{"id":192,"date":"2009-05-05T12:34:00","date_gmt":"2009-05-05T12:34:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/omeoflittlefaith\/2009\/05\/why-ladysmith-black-mambazo-is-the-best.html"},"modified":"2009-05-05T12:34:00","modified_gmt":"2009-05-05T12:34:00","slug":"why-ladysmith-black-mambazo-is-the-best","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/omeoflittlefaith\/2009\/05\/why-ladysmith-black-mambazo-is-the-best.html","title":{"rendered":"Why Ladysmith Black Mambazo Is the Best"},"content":{"rendered":"

Apropros of nothing, <\/span>I would like to submit in this post three reasons why I really like Ladysmith Black Mambazo<\/a>, the African choral group:<\/p>\n

1. <\/span>When I hear them I think of Paul Simon’s Graceland<\/span><\/a>, which pretty much introduced LBM to the world in 1986. Graceland is easily in my top 5 favorite albums of all time, and I have been an LBM fan since first hearing it.<\/p>\n

2. <\/span>When I hear them I also think of the countless times we watched one of my daughter’s favorite videos when she was two years old. It was a Sesame Street<\/span> anniversary collection, and it ended with the entire cast singing the Sesame Street theme song as led by LBM. I enjoyed watching it (and singing it) as much as Ellie did.<\/p>\n

3. <\/span>Because LBM’s founder and lead singer was named Joseph Shabalala<\/a>, who retired from the group in 2008. Shabalala may in fact be the best surname in the history of the universe. Furthermore, Joseph’s bass-singing brother — who was tragically killed in 1991 — was named Headman Shabalala, which is the best full name in the history of the universe. (For the record, the second-best full name in the history of the universe is Duns Scotus<\/a>.)<\/p>\n

4. <\/span>Because even though I can’t understand the words in Zulu, their combination of heartfelt singing and simple, silly-looking choreography always make me happy.<\/p>\n

5. <\/span>Because, at the end of the Graceland<\/span> song, “Homeless” — in which LBM are featured more prominently than Paul Simon — they sing these lyrics: Kuluman \/ Kulumani, Kulumani sizwe \/ Singenze njani \/ Baya jabula abasi thanda yo \/ Ho.<\/span> Loosely translated, it means this: “We would like to announce to the entire nation that we are the best at singing in this style.”<\/p>\n

I think this is brilliant. As personally horn-tooting as any rapper, yet somehow appropriate. Or as my friend Shuey<\/a> said, “I found this awesome. A song about homeless people, strong winds destroying their homes, many dead, tonight it could be you, and so on…and at the end, they wrap it up with a very literal and humorously terse brag.”<\/p>\n

And LBM is a Christian<\/span> group. If Chris Tomlin or Michael W. Smith could find a way to work this kind of ending into their songs, I would enjoy K-LOVE<\/a> a whole lot more.<\/p>\n

Here are Ladysmith Black Mambazo singing at a live 1980s concert in Africa with Paul Simon. “Homeless” begins around the 4:00 minute mark, and Paul Simon sings the delicately braggy ending with them around 8:00 in. Enjoy.<\/p>\n

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Apropros of nothing, I would like to submit in this post three reasons why I really like Ladysmith Black Mambazo, the African choral group: 1. When I hear them I think of Paul Simon’s Graceland, which pretty much introduced LBM to the world in 1986. 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