When You Came Back Analysis

The music of the oppressed in South Africa is the main reason for apartheid’s fall. It allowed a community to gather in their suffering and express their injustice through song. Without the voice of the indigenous community, South Africa would be stuck in times of segregation and racial injustice. Native South African’s resistance movement, showed the strength and power that can be found through the use of music. Starting in 1948, South Africa was experiencing extreme racial tension. The tension reached a peaking point when the National Party, an all-white government, enforced a form of racial segregation called apartheid. Hendrik Verwoerd was the head of the National Party and considered the father of apartheid (Amandla!). Verwoerd signed

Each with varying characteristics, but all still linked back to the times of apartheid and resistance. ”When You Come Back”, by Vusi Mahlasela, is a fast tempo, upbeat song. The most notable element of this piece is the acoustic guitar leading the song. Because a chord is leading the vocals, “When You Came Back” is a homophonic piece. The voice is monophonic throughout the majority of the song, but once it reaches the refrain, many different melodies join in making it polyphonic. Although this song was not performed in the movie, it could be defined as a call-and-response when performed. This is because of the lyrics “Sing now Africa, Sing loud, sing to the people”. When Mahlasela voices these lyrics, he does it in a half spoken, half sung manner, almost asking people to join. Also, because this song was about Africa coming together and fighting against injustice, it can be imagined that people would want to join in this song to represent strength in unity. After Amandla moves into the story line of apartheid, the song “Meadowlands” is introduced and performed. “Meadowlands”, a song by Nancy Jacobs, was performed during Amandla when Jacobs was discussing the relocation of her town and people to the Meadowlands. This piece was performed alone during the interview, but originally was recorded with Jacobs and Her Sisters, all singing the same melody. Their voices all together were monophonic since they did not vary melodically. This

Music included instruments and voices of the indigenous people, the ones being persecuted in their own nation. This is where protest music in the United States and South Africa overlap. Their protest music came from those oppressed and their unique sounds. For example, the most well-known era of protest music in the United States, the Vietnam War. This era was full of rock and roll music intended for protests and revolutions. Rock and roll was the native voice of the generation speaking against the Vietnam War. Artists like Bob Seger, Buffalo Springfield, and Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young set the form of music that defined the Vietnam War resistance movement (Bindas). These were the native voices of the generation responsible for the uprising and revolution during the Vietnam War. Another overlap is the specific use of music when protesting. Both the United States and South Africa used music as a tool to show the world the strength and unification of their protest and people. As Arlo Guthrie said, “If ya wanna end war and stuff, ya gotta sing loud” (Auslander). Both protestors used music to scream to the people of their joint fight in furthering the resistance movement to their met goal, whether it was the fall of apartheid or the end of the Vietnam War. Although South Africa and the United States share the use of a native voice in their protest music, they