Mandela Day by Simple minds in remembrance

In remembrance of Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela – Madiba who passed away this video with a song by the rock band Simple Minds from their album Street Fighting Years.

Simple Minds was the first band to sign up for Mandela Day, a concert held at Wembley Stadium, London, UK, on the 11th of June 1988, as an expression of solidarity with the then-imprisoned Nelson Mandela. Bands involved were asked to produce a song especially for the event – Simple Minds was the only act which actually produced one.

It was played live on that day (alongside cover versions of “Sun City” with Little Steven and a cover version of Peter Gabriel’s “Biko” on which Gabriel himself took on lead vocals).

***

***

*

It was 25 years they take that man away
 Now the freedom moves in closer every day
 Wipe the tears down from your saddened eyes
 They say Mandela’s free so step outside
 Oh oh oh oh Mandela day
 Oh oh oh oh Mandela’s free

It was 25 years ago this very day
 Held behind four walls all through night and day
 Still the children know the story of that man
 And I know what’s going on right through your land

25 years ago
 Na na na na Mandela day
 Oh oh oh Mandela’s free

If the tears are flowing wipe them from your face
 I can feel his heartbeat moving deep inside
 It was 25 years they took that man away
 And now the world come down say Nelson Mandela’s free

Oh oh oh oh Mandela’s free

The rising suns sets Mandela on his way
 Its been 25 years around this very day
 From the one outside to the ones inside we say
 Oh oh oh oh Mandela’s free
 Oh oh oh set Mandela free

Na na na na Mandela day
 Na na na na Mandela’s free

25 years ago
 What’s going on
 And we know what’s going on
 Cos we know what’s going on

