Thomas Mapfumo - Rise Up (Real World)

In 1940, George Orwell wrote: “We are in a strange period of history in which a revolutionary has to be a patriot and a patriot has to be a revolutionary.” Listening to Thomas Mapfumo reminded me of Orwell and other true men and women of conscience who transcend orthodoxy to resist tyranny of whatever stripe. In the 1970s, Mapfumo’s chimurenga (‘struggle’) songs were the musical voice of the armed insurrection that brought an end to white minority rule and saw ZANU assume power under Robert Mugabe. Fast forward a quarter century. Mugabe’s profoundly bankrupt regime clings to power and Mapfumo lives in exile in Oregon. Rise Up falls short of advocating tyranicide, but with lyrics like: “Why do our youth die? They die for breadcrumbs like rats and the die for ‘The Party’, for the senile man,” I think it’s fair to say that the “Lion of Zimbabwe” is doing his part to hasten Mugabe’s departure. For more on Thomas Mapfumo, Google “The Lion in Winter”, Banning Eyre’s excellent feature in the April 2005 issue of The Walrus.