tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7824464142604361129.post2011911763980140851..comments2024-03-24T12:25:13.240-07:00Comments on Every Single Paul Simon Song*: HomelessAnother Paulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17490204558031016152noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7824464142604361129.post-53903339846921328722014-02-03T18:24:35.672-08:002014-02-03T18:24:35.672-08:00In fact, I was not aware of that! Thank you for th...In fact, I was not aware of that! Thank you for that important piece of South African history. However, I do believe that the ensemble's members were born well after the Boer Wars, and named their group after their region.<br />Not to nit-pick, but the word you were looking for is "site," a place, as in "website," a place on the Web. (To "cite" is to quote a source.)Another Paulhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17490204558031016152noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7824464142604361129.post-31290045747027967312014-02-02T09:31:47.885-08:002014-02-02T09:31:47.885-08:00Please also be aware of Ladysmith as the cite of g...Please also be aware of Ladysmith as the cite of great struggle during the Boer Wars in late 18, early 1900's. We have conquered England...defeated the whole country! More poignant and profound reference than Abbey Road Studios.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7824464142604361129.post-76406093337103608482012-02-27T18:38:12.016-08:002012-02-27T18:38:12.016-08:00Thank you so much for your comments and your help ...Thank you so much for your comments and your help with translations. I agree that the song relates to apartheid as a political struggle, and I hope that was clear. I included the literal interpretation because apartheid was also an economic struggle, and perhaps I should stated so more pointedly. <br />I would add that it is also not necessarily correct to assume that, just because the song is by South Africans that it is necessarily about apartheid. During the civil rights movement in America in the '60s, for instance, not everyone was writing songs about racial discrimination. Yes... but not only. Remember, the line that Shabalala built off of was "Homeless/Moonlight sleeping on a midnight lake." To me, that says "poverty." Certainly there was poverty in South Africa before apartheid, just as there is now, decades after. <br />Please understand that I am not disagreeing with you, or trying to minimize the devastation of apartheid. I am merely trying to make sure the song gets its due and is more universally applicable.Another Paulhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17490204558031016152noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7824464142604361129.post-58159886526512687882012-02-22T15:14:47.191-08:002012-02-22T15:14:47.191-08:00'somandla' means 'God, The Almighty...'somandla' means 'God, The Almighty'. 'angibulele' I'm not 100% sure what it means but 'bulele' means 'to rest' and 'lele' means 'to sleep'. At a guess he's saying that even God is sleeping or has abandoned them in their struggle. The use of 'mama' doesn't necessarily mean he's talking about his mother, in African culture it's polite to refer to any older woman as 'mama'.<br /><br />But I think your literal interpretations are too broad. This is effectively a 'struggle song' about Apartheid, anything literal will refer to what happened during apartheid. <br /><br />I.E. I don't think he's refering to his sweetheart when he says 'my heart', it's more likely that he's referring to how his heart his breaking because of what was happening to South Africa. Or he's calling his country his heart and refering to how it is breaking. All Africans have a deep level of connectedness to Africa.<br /><br />Ditto goes for the lines about 'many dead'. It wasn't a natural disaster that killed so many, it was a man made disaster of police raids and pure human brutality. The black Africans never knew when or why their homes would be raided and who would be killed or arrested.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com