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Biography
According to a biography published on the BBC, Miriam Makeba, who was popularly known as Mama Africa, was
born in Johannesburg on 4 March 1932 and was a prominent figure in the struggle against apartheid.
Her singing career started in the 1950s, when she began mixing jazz with traditional South African songs. She came
to international attention in 1959 during a tour of the United States with the South African group The Manhattan
Brothers.
She was forced into exile soon after when her passport was revoked, after starring in an anti-apartheid documentary,
and did not return to her native country until Nelson Mandela was released from prison.
Miriam Makeba was the first black African woman to win a Grammy Award, which she shared with Harry
Belafonte in 1965. She was African music’s first world star, blending different styles long before the phrase “world
music” was coined.
After her divorce from fellow South African musician Hugh Masekela, she married American civil rights activist
Stokely Carmichael.
It was while living in exile in the US that she released her most famous songs, “Pata, Pata” and “The Click Song.”
It was because of her dedication to her home continent that Miriam Makeba became known as Mama Africa.
In 1987 she appeared on Paul Simon’s Graceland tour and in 1992 she had a leading role in the film Sarafina!
Africa mourns the death of a legend.
When the sun sets,
and the cattle come back
I think of you.
The sun sets and the moon rises
on the horizon of the sea.
When the birds come back
and the sun sets.
And I went looking for you
I love my baby even if he drinks too much.
I love him, I love him.
He left home to go to Cape Town
There he met his ruin.
I love my baby even if he drinks too much.
My baby is my baby
and I like him even if he drinks too much.
Don't say a word, Mother.
Lakutshon llanga sung by Miriam Makeba
in the houses and streets
and even in the hospitals and jails.
I will look for you until I find you.
When the sun sets
and the cattle come back,
I think about you.
When the sun sets.
Into Yam sung by Miriam Makeba
He's my baby. He's my baby.
He was fine when he left Johannesburg
but when he got to Cape Town he met his ruin.
He's my baby even though he drinks too much.
He's the one I love. He works for me.
Leave my baby alone, Mother.
He works for me.
Leave my baby alone.
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