How a Cover Song Fueled Two Revolutions

0:00 What does protest sound like?

0:07 In the 60s and 70s, about 7,000 miles apart,

0:10 two fights for black liberation were creating that very sound.

0:14 From South Africans standing up against apartheid

0:16 to Americans standing up to segregation and discrimination.

0:19 But there was one song that helped to inspire

0:23 both fights and connect these movements under one voice.

0:29 I Shall be Released.

0:31 How did a Bob Dylan song that didn't even crack

0:36 the top 40 become a rallying cry for two movements oceans apart?

0:41 It all starts with Miriam Makeba, Nina Simone,

0:45 and Bob Dylan working their magic in Greenwich Village in 1967.

0:52 Have you heard this viral Tik Tok sound?

0:58 You might not know it's about Miriam Makeba,

1:01 one of the pioneers of the World Music genre.

1:04 Music that includes a variety of different sounds from around the world.

1:11 Makeba's music brought African sounds like the Afro-pop

1:13 hit Pata Pata to the global stage, earning her the nickname Mama Africa.

1:23 I got a chance to speak with Brendon Adams.

1:25 What up?

1:25 What up?

1:26 The director of South African choral group 29:11

1:28 about the importance of Makeba and her music.

1:33 Pa is a song that she wrote during the time of apartheid.

1:38 It's also a sound of freedom.

1:40 It's a happy song which simply means to move.

1:44 Touch Touch Pata Pata.

1:46 But her music was doing more than just making people dance.

1:52 Makeba was also deeply involved in the South African anti-apartheid movement.

1:57 Thousands gather outside a police station in protest against new

2:01 laws requiring every African to carry a pass at all times.

2:05 Apartheid was the racial segregation of South Africa

2:07 with its racial designations determining where one could work,

2:11 live, and go to school.

2:12 This also included the white government's forced

2:15 removal of Black South Africans from their homes,

2:18 denying their ability to vote in elections

2:20 and brutally enforcing these laws on the street.

2:23 Even though Makeba stated, "What I sing is not politics.

2:26 It's the truth." The truth was political,

2:29 drawing the ire of the apartheid government.

2:31 That's a dance that's used as a weapon.

2:34 The apartheid government didn't like those type of things.

2:38 With her global touring, Makeba's popularity would lead to an increase

2:42 in awareness of the anti-apartheid movement.

2:44 Like in this performance from 1966:

2:46 They see police cars coming to raid their homes for one thing or another.

2:51 When she tried to return to South Africa for her mother's funeral,

2:55 she was denied entry and would not be allowed back for 30 years.

2:59 Exiled in the US during the 60s,

3:02 her music connected her with other artists and activists

3:05 whose music was deeply entwined with political activism.

3:07 From that New York music scene,

3:09 a song would emerge that would capture for many the tone of the era.

3:14 I shall be released, written by Bob Dylan in 1967,

3:17 was released by The Band the following year.

3:20 I shall be released.

3:23 It struck a chord with many musicians including Makeba saying,

3:29 "I decided I would try to sing it, too.

3:31 I was afraid because after all, he was a big star.

3:34 I can try to sing it my way with my own little accent.

3:42 Any day now, I shall be released." In doing so,

3:48 Makeba would put her name alongside some of the biggest in music.

3:52 I Shall Be Released became a popular cover

3:54 song for some of the country's most famous acts.

3:57 From Big Mama Thornton, to Elvis himself, I shall be released.

4:05 I shall be released.

4:09 I shall be released.

4:13 I shall be released.

4:15 I shall be released.

4:17 I Shall Be Released resonated widely for the way

4:21 it could be understood both literally and metaphorically.

4:24 Its plain spoken lyrics spoke to a nation who despite being segregated could

4:29 connect on a human level with the feelings of being stuck and seeking release.

4:34 That message would also resonate with Nina Simone.

4:37 One night in Paris, Simone heard Makeba sing

4:40 the song and said she had to sing it, too.

