{"id":42009,"date":"2019-02-06T18:18:13","date_gmt":"2019-02-06T17:18:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pan-african-music.com\/felas-stories-sorrow-tears-and-blood\/"},"modified":"2020-11-04T16:35:56","modified_gmt":"2020-11-04T15:35:56","slug":"felas-stories-sorrow-tears-and-blood","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pan-african-music.com\/en\/felas-stories-sorrow-tears-and-blood\/","title":{"rendered":"Fela\u2019s stories: Sorrow Tears and Blood"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<h5 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>\u201cSorrow, tears and blood, them regular trademark\u201d<\/strong><\/h5>\n\n\n\n<p>Fela\u2019s song is a perfect illustration of the police brutality still occurring today in Cameroon (and elsewhere). I grew up under the totalitarian regime of Ahmadou Ahidjo and was subject to regular roundups in New-Bell Bonadibong, a popular pan-African district of Douala, the country\u2019s economic capital. This song is by no means a coincidence: the military\u2019s fierce revenge had just fallen on Kalakuta Republic, Fela\u2019s stronghold. And all of a sudden, at three o\u2019clock in the morning under the pouring rain, a whole mixed battalion came down on us all. An \u201celite\u201d corps made up of police officers, soldiers and other armed officers. Masters of their rifles\u2019 triggers and grips\u2026 In short, masters of everything that could be used for exploding rebellious skulls. In this context, the title \u201cSorrow Tears and Blood\u201d makes sense. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:50px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed-youtube wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-embed-aspect-4-3 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe title=\"Fela Kuti - Sorrow Tears &amp; Blood\" width=\"500\" height=\"375\" data-src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/F4ZUnPWxgvc?feature=oembed&#038;autoplay=1\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><figcaption>Fela Kuti &#8211; Sorrow Tears &amp; Blood<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:25px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>The siren screams! <\/p>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:25px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\"><p><strong>Eh-ya!<\/strong><br><strong>Everybody run run run<\/strong><br><strong>Eh-ya!<\/strong><br><strong>Everybody scatter scatter<\/strong><br><strong>Eh-ya!<\/strong><br><strong>Some people lost some bread<\/strong><br><strong>Eh-ya!<\/strong><br><strong>Someone nearly die<\/strong><br><strong>Eh-ya!<\/strong><br><strong>Someone just die<\/strong><br><strong>Eh-ya!<\/strong><br><strong>Police they come, army they come<\/strong><br><strong>Eh-ya!<\/strong><br><strong>Confusion everywhere<\/strong><br><strong>Eh-ya!<\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p>In order to fully appreciate the weight of these words, let\u2019s go back to the beginning of the story, in 1976 when Fela\u2019s song \u201cZombie\u201d, a scathing antimilitarist satire, was released. This track mocks the Nigerian army and its decerebrated robot-soldiers, as a bunch of zombies: <em>\u201cZombie no go go, unless you tell am to go \/ Zombie no go stop, unless you tell am to stop \/ Zombie no go think, unless you tell am to think (Zombie) [\u2026] Go and kill! \/ Go and die! [\u2026] Quick march! \/ Slow march! \/ Left turn! \/ Right turn!\u201d<\/em> Fela chanted, enraged yet with a sense of irony.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The military junta did not forgive Fela\u2019s insolence and his determination to denounce the military and police brutality, the abuse of power, the endemic corruption, bad governance and its associated dysfunctions established as the unique modus operandi&#8230; Not to mention Fela\u2019s boycotting of FESTAC&nbsp;\u201977 (World Black and African Festival of Arts and Culture), the second edition of the World Festival of Black Arts, organized by the government in Lagos.<br>Fela would even have the impudence to launch his own own counter-festival. After the official shows of Stevie Wonder, James Brown and other great performers, the artists themselves as well as international journalists would rush to the Africa Shrine to attend Fela\u2019s performances and visit his own Kalakuta Republik. This was the height of humiliation for the junta in power. Olusegun Obasanjo, the president of Nigeria at the time, then took advantage of an altercation between the police and a member of Africa&nbsp;\u201970, Fela\u2019s orchestra. The police wanted to arrest him and appeared in front of Kalakuta where he had taken refuge. But with no warrant to produce to Fela, he refused them to enter his territory. General Obansajo therefore sent the army and police against the Kalakuta Republik. And then things got out of control!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:50px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"819\" height=\"1024\" src=\"https:\/\/pan-african-music-production.fra1.digitaloceanspaces.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/Felas-House-Burnt.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-20715\" srcset=\"https:\/\/pan-african-music-production.fra1.digitaloceanspaces.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/Felas-House-Burnt.jpg 819w, https:\/\/pan-african-music-production.fra1.digitaloceanspaces.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/Felas-House-Burnt-759x949.jpg 759w, https:\/\/pan-african-music-production.fra1.digitaloceanspaces.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/Felas-House-Burnt-661x826.jpg 661w, https:\/\/pan-african-music-production.fra1.digitaloceanspaces.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/Felas-House-Burnt-465x581.jpg 465w, https:\/\/pan-african-music-production.fra1.digitaloceanspaces.