Sure, sure, G-Dub and Lincoln receive the lion’s share of limelight today — a holiday in name only as people shake off hangovers and hit up department store sales. But in my chimerical version of reality, there is a yearly day off dedicated to Fela Kuti, the Black President and only man capable of balancing 30 wives at once. Even the so-called first Black President Billy Clint would be envious of that feat. Posting may be light today as I recover from a sojourn to the badlands of Arizona, home of the senator/Gila Monster that our current head of state turned into sulphur.
In honor of this new holiday, I’m posting “Sorrow Tears and Blood,” a song released on 1981’s Black President, and one that’s as resonant today as in the year of its release. With the Middle East in turmoil, the United States still embroiled in two endless wars, and Tyler Perry still the richest man in Atlanta, it’s a sobering reminder that life is more than just 30 percent off sales at Nordstrom’s. Which is all the reason why it’s important to transcend via a golden saxophone riff and the occasional kilo of igbo. May peace and expansive discounts be with you.
Download:
MP3: Fela Kuti-“Sorrow Tears & Blood”