4:44 Last night, Miss Makeba and her group did this song and we

4:47 have to do it again tonight because it's a great song.

4:49 It's called I Shall Be Released.

4:51 Simone, like Makeba,

4:52 was no stranger to the struggle and using music as an avenue for protest.

4:58 In 1964, she had released Mississippi Goddam,

5:01 a powerful statement against the violence happening in the South.

5:07 Everybody knows about Mississippi.

5:10 Simone's version of I Shall Be Released moved with a languor of the blues,

5:14 firmly rooting it in black American musical traditions.

5:18 Her singing was a blend of sorrow and strength.

5:24 Any day now, any day now, I shall be released.

5:30 In contrast to Makeba's version, which is sung with a smile you can hear.

5:40 Any day now, any day now, I shall be released.

5:47 What are some of the characteristics of South African

5:53 music or what is the uh South Africa sound like?

5:56 It's a happy sound.

5:57 You can hear that it's a deep sound that comes from a place of hurt,

6:03 but people turn it into happiness.

6:05 But while these versions differ slightly in their delivery,

6:09 the song itself carries with it a common ancestry.

6:12 Like much of Dylan's music, the song pulls from the Black folk traditions.

6:16 The gentle sway of its groove with the guitar and harmonica,

6:20 beginning with a lone, mournful voice.

6:23 They say every man must need protection.

6:28 I run to the camp and tell my brother Bill.

6:32 Makeba's version of this folk song, like most resistance music at the time,

6:37 would be banned by the South African government.

6:40 But that wouldn't stop it from making an impact.

6:43 Makeba's version would play alongside other band music

6:46 on the illegal pirate radio station, Radio Freedom.

6:49 In both countries, we used our voices when our people got murdered and killed.

6:55 And even then, they used so much peace.

7:00 Their fight was their voices and their march.

7:05 Music played a powerful role in both

7:08 the US civil rights and South African anti-apartheid movements.

7:12 It allowed resistance to persist in everyday spaces.

7:15 For Black South Africans,

7:17 the tradition of collective singing is woven into the cultural fabric.

7:21 And during the struggle,

7:22 it accompanied every occasion from political triumphs to funerals.

7:26 Some of these songs had their roots

7:30 in gospel coral and native South African traditions.

7:35 Songs had potent slogans like Nkosi Sikelel' iAfrika, God bless Africa.

7:40 They would be sung repeatedly in call-in response patterns.

7:50 Likewise, the civil rights movement dubbed the singing

7:54 movement adopted the same gospel hymn tenor.

7:57 Like the anti-apartheid struggle,

7:59 they frequently adapted spiritual songs to reflect

8:02 their struggles with hopes of renewal.

8:04 Songs like we shall overcome would carry at once

8:08 the sorrow of a lament and the strength of defiance.

8:19 I think that when you're in exile, you're in exile.

8:24 Whether whether famous or not, exile is painful.

8:28 Makeba continued to lobby across the globe for the liberation of her people.

8:34 In 1990, the system of apartheid was on its last legs.

8:38 Nelson Mandela was freed and after 30 years,

8:41 Makeba was finally able to return home.

8:43 It is at this moment that she returns to the song.

8:47 This time joined with Simone.

8:51 The song had come full circle.

8:55 Any day now, anywhere now, I shall be.

9:00 This was the fullest version of the song,

9:04 the version that feels triumphant, pulling in the most South African influence.

9:13 She blended it with the South African hymn Thulasizwe.

9:20 Thulasizwe roughly translates to hush nation.

9:25 Thulasizwe.

9:25 Let's not scream.

9:28 Our silence is volume.

9:30 You're not what they say.

9:31 You're not.

9:32 Yeah.

9:32 Yeah.

9:33 You know, our silence is volume.

9:35 Makeba would say of this final rendition of the song,

9:38 "We were bringing two worlds together,

9:41 South Africa and the United States, both music and artists.

9:45 In that Nina Simone was also singing it with me."