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/Felas-House-Burnt-375x469.jpg 375w\" sizes=\"(min-width:1010px) 759px,100vw\" loading=\"lazy\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:50px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<h5 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>When the zombies showed up in Kalakuta<\/strong><\/h5>\n\n\n\n<p>On February 18, 1977, the house of Fela Anikulapo Kuti got burnt by the army. The artist\u2019s utopia of a land of asylum open to all the outcasts left in Lagos went up in smoke. That same gruesome day, Funmilayo Kuti, Fela\u2019s mother, was thrown out of a window. A major figure for Panafricanism, an activist for the anti-colonial struggle with Kwame Nkrumah, died shortly afterwards from her wounds.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The event directly inspired \u201cSorrow Tears and Blood\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:25px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\"><p><strong>Eh-ya!<\/strong><br><strong>Everybody run run run<\/strong><br><strong>Eh-ya!<\/strong><br><strong>Everybody scatter scatter<\/strong><br><strong>Eh-ya!<\/strong><br><strong>Some people lost some bread<\/strong><br><strong>Eh-ya!<\/strong><br><strong>Someone nearly die<\/strong><br><strong>Eh-ya!<\/strong><br><strong>Someone just die<\/strong><br><strong>Eh-ya!<\/strong><br><strong>Police they come, army they come<\/strong><br><strong>Eh-ya!<\/strong><br><strong>Confusion everywhere<\/strong><br><strong>Eh-ya!<\/strong><br><br><strong>Seven minutes later<\/strong><br><strong>All don cool down, brother<\/strong><br><strong>Police don go away<\/strong><br><strong>Army don disappear<\/strong><br><strong>Them leave sorrow, tears and blood<\/strong><br><strong>Them regular trademark<\/strong><br><strong>Them leave sorrow, tears and blood<\/strong><br><strong>Them regular trademark<\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p>As was Fela\u2019s habit through his songs, the singer chronicled Lagos, Nigeria and Africa. The song \u201cSorrow Tears and Blood\u201d was released that same&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Since New-Bell Bonadibong, the injustice Fela had to cope with strongly resounds in me. I\u2019m 23, and I\u2019ve immersed myself in the world of Fela since I was 17 years old. He is the landmark of my adolescence, and our torchbearer. He enlightens us, educates us, opens our eyes to ourselves. He makes us proud to be African, and encourages us to be indignant. He is one of the very few African musicians to refuse to compromise with Africa\u2019s gravediggers and corrupt politicians. Through his music and revolutionary stances and attitude, he opened the realm of possibility: the dream of another Africa that stands up. But he also knew how much the tyrants of the continent control through fear and terror, as he reminded us:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:25px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\"><p><strong>My people self they fear too much<\/strong><br><strong>We fear for the thing we no see<\/strong><br><strong>We fear for the air around us<\/strong><br><strong>We fear to fight for freedom<\/strong><br><strong>We fear to fight for liberty<\/strong><br><strong>We fear to fight for justice<\/strong><br><strong>We fear to fight for happiness<\/strong><br><strong>We always get reason to fear:<\/strong><br><strong>We no wan dieWe no wan wound<\/strong><br><strong>We no wan quench<\/strong><br><strong>We no wan goI get one child<\/strong><br><strong>Mama dey for house<\/strong><br><strong>Papa dey for houseI wan build house<\/strong><br><strong>I don build house<\/strong><br><strong>I no want quench<\/strong><br><strong>I want enjoy<\/strong><br><strong>I no wan go<\/strong><br><strong>Ah!<\/strong><br><strong>So policeman go slap your face<\/strong><br><strong>You no go talk<\/strong><br><strong>Army man go whip your yansh<\/strong><br><strong>You go they look like donkey<\/strong><br><strong>Rhodesia they do them own<\/strong><br><strong>Our leaders they yab for nothing<\/strong><br><strong>South Africa they do them own<\/strong><br><br><strong>Them leave sorrow, tears and blood<\/strong><br><strong>Them regular trademark<\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p>It should be noted that in Cameroon we share the Pidgin language in common with Nigeria, and therefore we have the privilege to understand Fela\u2019s lyrics that elude some of our brothers in the French-speaking regions. They rarely have a thorough access to the accuracy of his words and even less to the relevance of his analysis. Many have only an image complacently distorted by part of the media. There is no doubt Fela frightened \u2013&nbsp;and still does&nbsp;\u2013 most of Africa\u2019s governing politicians. They fear the influence he could have on young people in their respective countries. The destruction of the \u201crepublic of the outcasts of Lagos\u201d is therefore a blessing for some of them, but a real disaster for the rest of us. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:50px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"1000\" height=\"1000\" src=\"https:\/\/pan-african-music-production.fra1.digitaloceanspaces.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/Fela-Kuti-Sorrow-Tears-and-Blood-2.jpg\" alt=\"Fela Kuti Sorrow Tears and Blood\" class=\"wp-image-20724\" srcset=\"https:\/\/pan-african-music-production.fra1.digitaloceanspaces.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/Fela-Kuti-Sorrow-Tears-and-Blood-2.jpg 1000w, https:\/\/pan-african-music-production.fra1.digitaloceanspaces.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/Fela-Kuti-Sorrow-Tears-and-Blood-2-759x759.jpg 759w, https:\/\/pan-african-music-production.fra1.digitaloceanspaces.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/Fela-Kuti-Sorrow-Tears-and-Blood-2-100x100.jpg 100w, https:\/\/pan-african-music-production.fra1.digitaloceanspaces.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/Fela-Kuti-Sorrow-Tears-and-Blood-2-661x661.jpg 661w, https:\/\/pan-african-music-production.fra1.digitaloceanspaces.