David Heavenor: Music
FOR JOE SLOVO
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(Heavenor PRS/MCPS)
Inspired after seeing the film A World Apart about the white South African activist Joe Slovo who was exiled from his country during the apartheid regime. It coincided with an interview with him in The Guardian where I lifted the quote about Christians and Communists. After writing the song I wrote to the ANC in London who put me in touch with Shawn Slovo, his daughter who took out the CD to South Africa. In his letter he said:
Johannesberg 24 - 11 - 93
Dear David, I was very moved by your tribute to me in song, whether I deserve it or not is besides the point, but this gesture from far away makes one feel the worth of what one was trying to do. This son is back in his land and we've almost completed the final stages of our long, long journey. Sing on!
Yours in appreciation, Joe Slovo
See image bank for a copy of the original letter
FOR JOE SLOVO
When the man walked in we said welcome
The Fatherland had thrown another son into a foreign land
When the man sat down, tears glinted in the shadows
Now his children stare at photographs,
A woman walks into an empty room
When the man stood up, he said 'Remember this
Only trust a good Christian or a good Communist
But now my life becomes a hall of mirrors
For my words are full of violence
But in my heart I am a peaceful man
So let me take you there
To Tambo's dream,
Mandela's hope
Sisulu's street
The buildings that we burned
Lay down a bed of ashes for our children's feet
When the man walked out, we heard the sound of thunder raging
A comet sped across False Bay, the sea returned a million lights
And the blood of Christ fell from a black child's temple
And the names of slums were famous
Before a watching world