The music of Mandela
NELSON MANDELA's spirit and memory will live on in song.
Songs dedicated to Madiba:
1. Asimbonanga (We Haven't Seen Him) - Johnny Clegg and Savuka
2. Peace in our Land - Sello "Chicco" Twala
3. World in Union - PJ Powers. She released this song - the official song of the Rugby World Cup in 1995 - after the first democratic election the year before.
4. Thulasizwe (I Shall Be Released) - Miriam Makeba and Nina Simone
5. Nongqongqo (To Those We Love) - Miriam Makeba
6. Black President - Brenda Fassie
7. Bring Him Back Home - Hugh Masekela
8. Mandela - Zahara featuring Mzwakhe Mbuli
9. I Just Called to Say I Love You - Stevie Wonder dedicated this song to Mandela, who was still in prison at the time. It was nominated for a Grammy and won an Oscar, but Wonder's music was subsequently banned in South Africa.
10. We Miss You Manelo - Sello "Chicco" Twala. Apartheid laws banned anything that had to with Nelson Mandela, so Twala used "Manelo" instead of "Mandela".
Songs that embody the spirit of Mandela:
1. One Love - Bob Marley
2. Soldier's Heart - R Kelly sang it in Mandela's home in 2010 and on Arsenio Hall's show this week after Madiba's death.
3. The World's Greatest - R Kelly
4. Never Again (Excellent, The first Black President) - Prophets of da City
5. (Something Inside) So Strong -
written by Labi Siffre, sung by Lira
"The farther you take my rights away
The faster I will run
You can deny me
You can decide to turn your face away
No matter, cos there's....
Something inside so strong"
6. Many Rivers to Cross - Jimmy Cliff
"Many rivers to cross and it's only my will
That keeps me alive
I've been licked, washed up for years
And I merely survive because of my pride..."
7. Someday We'll All Be Free - Donny Hathaway and later Aretha Franklin
"Keep on walking tall, hold you head up high.
Lay your dreams right up to the sky.
Sing your greatest song.
And you'll keep, going, going on..."
8. A Change Is Gonna Come - Sam Cook and covered by Leela James
"I was born by the river in a little tent
Oh and just like the river I've been running ever since
It's been a long, a long time coming
But I know a change gonna come, oh yes it will..."
9. Wind Beneath My Wings - written by Jeff Silbar and Larry Henley (first made famous by Gladys Knight and The Pips, and then Bette Midler)
"Did you ever know that you're my hero, and everything I would like to be?
I can fly higher than an eagle,
'cause you are the wind beneath my wings."
- Compiled by Somaya Stockenstroom and Mosa Mokhema