free, neither will we) (Free free free) Free! Free! Free South Africa! (Free free free) Free! Free! Free South Africa! (Free free free…) Free! Free! Free South Africa! (…Nelson Mandela) (2x) I’ve seen a TV report and I watched the whole week That-that-that Samora Machel of Mozambique Was killed in a crash that couldn’t be explained Yo Dee, I wanna break – yo brother, refrain Kenneth Kaunda’s in Zambia (I’m in America) SWAPO’s in Namibia (Nyerere’s in Tanzania) Mugabe’s in Harare, Jesse just came back From the homeland, the green and the black So let’s spell it out A-f-r-i-c-a Angola Soweto Zimbabwe Tanzania Zambia Mozambique

And Botswana So let us speak about the motherland Speak about the motherland (about the motherland) Speak about the motherland (about the motherland) (South Africa no free, neither will we) [La versione estesa di A.F.R.I.C.A. continua con i seguenti versi: Aparheid, it’s nothin less than conspicious Anti-black and pro-ridiculous Feel it in ya heart, cause it’s so for real But in the mind it develops and becomes the deal As the struggle survives South Africans rely On us and u-n-i-t-y Thinkin back as a slave bonded on those chains The thoughts of bein free was never the same Some committed suicide, cause times was harsh And the ones who survived, they got brainwashed] From lightin and thunder hails the storm We can never forget, cause the struggle lives on Release the chains, or history will burst Mandela, Mugabe, he’s first freedom’s power This here is Africa’s hour, the unforgotten people in our A-f-r-i-c-a Angola Soweto Zimbabwe Tanzania Zambia Mozambique And Botswana So let us speak about the motherland Those are our brothers and sisters across the sea I’m speakin for the Stet, and we make a plea To fight apartheid, everybody To fight against the wicked and help Mugabe To fight apartheid and assist Nyerere Support the MK and the ANC We wanna see Nelson and Winnie free You don’t know – you need to study And when you do, we’re sure you’ll agree They need help, but so do we Them with their government, us with mentality

Eddy Grant, Gimme Hope Jo’anna, in File Under Rock, 1988
testo di Eddy Grant

Well Jo’anna she runs a country She runs in Durban and the Transvaal She makes a few of her people happy, oh She don’t care about the rest at all She’s got a system they call apartheid It keeps a brother in a subjection But maybe pressure will make Jo’anna see How everybody could a live as one Gimme hope, Jo’anna Hope, Jo’anna Gimme hope, Jo’anna ’Fore the morning come Gimme hope, Jo’anna Hope, Jo’anna Hope before the morning come I hear she makes all the golden money To buy new weapons, any shape of guns While every mother in black Soweto fears The killing of another son Sneakin’ across all the neighbours’ borders Now and again having little fun She doesn’t care if the fun and games she play Is dang’rous to ev’ryone Gimme hope, Jo’anna Gimme hope, Jo’anna Gimme hope, Jo’anna ’Fore the morning come Gimme hope, Jo’anna Gimme hope, Jo’anna Hope before the morning come She got supporters in high up places Who turn their heads to the city sun Jo’anna give them the fancy money Oh to tempt anyone who’d come She even knows how to swing opinion In every magazine and the journals For every bad move that this Jo’anna makes They got a good explanation Gimme hope, Jo’anna Gimme hope, Jo’anna

Gimme hope, Jo’anna ’Fore the morning come Gimme hope, Jo’anna Gimme hope, Jo’anna Hope before the morning come Even the preacher who works for Jesus The Archbishop who’s a peaceful man Together say that the freedom fighters Will overcome the very strong I wanna know if you’re blind Jo’anna If you wanna hear the sound of drum Can’t you see that the tide is turning Oh don’t make me wait till the morning come Do give hope, Jo’anna Gimme hope, Jo’anna Gimme hope, Jo’anna ’Fore the morning come Gimme hope, Jo’anna Gimme hope, Jo’anna Hope before the morning come Gimme hope, Jo’anna Gimme hope, Jo’anna Gimme hope, Jo’anna ’Fore the morning come Gimme hope, Jo’anna Gimme hope, Jo’anna Hope before the morning come

