Since world governments are entering into some purely metaphysical states, that are essentially exposing our modern world for the illusion it is, I thought it would be refreshing to take a look back at how an outsider from the process saw all this, some decades ago, Fela Kuti.

Government magic indeed. Debt magic. Credit card magic. Bond magic. Corporate magic. Isn’t it time to start looking for the wizard behind the curtain, pull them back a bit, and expose him for who he really is?

This is (youtube version) the verse that made me think a bit:

Chorus: Government magic.
Fela: dem go da baru (borrow) everything;
Chorus: Government magic.
Fela: dem go turn green into white
Chorus: Government magic.

Indeed… dem dey baru everything… but who is lending?

Or this, from Authority Stealing:

Armed robber him need gun
Authority man him need pen
Authority man in charge of money
Him no need gun, him need pen
Pen got power gun no get
If gun steal eighty thousand naira
Pen go steal two billion naira

Are we actually different at this stage? Borrowing from our futures to pay off bankers who are receiving record bonuses almost yearly? Time to switch magics, there are better ways forward, a magic that benefits only the magician is not a good magic, go back as far as you want, the only worthwhile magics benefit the community.

Unknown Soldier

— Fela Anikulapo Kuti

Fela: Make you no go when you hear.
Just wait there, make I tell you something

Chorus: Fela you go come again

Fela: I never come again. I stay for far away.
Make you wait till I reach where I dey go

Chorus: where you dey go? (3 times)
Fela: Make I reach.

Chorus: where you dey go? (2 times)
Fela: don’t ask me

Chorus: where you dey go? (2 times)
Fela: Wait and see.

Fela: I say… This thing wey happened, happened for my country.
Nah big-big thing, first time in the whole world.
If you hear the name, you go know.
Goverment magic.
Tell me the name now:

Chorus: Government magic.
Fela: dem go da baru everything;
Chorus: Government magic.
Fela: dem go turn green into white
Chorus: Government magic.
Fela: dem dey turn red into blue
Chorus: Government magic.
Fela: Water dey go water dey come ( 2 times)
Chorus: Government magic.
Fela: dem dey turn electric to candle (2 times)
Chorus: Government magic.
Fela: Goverment magic
Chorus: Government magic.

Fela: I say I dey come… small, small

Fela: Look oh! Look oh!
Chorus: Left, right, left, right…

Fela: one thousand soldiers, dem dey come,
Chorus: Left, right, left, right…

Fela: People dey wonder, they wonder, they wonder
Chorus: Left, right, left, right…

Fela: where these one thousand soldiers dey go ?
Chorus: Left, right, left, right…

Fela: Look oh! Look oh!
Chorus: Left, right, left, right…

Fela: Na, Fela’s house: Kalakuta,
Chorus: Left, right, left, right…

Fela: Dem reach the place, dey wait
Chorus: Left, right, left, right…

Fela: Dem dey wait for
Chorus: order
Fela: Yessir

Chorus: Left, right, left, right…

Fela: then sudden this place kwan-kwan, dem they wait
Chorus: Left, right, left, right…

Fela: With dem helmet and them guns and them petrol, and them matches
Chorus: Left, right, left, right…

Fela: Then again.
Chorus: Suddenly

Fela: Fela dey for house, Beko dey there too, dem mama dey too, beautiful people dey there too, frenchman dey there too, press man dey there too, 150 of us dey there too. Then suddenly, suddenly, suddenly..

Chorus: chuku-chuku-chuku, nyema-nyema-nyema, chiggi-chiggi-chiggi

Fela: yes, dem they rape,
Chorus: chuku-chuku-chuku, nyema-nyema-nyema, chiggi-chiggi-chiggi

Fela: yes, dem they steal
Chorus: chuku-chuku-chuku

Fela: yes, dem they loot
Chorus: chuku-chuku-chuku,

Fela: yes, dem they fight
Chorus: nyema-nyema-nyema

Fela: yes, some of the women dey rape, yes they fight, yes by force, yes dem they burn, yes dem they burn, yes dem comeout one student’s eye, yes dem break some-some head, dem break some-some head

Fela: dem throw my mama, 78 year old mama, political mama,
Chorus: chuku-chuku-chuku, nyema-nyema-nyema,

Fela: political mama, ideological mama, inflationary mama, ideological mama, political mama, influential mama

Chorus: chuku-chuku-chuku, nyema-nyema-nyema, chiggi-chiggi-chiggi

Fela: dem throw my mama out of for window

Fela: dem kill my mama. dem kill my mama, dem kill my mama, dem kill my mama, dem kill my mama !

Fela: dem carry everybody. dem carry everybody go inside jail.

Fela: Everybody dey inside jail. We dey wait. 27 days. Them lock us.

Press dey shout.
Radio dey ring.
People dey talk:

“Them go burn Fela house.
Wetin dis Fela do?
Dis goverment, he bad-oh.
Wetin dis Fela do?
Fela talk about soldiers flooding civilians for streets.
Fela talk about government wasting money for festival.
Wetin dis Fela do?
Dis goverment he bad-oh.”

People start to talk-o
government start to shake-o

Then suddenly. Suddenly. Suddenly…

Government bring instruments of magic.
Dem bring enquiry
Dem bring two man: one soldier, one justice
The name of justice: Mr What justice.
The other justice: Major Injustice.

Dem start magic: Dem seize my house. wey they there born. Dem seize my land, dem drive all the people wey live in area: two thousand citizens, dem make them all homeless now .

