{"id":88081,"date":"2021-09-24T15:20:29","date_gmt":"2021-09-24T13:20:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pan-african-music.com\/afrique-lusophone-10-chansons-pour-la-fin-dun-empire-colonial\/"},"modified":"2021-09-24T15:25:39","modified_gmt":"2021-09-24T13:25:39","slug":"portuguese-speaking-africa-10-songs-for-the-end-of-a-colonial-empire","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pan-african-music.com\/en\/portuguese-speaking-africa-10-songs-for-the-end-of-a-colonial-empire\/","title":{"rendered":"Portuguese-speaking Africa: 10 songs for the end of a colonial empire"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The Carnation Revolution put an end to the dictatorship in Portugal and spelled the end of its colonial empire. From Cape Verde to Angola, Mozambique to Guinea-Bissau, we look back to the soundtrack of the years of liberation. The song selection is available on our playlist on <\/strong>Spotify<\/strong><\/a> and <\/strong>Deezer<\/strong><\/a>.<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

April 25, 1974: the Carnation Revolution puts an end to the 41-year Salazarist dictatorship in Portugal. The military coup d\u2019\u00e9tat also spelled the end of the Portuguese empire in Africa. By the time the events of April 25 took place, insurgent movements throughout Africa had exhausted the colonial troops, particularly in Guinea-Bissau, where the guerilla groups led by the PAIGC had liberated large areas of the country. Portuguese youths called upon to fight no longer wanted to die for an indefensible cause. It was in fact young officers who triggered the coup d\u2019\u00e9tat by broadcasting in the middle of the night the song and revolutionary anthem \u201cGr\u00e2ndola vila morena\u201d by Zeca Afonso. And music, in Africa as well, in Guinea-Bissau as in Cape Verde, Mozambique and Angola, amplified the people\u2019s hopes, gave voice to the freedom movements, and galvanized the resistance fighters.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The war against colonialism, through its enormous political and social impact, was the inspiration for numerous songs. Some were linked directly to the clashes or to the daily life of the insurgents, others to the life of simple citizens, in the spirit of \u201csaudade\u201d – the melancholy and longing for their country sung by exiles\u2026 All these songs carried critical messages (either hidden or explicitly) about colonization, the reign of terror of the fearsome PIDE (the Portuguese political police also present in the colonies) and the enforced cultural assimilation. All these messages, sung by artists thirsting for freedom who strove to reclaim their culture and their history, contributed to keeping hopes alive throughout the fifteen years of warfare, which finally came to an end with the Carnation Revolution. Here is a non-exhaustive selection of the songs that were the soundtrack to the decolonization process and the years immediately following it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Bonga<\/strong> – \u201cMona Ki Ngi Xi\u00e7a\u201d (Angola 72<\/em>, 1972) <\/h5>\n\n\n\n
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