Story of Epic Tune “Zombie”
Zombie is a studio album by Nigerian Afrobeat musician Fela Kuti. It was released in Nigeria by Coconut Records in 1976, and in the United Kingdom by Creole Records in 1977.
The album was a scathing attack on the Nigerian government and soldiers using the zombie metaphor to describe the methods of the Nigerian military. The album was a smash hit with the people and infuriated the government, setting off a vicious attack against the Kalakuta Republic (a commune that Fela had established in Nigeria), during which one thousand soldiers attacked the commune. Kuti was severely beaten, and his elderly 77 year-old mother was thrown from a window, causing fatal injuries. The Kalakuta Republic was burned, and Kuti's studio, instruments, and master tapes were destroyed. Kuti claimed that he would have been killed if it were not for the intervention of a commanding officer as he was being beaten. Kuti's response to the attack was to deliver his mother's coffin to the main army barrack in Lagos and write two songs, "Coffin for Head of State" and "Unknown Soldier", referencing the official inquiry that claimed the commune had been destroyed by an unknown soldier.
The sacking of Kalakuta was not, of course, brought about only by Zombie, but in the tension then existing between Fela and the military, it raised the temperature to boiling point.
On the Zombie itself, over an urgent, quick-march accompaniment from Africa 70, Fela and the backup singers ridicule the mindset of men in uniform. “Attention! Quick march! Slow march! Salute!” signs Fela, “Fall in! Fall out! Fall down! Go and Kill! Go and die! Go and quench!” Each phrase is followed by the women signers taunting response, “Zombie!”.
Fela continues: “No brains, no job, no sense, joro jara joro (meaning: no brains, no job, no sense, left right left; tell him to go kill left right left; tell him to go die left right left).
For the army, Fela’s lyrics were the final insult, direct attack on it’s pride and prestige, and probably more wounding for the fact that it was being made to look foolish, in part, by women. Worse still, Zombie was a hit across Africa, adding an international dimension to the insult.
Source:
wikipedia.org
afrobeatdrumming.com
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