Deixa-me rir...

"Caros audiophiles, last time I proposed a celebration of a European musical event, but this week we are going global with the start of the football World Cup in South Africa!

A few weeks ago I posted an article about Souad Massi the Algerian singer. I mentioned attending her first concert in London. Well, during the interval there was played some taped "world music" that I really liked and I tried to find out what this music was. I was introduced to the sound engineer for this concert who told me that the music was a compilation he had made of artists and music from his recent trip to South Africa. This was disappointing because I hoped I could buy the cd. So he gave me his copy, saying he could make another copy easily. Then a few days later he wrote to me with the list of all the artists and the song titles. How incredibly kind and generous. From one audiophile to another!

So now to celebrate South Africa and the World Cup, I present two wonderful songs from this cd...

Blk Sonshine (Black Sunshine) - Born in a Taxi:

don't leave me blind
'cause i'm afraid of not seeing
you can't leave behind
a baby born in a taxi
give me all you owe the world
let's pretend i could be spoiled
if it's all in what you say
then won't you change my world today
i could spend my time loving you
if that's what you want me to do
you just have to say "I do"

you say i'm like a dream
planted far from water
you make it out to seem
between there's a border
think of all the games we play
tell me we're both trapped in this clay
because if you're sure it's here to stay
then help me change my world today

i could spend my time loving you...
don't be afraid
i'm not here to take away
it's not a shame
let me show you how to play
take my arm
i'll lead you through this groundlessness.


Khumbula - Sibali:

And finally...a song that all football lovers are going to hear many times during the coming month - the official FIFA World Cup 2010 Anthem. Below I print the football lyrics first, but the video includes the original more political lyrics:

(Ooooooh Wooooooh, Ooooooh Wooooooh
Give me freedom! give me fire! give me reason, take me higher!
See the champions, take the field now, you define us, make us feel proud!
In the streets our heads are lifting, as we lose our inhibition,
Celebration it surrounds us, every nation all around us

Singing forever young, singing songs underneath the sun
Let's rejoice in the beautiful game,
And together at the end of the day
We all say)...
When I get older I will be stronger
They will call me freedom, just like the waving flag.
and then it goes back...

Born to a throne stronger than Rome
Violent prone, poor people zone
but it's my home, all I have known
where I got grown, streets we would roam.
Out of the darkness, I came the farthest
among hardest survival.
Learn from these streets, it can be bleak,
accept no defeat, surrender retreat.
So we struggling, fighting to eat
and we wondering when we'll be free
So we patiently wait
for that fateful day, it's not far away
but for now we say...

So many wars, settling scores,
bringing us promises, leaving us poor
I heard them say "Love is the way"
love is the answer, that's what they say.
But look how they treat us,
make us believers,
we fight their battles, then they deceive us,
try to control us, but they could not hold us,
cause we just move forward
like Buffalo Soldiers.

So let's hope that the World Cup brings more unity and celebration in South Africa itself and in all the world.
Viva Portugal, Viva Inglaterra! But, win or lose, let's not take it all too seriously...

A proxima,
po