Miriam Makeba, musician and activist against apartheid, died yesterday, collapsing onstage after singing one of her most famous and wonderful songs, "Pata Pata," according to a beautiful piece by Celean Jacobson on Huffington Post:
JOHANNESBURG, South Africa — She died just how she wanted to _ singing on stage for a good cause. And her recorded songs wafted out of taxis and radios, as fellow Africans struggled with their grief at her passing.
Miriam Makeba, the "Mama Africa" whose sultry voice gave South Africans hope when the country was gripped by apartheid, died Monday of a heart attack after collapsing on stage in Italy. She was 76.
In her dazzling career, Makeba performed with musical legends from around the world _ jazz maestros Nina Simone and Dizzy Gillespie, Harry Belafonte, Paul Simon _ and sang for world leaders such as John F. Kennedy and Nelson Mandela.
Her distinctive style, which combined jazz, folk and South African township rhythms, managed to get her banned from South Africa for over 30 years.
Some young readers may not recognize her work but many will. Sad to see such a talent pass on; happy to have her on my playlist. I possibly have revealed this before: To keep myself sane while writing, I periodically crank up the ole (how ole can it be, actually?) iPod, typically blasting Miriam's "Click Song" -- and I dance. She's moved me, literally, for years.
I love Miriam Makeba for her verve, her expression, her range, her courage (not an easy life at all, despite her fame), and what she sings about, in this case, a wedding song. I've listened to it so many times that I know the lead-in by heart:
In my native village in Johannesburg there is a song that we always sing when a young girl gets married. It's called "The Click Song" by the English because they cannot say, "Qongqothwane."
Thanks to the interwebs, you can watch "Pata Pata," as per above, or go here, where she sings "Qongqothwange" and explains her language, one of the Xhosa family. I don't like the tempo of this one as much as I do the one I listen to regularly but her explanation of trying to pronounce that "click" and the use of consonants is wonderful. Here are the words to the song:
Igqira lendlela nguqo ngqothwane
Igqira lendlela nguqo ngqothwane
Sebeqabele gqi thapha bathi nguqo ngqothwane
Sebeqabele gqi thapha bathi nguqo ngqothwane
And here's her obit by Alan Cowell from today's New York Times. Click on, Miriam.
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