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A Million Years

from Ownership by Mthakathi

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about

This track is set up to "name your price" in the hope that you are a generous advocate of peace and justice. All proceeds from this track (less Bandcamp fees) will be donated specifically to the Emmett Till Legacy Foundation. emmetttilllegacyfoundation.com/justice/ which is "committed to educate, equip, inspire and empower today’s youth, women and their families for a better tomorrow, while, collaborating with others and connecting to the broader struggle for peace, nonviolence, civil and human rights, social and economic justice, criminal justice reform and the fight against hate that impacts us all."

lyrics

a god-forsaken jungle
on the eastern rim
there's razor wire, where the country's split
the rain runs in rivulets
off his helmet brim
he can't keep "this god damn cigarette!" lit
he thinks about his daughter
in the christmas play
swallows all his sadness
in the clearing, a flash of orange
the night becomes the day
silence becomes madness

she walks out of the flames, naked and screaming
a little orphan girl
he throws down his rifle, drops to his belly
and crawls to her
he cradles her in his flack jacket and starts crying in the rain:
"please, god, give, us
a million years of peacetime"

an unwanted incursion
in an ancient place
there're people here that shouldn't be
an unforgiving heat
in a shadeless space
it is a caustic recipe
the young boys playing
in the date palm grove
were running 'round with sticks in hand
their movement spooks the troops
on the bomb pocked road
and now they lie in crimson sand

with shins in the dirt, sobbing and wailing
the families of the dead
while jittery recruits stand over them, pointing guns at their heads
but they all become one when an errant rocket
showers them in a fiery rain
and now they all dream
of a million years of peacetime

a salmon sun rises
on a KZN (KwaZulu-Natal) shore
ugogo (grandmother) walks with child in hand
commissioners scoot chairs
on a scarred wood floor
they've all come to heal this land
quietly she stands
anemic and frail
but with dignity she waits her turn
to give her account
of torture and betrayal
and the smell when flesh and kerosene burn

the gallery recoils in revulsion
the hallway fills with sobs and cries
even the stoic outlander
looks to the rafters with tears in his eyes
she pulls the child in close, holds up a charred skull and says
"this is what we've paid
and now you owe us
a million years of peacetime"

Sibiza uxolo sonke thina!
(We call for peace)

credits

from Ownership, released August 1, 2008
drum kit › ian herman
bass › bakithi kumalo
congas, hand percussion › joe cardello
tenor sax › khaya mahlangu
oud, karkabous > brahim fribgane
vocal harmonies › stella khumalo, faith kekana, ayanda bacela, ema
piano, guitars, mbira, organ, synths, programming and lead vocal › ema

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Mthakathi New York, New York

WORLD MUSIC ON JET FUEL! Singer/songwriter/guitarist/producer Mthakathi (pronounced m-TAA-gaa-tee) takes the rock/world fusion movement into the realm of Safro-Rock. His music, drawn from a lifelong immersion in South African culture, is a fiery mutli-culti rock mashup with a dose of world world elements.
An innovative songsmith and arresting performer, Mthakathi is the definitive "Safro" rocker ... more

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