Prisoner by Lucky Dube

1059 Words3 Pages

Perhaps the most influential revolutionary artist in Africa, Lucky Dube born Luckey Phillip Dube, was born in August 3rd 1964 in Ermelo a small town in Mpumalanga South Africa. He was named Luckey by his mother after several failed pregnancies. As a child, Dube worked as a Gardener and made little money to support his family. Realizing that, he decided to join school whereby he joined a choir. While at school he formed a music group which he named The Skyway Band. At age 18, he joined his cousin?s band, The Love Brothers, which played Zulu pop music Mbaqanga. Dube, then started to learn English, and at the same time got involved in singing and writing too. Their resultant album was released under the name Lucky Dube and the Supersoul.

While at school he got acquainted with the Rastafarian movement and decided to shift his style to the reggae beat. His first reggae album was a failure with few sales. However, he was not discouraged, nevertheless he decided drop the Supersoul element in his name and was now just called Luckey Dube. He also began to include social political messages in his music which was relevant to the South African audience which was an institutionally racist society. His second reggae Album ?think about the children? achieved platinum sales and attracted attention outside his country. Dube continued to release successful albums including the 1989 ?prisoner? which won four awards. The song prisoner is one of my personal favorites. I like it for its soothing and danceable beats and also its positive message.

Prisoner is introduced with high pitched fast drum beat, and then brings in a French horn with a repetitive blues melody coupled with a high pitched guitar and piano. The piano and the guitar model the rhyt...

... middle of paper ...

...is that it falls in a context that to some degree can be accepted across all the cultural divides in the world.

Prisoner is one of the most popular of all reggae songs in Africa as well as across the world. The reasons are several and understandable. The song is extremely tuneful, opulently and colorfully scored emotional passion with a sad feeling. Undoubtedly the emotional temperature of the song is depicted by Dubes? sad story. Dube was affiliated by the oppressive regime in his country to an extent that his music was banned. In real-life Dube was neurotic and deeply sensitive, and came a long way in his music career to a genius that created some of the most beautiful music of all time. Though he was robbed of his life on 21st Oct 2007 through brutal killing his work and participation as an agent of change still remains alive. May his soul rest in eternal peace!

More about Prisoner by Lucky Dube

Open Document