Soweto Blues
{{Use dmy dates|date=February 2017}}
{{Infobox song
| name = Soweto Blues
| cover =
| alt =
| type =
| artist = Miriam Makeba
| album = You Told Your Mama Not to Worry
| released = 1977
| format =
| recorded =
| studio =
| venue =
| genre = Protest song
| length = {{Duration|m=05|s=24}}
| label = Casablanca
| writer = Hugh Masekela
| producer =
- Hugh Masekela
- Stanley Todd
}}
"Soweto Blues" is a protest song written by Hugh Masekela and performed by Miriam Makeba.{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=nzsJUVS4ODIC&pg=PA112|title=B-sides, Undercurrents and Overtones: Peripheries to Popular in Music, 1960 to the Present |first=George |last=Plasketes|year=2009|publisher=Ashgate Publishing Ltd|isbn=978-0754665618|page=112}} The song is about the Soweto uprising that occurred in 1976, following the decision by the apartheid government of South Africa to make Afrikaans a medium of instruction at school. The uprising was forcefully put down by the police, leading to the death of between 176 and 700 people. The song was released in 1977 as part of Masekela's album You Told Your Mama Not to Worry.{{cite book | last=Hess | first=J. | title=Music Education for Social Change: Constructing an Activist Music Education | publisher=Taylor & Francis | year=2019 | isbn=978-0-429-83839-2 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zbuZDwAAQBAJ&pg=PT28 | access-date=2022-10-01 | page=28}}{{cite news|last1=Lusk|first1=Jon|title=Miriam Makeba: Singer banned from her native South Africa for fighting apartheid|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/obituaries/miriam-makeba-singer-banned-from-her-native-south-africa-for-fighting-apartheid-1009604.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220524/https://www.independent.co.uk/news/obituaries/miriam-makeba-singer-banned-from-her-native-south-africa-for-fighting-apartheid-1009604.html |archive-date=24 May 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live|accessdate=12 March 2015|work=The Independent|date=11 November 2008}} The song became a staple at Makeba's live concerts, and is considered a notable example of music in the movement against apartheid.
Background
File:Miriam makeba 01.jpg's live performances]]
{{Further|Soweto uprising}}
In 1976, the apartheid government of South Africa decided to implement the use of Afrikaans as the medium of instruction in all schools instead of English. In response, high school students began a series of protests on the morning of 16 June that came to be known as the Soweto Uprising.{{cite web|title=The birth and death of apartheid|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/575204.stm|accessdate=17 June 2002}} Students from numerous Sowetan schools began to protest in the streets of Soweto in response to the introduction of Afrikaans as the medium of instruction in local schools. An estimated 15,000–20,000 students took part in the protests. The police were caught unawares by the protests. After initially asking the students to disperse, the police opened fire on the protesting children in order to quell the protest.{{cite journal|last1=Muller|first1=Carol A.|title=The New African Diaspora, the Built Environment and the past in Jazz|journal=Ethnomusicology Forum|date=June 2006|volume=15|issue=1|pages=63–86|doi=10.1080/17411910600634270|s2cid=194059852}}{{cite web|last1=Boddy-Evans|first1=Alistair|title=16 June 1976 Student Uprising in Soweto|url=http://africanhistory.about.com/od/apartheid/a/Soweto-Uprising-Pt2.htm|website=about.com|accessdate=17 March 2015}} The number of people who died is usually given as 176, with estimates of up to 700, while several hundred more were injured.{{cite book|title=The White Tribe of Africa|year=1987|first=David|last=Harrison}} The killings sparked off several months of rioting in the Soweto townships, and the protests became an important moment for the anti-Apartheid movement.
Lyrics and music
The lyrics of "Soweto Blues" refer to the children's protests and the resulting massacre in the 1976 Soweto uprising. A review in the magazine Musician said that the song had "searingly righteous lyrics" that "cut to the bone."{{cite journal|last1=Cheyney|first1=Tom|title=Miriam Makeba Welela|journal=Musician|date=1 March 1990|issue=137|page=84}} "Soweto Blues" was also one of many melancholic songs by Masekela that expressed his commitment to the anti-apartheid struggle, along with "Bring Him Back Home (Nelson Mandela)," "Been Gone Far Too Long," "Mama," and "The Coal Train."{{cite encyclopedia|last=Dhlamini|first=Nonhlanhla|authorlink=|editor-first1=Muchativugwa|editor-last1=Hove|editor-first2=Kgomotso|editor-last2= Masemola|encyclopedia=Strategies of Representation in Auto/biography: Reconstructing and Remembering|title=Memory, Gender, and Narration|url=|year=2014|publisher=Palgrave Macmillan|location=|isbn=9781137340337|doi=|pages=24–35|quote=}} Musically, the song has a background of Mbaqanga guitar, bass, and multi-grooved percussion. Makeba uses this as a platform for vocals that are half-sung and half-spoken, similar to blues music.
Release and performances
The song was released in 1977 as part of Masekela's album You Told Your Mama Not to Worry. It was also included in Makeba's 1989 album Welela.{{cite web | title=Soweto Blues by Miriam Makeba - Track Info | website=AllMusic | date=1969-12-31 | url=https://www.allmusic.com/song/soweto-blues-mt0011969116 | access-date=2022-10-01}} The song became a standard part of Makeba's live performances for many years after its release. It was also performed by Makeba on the tour for Paul Simon's 1986 album Graceland, along with many other anti-apartheid songs.{{cite news|last1=O'Connor|first1=John J.|title=Paul Simon's Emotional Grace|url=http://infoweb.newsbank.com/resources/doc/nb/news/0EB4EF465BD57A19?p=AWNB|accessdate=17 March 2015|agency=New York Times|work=San Francisco Chronicle|date=19 May 1987}} Makeba was unable to perform the song in her native South Africa until after her return to the country in June 1990, only a few months after Nelson Mandela was released from prison. She was given a strong welcome back to her home country and regained her South African citizenship in 1992, the same year that she starred in the film Sarafina! about the Soweto uprising.
References
{{reflist|30em}}
{{Miriam Makeba}}
{{Greater Johannesburg|media}}
Category:Culture of Johannesburg