Simple Minds, Mandela Day, in Street Fighting Years, 1989
testo di Jim Kerr, Charlie Burchill, Mick MacNeil

It was 25 years they take that man away Now the freedom moves in closer every day Wipe the tears down from your saddened eyes They say Mandela’s free so step outside Oh oh oh oh Mandela day Oh oh oh oh Mandela’s free It was 25 years ago this very day Held behind four walls all through night and day Still the children know the story of that man And I know what’s going on right through your land 25 years ago Na na na na Mandela day Oh oh oh Mandela’s free If the tears are flowing wipe them from your face I can feel his heartbeat moving deep inside It was 25 years they took that man away And now the world come down say Nelson Mandela’s free Oh oh oh oh Mandela’s free The rising suns sets Mandela on his way Its been 25 years around this very day From the one outside to the ones inside we say

Oh oh oh oh Mandela’s free Oh oh oh set Mandela free Na na na na Mandela day Na na na na Mandela’s free 25 years ago What’s going on And we know what’s going on ’Cause we know what’s going on

Bibliografia

• SNAIL, Mgwebi, «The Black Consciousness Movement in South Africa : a Product of the Entire Black World», in HAOL. Historia Actual Online, 15, 1/2008, pp. 51-68.
• SOUTH AFRICAN DEMOCRACY EDUCATION TRUST, The Road to Democracy in South Africa, Vol. 1, 1960-1970, Pretoria, University of South Africa, 2010.
• SOUTH AFRICAN DEMOCRACY EDUCATION TRUST, The Road to Democracy in South Africa, Vol. 2, 1970-1980, Pretoria, University of South Africa, 2006.
• SOUTH AFRICAN DEMOCRACY EDUCATION TRUST, The Road to Democracy in South Africa, Vol. 3, International Solidarity, t. 1, Pretoria, University of South Africa, 2008.
• SOUTH AFRICAN DEMOCRACY EDUCATION TRUST, The Road to Democracy in South Africa, Vol. 3, International Solidarity, t. 2, Pretoria, University of South Africa, 2008.
• SOUTH AFRICAN DEMOCRACY EDUCATION TRUST, The Road to Democracy in South Africa, Vol. 4, 1980-1990, t. 1, Pretoria, University of South Africa, 2010.
• SOUTH AFRICAN DEMOCRACY EDUCATION TRUST, The Road to Democracy in South Africa, Vol. 4, 1980-1990, t. 2, Pretoria, University of South Africa, 2010.
• SOUTH AFRICAN DEMOCRACY EDUCATION TRUST, The Road to Democracy in South Africa, Vol. 5, African Solidarity, t. 1, Pretoria, University of South Africa, 2013.
• SOUTH AFRICAN DEMOCRACY EDUCATION TRUST, The Road to Democracy in South Africa, Vol. 5, African Solidarity, t. 2, Pretoria, University of South Africa, 2013.
• SOUTH AFRICAN DEMOCRACY EDUCATION TRUST, The Road to Democracy in South Africa, Vol. 6, 1990-1996, t. 1, Pretoria, University of South Africa, 2013.
• SOUTH AFRICAN DEMOCRACY EDUCATION TRUST, The Road to Democracy in South Africa, Vol. 6, 1990-1996, t. 2, Pretoria, University of South Africa, 2013.
• SOUTH AFRICAN DEMOCRACY EDUCATION TRUST, The Road to Democracy: South Africans telling their stories, Vol. 1, 1950-1970, t. 1, Pretoria, University of South Africa, 2008.
• SNAIL, Mgwebi, «The Black Consciousness Movement in South Africa : a Product of the Entire Black World», in HAOL. Historia Actual Online, 15, 1/2008, pp. 51-68.

Sitografia

• African Activist Archive, URL: < http://africanactivist.msu.edu/ >.
• South African History online, URL: < http://www.sahistory.org.za/ >.
• Steve Biko Foundation, URL: < http://sbf.org.za/ >.

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