Dem start magic, Dem start magic.
dem bring flame, dem bring hat, dem bring rabbit, dem conjure, dem bring smoke, dem they fall, dem conjure, spirit catch them. Dem they say:

Chorus: Unknown Soldier
Fela: 921
Chorus: Unknown Soldier
Fela: Government Magic
Chorus: Unknown Soldier

Fela: I get some information for you (2 times)
Chorus: Unknown Soldier

Fela: That my mother wey you kill,
Chorus: Unknown Soldier
Fela: She fought for universal suffrage
Chorus: Unknown Soldier
Fela: That my mother wey you kill,
Chorus: Unknown Soldier
Fela: She fought for universal adult suffrage
Fela: That my mother wey you kill,
Chorus: Unknown Soldier
Fela: She’s the only mother for this country
Fela: That my mother wey you kill,
Chorus: Unknown Soldier
Fela: She’s the only mother for Nigeria
Chorus: Unknown Soldier

Fela: Which kind of injustice is this?
Chorus: Unknown Soldier
Fela: wetin kind government inside? If na Unknown Soldier
Chorus: Unknown Soldier
Fela: I said, wetin concerned government inside?
Chorus: Unknown Soldier
Fela: If na Unknown Soldier
Chorus: Unknown Soldier
Fela: we get unknown police,
Chorus: Unknown Soldier
Fela: we get unknown soldier
Chorus: Unknown Soldier
Fela: we get unknown civilian
Chorus: Unknown Soldier
Fela: or is it part of unknown government?
Fela: we get unknown police, dem kill nice student
Chorus: Unknown Soldier
Fela: we get unknown civilian, dem go kill 2 soldiers
Chorus: Unknown Soldier

Fela: we get unknown soldier
Chorus: Unknown Soldier

Fela: I say unknown police and then unknown soldier and then unknown civilian or is it part of unknown government?

Fela: them turn green into red,
Chorus: Unknown Soldier

Fela: them turn blue into white
Chorus: Unknown Soldier

Unknown Soldier

Or how about Authority Stealing (youtube version?

AUTHORITY STEALING

[Chorus]
Authority stealing!
You be thief (I no be thief)
You be rogue (I no be rogue)
You dey steal (I no dey steal)
You be robber (I no be robber)You be armed robber (No be armed robber)
I no be thief (You be thief)
I no be rogue (You be rogue)
I no dey steal (You dey steal)
I no be robber (You be robber)
I no be armed robber (You be armed robber)
[Chorus]
Argument, argument!
Argument, argument, argue
Them argue
Everbody dem argue
Them dem dem argue
Up and down them argue
Everbody dem argue
Them dem dem dem argue
Yes yes, them argue
Everbody dem argue
Argument about stealing
Somebody don take something
Wey belong to another person
Then you go hear:
You be thief (I no be thief)…
On top of the road, on the side
People dey waka
Office workers, labourer workers, workers’ workers
Them go dey waka
Inside bus them go dey
Motorcycle them dey ride
Plenty, plenty crowd
Inside this crowd
Sometimes for one corner
Sometimes for one street
You go dey hear: ha ha!
[Chorus]
Thief, thief, thief!
Rogue, rogue, rogue!
Robber, robber!
Catch am, catch am! Thief, thief, thief!
Catch am, catch am! Rogue, rogue, rogue!
Catch am, catch am! Robber, robber!
Catch am
Pull am
Get am
Keep am
Ole…
[Chorus]
Catch am, catch am!
Looking go start
Watching go start
Chasing go start
Somebody go dey
Wey them go grab
Them go beat am well-well
Them go lynch am well-well
Police go come well-well
Them go carry am go court
Them go put am for jail
Them fit put am six months
(Them go put am for one year)
Them fit put am two years
(Them go put am for five years)
Them fit put am seven years
(Them go put am for ten years)
If not them go shoot am well
Them go shoot am for armed robbery
On top of the road, on the side
People dey waka
Office workers, labourer workers, workers’ workers
Them go dey try
To try to make ends meet
Them go dey hustle
To try to make ends meet
Them go put hands for back
To try to make ends meet
Them go dey beg oga
To try to make ends meet
Them go be slaves for them town
To try to make ends meet
I say turn your face small
To the right wing
Oga patapata dey for there
Authority people dey for there
Instead of workers
We have officials
Instead of buses
Them dey ride motor-car
Instead of motorcycle
Na helicopter
Instead of them waka
Na worker go waka for them
Authority people them go dey steal
Public contribute plenty money
Na authority people dey steal
Authority man no dey pickpocket
Na petty cash him go dey pick
Armed robber him need gun
Authority man him need pen
Authority man in charge of money
Him no need gun, him need pen
Pen got power gun no get
If gun steal eighty thousand naira
Pen go steal two billion naira
[Chorus]
Thief, thief thief!
Rogue, rogue, rogue!
Robber, robber!
You no go hear them shout
You no go hear them shout at all
You no go hear them say
You no go hear them say response at all
Na different way be them way
Na civilize style be them style
[Chorus]
Yes, yes, yes, yes!
“Oh yes, of course, contract, have some money back in hand, ha ha”
Hear the words them dey take deceive the people:
Misappropriation
Maladministration
Nepotism
Mitigation
Make I remember another one wey them dey use
Defraudment
Forgerylization
Embezzlement
Vilification
Mismanagement
Public inquiry
Authority stealing pass armed robbery
We Africans we must do something about this nonsense
We say we must do something about this nonsense
I repeat, we Africans we must do something about this nonsense
Because now authority stealing pass armed robbery
Authority man him go dey steal
Public contribute plenty money…
[Chorus]
Authority stealing!

This entry was posted on Friday, May 14th, 2010 at 11:34 and is filed under Reflections. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.