*

+++

Related articles

• The day I met Mandela (thetimes.co.uk)
  I got to Johannesburg a week before Nelson Mandela was freed. At the door of my hotel a man offered to clean my shoes. I’d photographed anti-apartheid demonstrations in London and felt embarrassed at the thought of a black man cleaning my shoes.
• Nelson Mandela: national day of prayer for country’s ‘guiding light’ (theguardian.com)
  South Africans pack places of worship on day marking beginning of week-long goodbye to country’s first black president South Africans have flocked to churches for a national day of prayer to remember Nelson Mandela and pray for the country’s future, following the death of South Africa’s first black president on Thursday.
• What Mandela meant to me… (politicsatwarwick.net)
  Mandela was an internationalist and the links that he made between different struggles against injustice across the world shows that. In the outpouring of grief across the world at the passing of Mandela, he has often been spoken of as a saint – Indians already have their own saint in Gandhi, so the tributes in India have often made comparisons between the two men. Gandhi started his struggle against racism and un-freedom in South Africa, where many Indians (coloureds) joined the anti-apartheid struggle under the leadership of the ANC. Mandela was aware of this history when he said, “There has been a golden thread that has bound our peoples together for many, many decades – a thread woven during the long, arduous and bitter years of struggle against common enemies: racism, imperialism and colonialism” (Mainstream, New Delhi, June 18, 1994). Both Gandhi and Mandela faced the same dilemma – how does a leader lead a movement into a government. Gandhi (murdered in 1948) didn’t have to struggle with this for long, but Mandela did – not always well either, but always honestly and with the interests of the whole of South Africa at heart. A post-colonial history of both India and South Africa is entwined and leads also to the UK, where the outpouring of accolade and grief has been great, and where I have been a grief stricken bystander during these days of personal reflection of the passing of one the truly great personages of our time.
• A Lesson From Nelson Mandela/ Martin Rosenfeld, JD (njmediator.wordpress.com)
  Deroy Murdock wrote a piece on Nelson Mandela for National Review Online. He acknowledges a mistake in judgment. Mr. Murdock had rued the release of Mr. Mandela, from his 27-year imprisonment. Perhaps Mr. Mandela was yet another Fidel Castro in the offing. Such thoughts entered Mr. Murdock’s mind at that moment in history. Mr. Murdock now can state “I really blew it very, very, very badly.”
  +
  Nelson Mandela recognized that a lack of forgiveness hurts all. That includes the victim himself. When it is time to move on, a continued insistence on recounting past hurts makes life quite burdensome and too challenging. If you were hurt, whether it be in business, marital matters, socially, etc. recognize what Mr. Mandela taught. If you must take revenge doing it by moving on and seeking new accomplishments. That is all that Mr. Mandela needed to start him on his way to becoming on of the most beloved statesmen in our time.
• | Mandela: “It always seems impossible until it is done.” (truthaholics.wordpress.com)
  Inspired by Mandela’s vision, climate activists made a video last June during the Global Power Shift convergence coordinated by our 350.org crew.
  +
  As a South African, I am filled with an overwhelming appreciation for a man that gave my country so much — freedom, love, compassion, empathy, graciousness and of course, himself. His selfless determination is what we remember this great soul by, and we will continue to keep him very close to our hearts.
• The Special A.K.A.: “Free Nelson Mandela” (covermeimpressed.com)
  On a lighter note Billy Bragg had a great quote regarding Nelson Mandela. During one of his concerts I attended in the 1980’s someone, probably/hopefully in jest, yelled “Free Bird!” Without missing a beat Bragg smiled and said, “You always know you’re in the States when, invariably, someone yells ‘Free Bird’ … everywhere else in the world that I play people yell ‘Free Mandela’”.
• The death of Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela (middlepassagementor.com)
  Nelson Mandela started out as a boxer and ended up a leader of a country. I guess being a boxer taught him how to fight literally and figuratively. As a young black man you will have to face and navigate your own challenges with the same calculated deliberate movements. Much like other black leaders, like President Barack Obama and Reverend Dr. Martin L. King, Jr. you will face and endure discrimination, at some moments it will be obvious but most times it will be an underlying opposition. As a black man you will have to be 3 times better to compete in a subjective world where certain biases are not in your favor. You have to be more prepared, more determined, and always ready. You will receive an extra helping of scrutiny and criticism at every turn.  I wish I could say something softer, nicer to make you feel comfortable but this is the world we live in. It doesn’t mean that you can’t succeed, it means that you must be better than the pack. You can change the world by just trying to make a difference. To even comprehend what Nelson Mandela was to the world, you have to recognize the world for what it is and make it better. Nelson Mandela had to surmount huge obstacles in a world that continuously opposed him. He will always be an icon of leadership and hope, a representative of peace to the entire world.
• Nelson Mandela dies: the story behind his 70th birthday concert (telegraph.co.uk)

  In 1987, I met with Archbishop Trevor Huddleston, President of the Anti Apartheid Movement in Britain, and told him that I thought that they and the ANC had reached a glass ceiling in their communications.

  In my view, the way they were presented to the public – as protesters in the street – could only appeal to a small percentage of the world’s population. If they were to appeal more broadly we had to reposition them as positive and confident.

• The huge role of music in Nelson Mandela’s struggle for freedom (irishtimes.com)
  In his autobiography, Long Walk To Freedom, Nelson Mandela wrote “I am told that when ‘Free Nelson Mandela’ posters went up in London, most young people thought my Christian name was: ‘Free’.”

  Up until 1984, Mandela’s name was not widely known outside of political activist circles. That all changed though with the release of a hit single, Free Nelson Mandela, which climbed to the top of the charts in countries around the world.

  The song’s writer, Jerry Dammers of The Specials ska group, didn’t know who Nelson Mandela was until he went to a concert in 1983 by South African musician Hugh Masekela. He heard Masekela shout out “Free Mandela” at the end of his set.

• Remembering an icon in Nelson Mandela (fiwebelize.com)
  Every Generation has one or more light houses to guide them the ups and downs. Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela – Madiba was one of those lighthouses in more ways than one; in fact, we can say he was one of the few that towered above the others to bring mankind into a new era of being.
• Nelson Mandela has passed away peacefully at the age of 95. (asterisk15.wordpress.com)
• Nelson Mandela (kitsapregionallibrary.wordpress.com)
• Vale Nelson Mandela (iainhall.wordpress.com)
• Nelson Mandela Resources (simonhaughton.co.uk)