SA muso says 'no' to Olympics
2008-08-21 09:59
Cape Town - Acclaimed South African musician Lionel Bastos has made his own stand against the Beijing Olympics, getting attention on Youtube and MySpace for his poignant lyrics.
Bastos, a Sama winning singer and songwriter based in Cape Town, penned the protest song Tears falling in Tibet on the night of the Olympics opening ceremony in Beijing.
The games have been dogged by controversy over China's poor human rights record and rule of Buddhist Tibet and Muslim Xinjiang.
Bastos pointed out that the Moscow Olympics in 1980 were boycotted by 65 nations easily as there were no critical trade relations with Russia. "But China is the world's largest trading partner so it felt like we were patting the rapist on the back because he's putting money in our bank accounts," he told News24.
The song has not been formally released, but spread by word of mouth, thanks to Bastos MySpace page and now Youtube.
"I made the video and let people put it on their flashdrives so somehow it's ended up there and so far the response has been fantastic," he said.
Atrocities
The video is a montage of compelling images detailing some of the atrocities allegedly committed by the Chinese government.
"I've had e-mails and personally watched people choke up when they see the video," said Bastos, who has written songs for Vicky Sampson, Wendy Oldfield and Yvonne Chaka Chaka.
Lyrics to the song include: "The sponsors are all happy and adding to the din/ The games are up and running, the medals rolling in/ As torture and invasion remain an unpaid debt/ Still the tears are falling in Tibet."
Bastos said the song was a culmination of a number of affairs on the global stage, including the situation in Burma and Darfur as well as protests in Tibet.
"Would we be so supportive of these "powers' if we were in Tibet, Burma or Darfur?" he asked. "The song is more about the fact that we've simply ignored the worst human-rights record ever and shaken the hand of the oriental Hitler. Now there's a record China holds and has no medals for."
Lionel Bastos on MySpace
Tears falling in Tibet on Youtube