This is a playlist of some of my favorite songs from South Africa. I’ve been meaning to post it for awhile now but finally got around to it. Big thanks to Mollie Stone for introducing me to the background of South African music and many of these songs specifically.
Beware, Verwoerd! (Ndodemnyama) by Miriam Makeba
The lyrics of this song say “Beware Verwoerd, here are the black people!” and it was sung to protest Hendrik Verwoerd, Prime Minister of South Africa from 1958-1966 who is today considered the “architect of apartheid”.
Mandela (Bring Him Back Home) by Hugh Masekela
A surprise hit for Masekela in 1987, “Mandela” went on to become an anthem for the movement to free Nelson Mandela.
50/50 by Mandoza
Mandoza is a well-known kwaito musician in South Africa. When most Americans think “African music,” they typically think simplistic, tribal music. One of the things I love about South African music is that there are so many genres of music that this way of thinking gets completely blown out of the water.
Shosholoza by Overtone with Yollandi Nortjie
The word “shosholoza” imitates the sound of a train, which was an important symbol of both oppression and freedom throughout South African history. The train took men away from their families to work in the mines but also symbolized leaving the oppressive situation in which blacks were living. The metaphorical “freedom train” came to symbolize the anti-apartheid movement and, in the second verse of the song, the people are urged to “run to the train”” and get on board with the movement. The song has since come to symbolize the banding together of people through a mutual pride in their country and its future.
Ndandihleli by Children of Agappe
This was a love song sung by family members of those imprisoned or exiled during apartheid. In more recent years, people have adapted it to sing about those who have died from HIV/AIDS. South African choral music has become a vehicle through which people can sing about topics that are otherwise taboo. They have used this music to spread knowledge about the HIV/AIDS struggle, how this horrible disease can be prevented and as a means of comforting those who are suffering the loss of family and friends.
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Zadiliki lindonga zaJericho by Siyabumbula
This song is a traditional Zulu church song that tells the story of Joshua and the Battle of Jericho. This song began as a church song that told the story of the Battle of Jericho. The original lyrics said that the “walls of Jericho are falling” but they were adapted to say “we are tearing down the walls of Jericho.” When choirs perform the song, they use movements that depict both the walls of Jericho falling and the people tearing down the walls of Pretoria, the seat of the apartheid government.
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Nkosi Sikelel’ IAfrika by Overtone
“Nkosi Sikelel’ IAfrika” (“God Bless Africa” in Xhosa) is the national anthem of South Africa. South Africa has 11 official languages and 5 of them are featured in this song: Xhosa, Zulu, Sesotho, Afrikaans and English.
Toyi Toyi (A Call to Arms) by Siyabumbula
The Toyi Toyi is more of a chant than a song. It was a weapon of intimidation used to protest apartheid. In a call-and-response structure, the toyi-toyi imitates firing guns and barking dogs. This toyi-toyi references the military branch of the African National Congress (Mhkonto we Sizwe) and the Soweto Uprisings of 1976, when policemen opened fire on schoolchildren protesting the implementation of Afrikaans as the language of instruction in black schools.
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Ithengwe Ngubani
This song was originally used to teach South African children how to pronounce the clicks in Zulu and Xhosa. The main verse is basically nonsense, saying “Why are you chopping that meat into such small pieces as though you were the one who bought it?” Choirs that educate people about HIV, have since added verses about nutrition and the foods people should eat if they’re taking anti-retrovirals.
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The Click Song by Miriam Makeba
In Xhosa, this song is called “Qongqothwane” and is sung when a young girl gets married. It is called “The Click Song” because the Xhosa title was too hard for the English to pronounce.
Oxamu (The Crocodile) by Busi Mhlongo
This is a nonsense song that South African children sing to practice their clicks.
Sobashiya Abazali Ekhaya by Amandla Group
This song is the voice of young people saying “we will leave our parents behind and head for foreign lands in search of our freedom.”
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Safa Saphel’ Isizwe by S’busiso Ngema
The lyrics for this song are “The Black nation is dying. The African nation is dying. Who will lead us to the day of freedom?” It has been adapted to the struggle against HIV/AIDS to say “Our nation is failing, my Lord / Our nation is failing from HIV /My Lord, save us. Give us a cure. / Our nation is failing from HIV.”
eMarabini
This is a traditional Xhosa song about an orphan. The song asks “who will look after this child, for it is truly without parents?” eMarabini is sung with a new meaning today as South Africa’s orphan population continues to increase due to the HIV/AIDS epidemic. The feeling behind this song is driven by a sense of hope rather than despair; as it was sung to win past struggles, it is now sung to overcome present struggles as well.
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Sithi Shwele by The Children Of Agape Choir Feat. Ladysmith Black Mambazo
We Are Together (Thina Simunye) is a documentary film that tells the story of children in the South Africa Agape Orphanage, most of who have lost their loved ones to AIDS.
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Meadowlands by Nancy Jacobs And Sisters
The South African government created the official policy of apartheid in 1948 to bring about the forced relocation of millions of native Africans. Bulldozers leveled the brick homes and shops of relatively prosperous black communities such as Sophiatown and the citizens were shipped off to live in low-cost government barracks in the middle of a barren desert. The government referred to these new locations as The Homelands and gave specific communities sadistically inappropriate names such as Meadowlands.
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Sebai Bai by Mahotella Queens
I just like this one because it’s really catchy!
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Freedom Is Coming Tomorrow by Khanyo Maphumulo
This song is another from the movie Serafina. It may sound a little cheesy but it can have a pretty powerful impact on you, if you let it.
The Sound Snack 