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/Fela-Kuti-Sorrow-Tears-and-Blood-2-465x465.jpg 465w, https:\/\/pan-african-music-production.fra1.digitaloceanspaces.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/Fela-Kuti-Sorrow-Tears-and-Blood-2-375x375.jpg 375w, https:\/\/pan-african-music-production.fra1.digitaloceanspaces.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/Fela-Kuti-Sorrow-Tears-and-Blood-2-200x200.jpg 200w, https:\/\/pan-african-music-production.fra1.digitaloceanspaces.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/Fela-Kuti-Sorrow-Tears-and-Blood-2-85x85.jpg 85w, https:\/\/pan-african-music-production.fra1.digitaloceanspaces.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/Fela-Kuti-Sorrow-Tears-and-Blood-2-73x73.jpg 73w\" sizes=\"(min-width:1010px) 759px,100vw\" loading=\"lazy\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:50px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<h5 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Epilogue: return from Nigeria, to bring back the good word of Fela, at the risk of my own life<\/strong><\/h5>\n\n\n\n<p>Meanwhile, I decide to make a pilgrimage to the ruins of Kalakuta and bring back to Cameroon a pile of LPs of <em>Sorrow Tears and Blood<\/em>. I obviously do not have a passport, and therefore no other choice but to leave Cameroon in clandestine, using a narrow canoe until Oron, a small port in southeastern Nigeria, another clandestine destination. The journey goes without a hitch, until Lagos.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>But on my way back, the travel from Oron is acrobatic. All the undocumented migrants have greased the smugglers\u2019 palms, who in turn have bribed the border police. We ship. Engine on! Let\u2019s go!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>There we are: forty \u201cillegal\u201d migrants perched on a mountain of various goods. An indescribable pile of bric-a-brac. The ocean suddenly rages. Huge waves rush into our precarious wooden craft. The boat is pitching. The starboard side rocks. The smugglers shout, <em>\u201cowona balance canoe!\u201d <\/em>Balance the canoe! Everyone crawls to port to straighten the bar. A wave as huge as a mountain eventually sweeps our efforts. <em>\u201cOwona balance canoe ooo!\u201d<\/em> Everyone to starboard! Tidal wave inside the hull. Imminent sinking. Panic is gaining ground on board&#8230;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Then an engine breaks down. No more light. A jet-black night envelops us. We have totally given over to the raging elements. And up there, not a single star to guide us. We are lost. The ocean roars. Thunder rumbles. A lightning bolt rips the sky. Successions of waves submerge the hull.<br><br>You can hear a few <em>\u201cAve Maria!\u201d<\/em> and <em>\u201cIn the name of Jesus!\u201d<\/em> among other <em>\u201cAllahu Akbar!\u201d<\/em>, spontaneous interjections that fear produces. Any \u201cinfidel\u201d immediately turn themselves into fervent believers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The makeshift craft is about to sink. I\u2019m not that keen to end up in the belly of a shark. We must do something other than pray, for goodness sake! I place my box of Fela\u2019s records behind me to protect them, and I start to throw other people\u2019s baggage into the sea so that it lightens the canoe. Who is the crazy one? Some protesting begins, but I do not care. Another passenger follows on my heels and starts to scoop the water off the canoe. The boat lightens and starts to regain its surface. It is then that a miracle occurs. A monumental wave carries the canoe and throws it onto Limb\u00e9\u2019s beach. I desperately cling to my record box. Victory! I am in Cameroon with the latest Fela album! <em>Sorrow Tears and Blood<\/em> arrived safely, and so did I. Not without fear, not without tears.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Binda Ngazolo, whose training owes a lot to Fela Anikulapo Kuti\u2019s albums, revisits the meaning and context of some of his most remarkable songs. In Fela\u2019s own words. Today, \u201cSorrow Tears and Blood\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":21,"featured_media":20747,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[10913,9373,9398],"tags":[58,3960],"location":[8172],"yst_prominent_words":[26071,26132,26136,26130,26137,26069,26064,26062,26070,26065,26135,26129,26139,26138,26133,26128,26140,26131,26127,26134],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/pan-african-music.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42009"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/pan-african-music.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/pan-african-music.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pan-african-music.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/21"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pan-african-music.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=42009"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/pan-african-music.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42009\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pan-african-music.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/20747"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/pan-african-music.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=42009"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pan-african-music.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=42009"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pan-african-music.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=42009"},{"taxonomy":"location","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pan-african-music.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/location?post=42009"},{"taxonomy":"yst_prominent_words","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pan-african-music.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/yst_prominent_words?post=42009"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}