Luke Beling wasn’t satisfied with the “Biko”
playbook. “Madiba” shares elements with the 1980 release from Peter Gabriel. The
songs are about men who sacrificed much in the battle against South African apartheid
and, fittingly, both incorporate African rhythms and other influences from the
geographical area. But Beling’s “Madiba” is a softer tribute that represents admiration
and respect for the person, whereas Gabriel took an angrier approach.
Beling
explained:
My grandmother loved Nelson Mandela. She took me to Robben Island (where Mandela spent 27 years in prison) when I was a young boy. I have one lasting memory of that visit: Mandela's match-box sized jailcell. Our tour guide (a former inmate) explained how prisoners would have to curl their legs to sleep at night as the cells couldn't accommodate their outstretched limbs.
Madiba is my tribute to my hero, the man who laid down his life for racial equality in South Africa.
He
was born and raised on South Africa's Sunshine Coast before Luke Beling left
home at 19 and settled in a small, rural town in central Kentucky. He is
now based in Hawaii.
“Madiba” by Luke Beling
My grandmother loved Nelson Mandela. She took me to Robben Island (where Mandela spent 27 years in prison) when I was a young boy. I have one lasting memory of that visit: Mandela's match-box sized jailcell. Our tour guide (a former inmate) explained how prisoners would have to curl their legs to sleep at night as the cells couldn't accommodate their outstretched limbs.
Madiba is my tribute to my hero, the man who laid down his life for racial equality in South Africa.
“Madiba” by Luke Beling
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/luke.beling/
Website: https://lukebeling.com/
Bandcamp: https://lukebeling.bandcamp.com/
Lyrics of “Madiba” by Luke Beling
Did you close your eyes
Or leave them wide
To watch all the terror
Roll down their spines?
Did you listen good
Like they said you should?
Did you think it’d be forever
Before your chains got loosed?
Hey hey Madiba
The darkness had no place to keep you
Hey hey Believer
The promise and the pain of breakthrough
Just a dreamer
Did you curl your legs?
They went from brown to red
Like some cursed amoeba
A dirty floor your bed
Did they call you Nelson
With their tongues of poison?
The black man deceiver
The prophet rejoicing
Hey hey Madiba
The darkness had no place to keep you
Hey hey Believer
The promise and the pain of breakthrough
Just a dreamer
[Repeat]
Between the bite
In the teeth of the law
You came into our night
With the dawn
And the crusade
We speared through your skin
Your life for the trade
To let loving begin
Hey hey Madiba
The darkness had no place to keep you
Hey hey Believer
The promise and the pain of breakthrough
Just a dreamer
Just a dreamer
Madiba
Website: https://lukebeling.com/
Bandcamp: https://lukebeling.bandcamp.com/
Did you close your eyes
Or leave them wide
To watch all the terror
Roll down their spines?
Like they said you should?
Did you think it’d be forever
Before your chains got loosed?
The darkness had no place to keep you
Hey hey Believer
The promise and the pain of breakthrough
Just a dreamer
They went from brown to red
Like some cursed amoeba
A dirty floor your bed
With their tongues of poison?
The black man deceiver
The prophet rejoicing
The darkness had no place to keep you
Hey hey Believer
The promise and the pain of breakthrough
Just a dreamer
[Repeat]
In the teeth of the law
You came into our night
With the dawn
And the crusade
We speared through your skin
Your life for the trade
To let loving begin
The darkness had no place to keep you
Hey hey Believer
The promise and the pain of breakthrough
Just a dreamer
Just a dreamer
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