Today we celebrate Eddy Grant. This politically-grounded songwriter had his first #1 UK hit in 1968 as performer and songwriter for the group The Equals, with his song “Baby Come Back“. It is worth a listen if you are a Grant fan, because it is highly unlikely that you have heard it.
But today, we focus on two Grant protest tunes, one which most have undoubtedly heard, and another that most Americans have probably not heard before.
First, the most likely unheard “Gimme Hope Jo’anna“. During the apartheid regime, “Jo’anna” meant Johannesburg. So the song is about the apartheid regime in South Africa, and was subsequently banned there. It is unusual to portray an evil regime as a woman. The play on the name of Johannesburg, the upbeat, happy sounding tune make this a rare protest song. Here is Eddy Grant doing “Gimme Hope Jo’anna” live in London in 2008 celebrating Nelson Mandela’s birthday accompanied by an undistinguished Kurt Darren, a South African music personality:
Sample Lyrics:
Well Jo’anna she runs a country
She runs in Durban and the Transvaal
She makes a few of her people happy, oh
She don’t care about the rest at all
She’s got a system they call apartheid
It keeps a brother in a subjection
But maybe pressure will make Jo’anna see
How everybody could a live as one
Next, the song most have heard, “Electric Avenue”. The song’s lyrics refer to the 1981 Brixton riot in London, the title referring to Electric Avenue, a street in the Brixton area of London. Here is “Electric Avenue”:
Sample Lyrics:
Now in the street, there is violence
And-and a lots of work to be done
No place to hang out our washing
And-and I can’t blame all on the sun
Despite that fact that you can dance to them, Grant’s songs are pointed criticism of the racial politics of the 1980’s.
See you on Sunday.
