November 6, 2024 • 31 mins
Join Patrick as he explores the rich history and cultural significance of Zimbabwe through its national anthem, "Bless Our Flag of Zimbabwe." The episode delves into the life of Solomon Matswairo, the anthem's lyricist, and Fred Chengundega, who composed the music, highlighting their contributions to Zimbabwe's identity and independence. Listeners will learn about the historical context surrounding the anthem, including the colonial struggles faced by Zimbabweans, the natural beauty of the land, and the aspirations for unity and prosperity. Patrick shares insights into the anthem's themes, which celebrate national pride, the sacrifices of freedom fighters, and a hopeful vision for the future. Throughout the journey, listeners are invited to appreciate the anthem not just as a song, but as a powerful reflection of a nation's resilience and hope.
CAN credentialed: Creatoraccountabilitynetwork.org
- https://web.archive.org/web/20220514191220/http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache%3Ac8SNrVcUqlsJ%3Awww.zim.gov.zw%2Findex.php%2Fen%2Fmy-government%2Fgovernment-ministries%2Fnational-symbols%2F462-the-national-anthem+&cd=2&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=uk
- https://www.law.co.zw/download/national-anthem-act/
- https://www.wipo.int/wipolex/en/text/312646
- https://zimembassydc.org/country-profile/
- https://uir.unisa.ac.za/bitstream/handle/10500/26606/thesis_dlodlo_s.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y
- https://www.pindula.co.zw/Fred_Changundega/
- https://earground.com/composer-of-zimbabwes-national-anthem-music-lecturer-freddy-changundega-speaks-out/
- https://www.showbiz.co.zw/meet-fred-changundega-of-zcc-mbungo-the-maestro-behind-the-hits-ndire-ndire-and-samere/
- https://go.gale.com/ps/i.do?id=GALE%7CA212035387&sid=googleScholar&v=2.1&it=r&linkaccess=abs&issn=02564718&p=AONE&sw=w&userGroupName=anon%7Ee5c5a9d1&aty=open-web-entry
- Palley, Claire (1966). The Constitutional History and Law of Southern Rhodesia, 1888-1965: with special reference to imperial control. London: Oxford University Press. ISBN 9780198216315.
- https://dbpedia.org/page/National_Anthem_of_Zimbabwe
- Bessant, Leslie (1994). "Songs of Chiweshe and Songs of Zimbabwe". African Affairs. 93...
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:15):
Hello and welcome to theAnthems Podcast. I'm Patrick and
I'm here to tell you the storyof a song that helps to tell the
story of a nation. Today weare taking a 6,820 mile blast across
the planet, which is equal toa 10,976 kilometer jaunt across the
(00:36):
globe. It's also almostexactly the same distance as it is
around the moon's equator.Seriously, it's like a half of a
percent difference. If we weretraveling at the same speed as something
orbiting the moon, we'd begoing at a very brisk 1.6 kilometers
per second, or 3,600 miles anhour. At that speed, it would only
(00:57):
take us 31 minutes to get backto Africa and our destination, the
Republic of Zimbabwe. We'reback in Africa because a couple reasons.
For one, I must frequentlyreturn to the continent because there
are so many countries thereand I'm gonna cover all of them eventually.
In fact, at one a month, it'llbe like another 14 years before I
(01:21):
get there. So, long termgoals. My daughter chose the country
because she wasn't sure ifthere were other countries that started
with the letter Z. Well, thereare. It's another one right in Africa.
Zambia, and directly north ofwhere we are. And physically twice
as big as Zimbabwe. But we'rein a country that holds the distinction
(01:43):
of being alphabetically last,which is fun because that's one of
the first things that you getto learn regarding the story of Simuzai
Mireza Way. Do we Zimbabwe orraise our flag of Zimbabwe? When
I started the reading for thisepisode, I did actually know some
(02:04):
stuff about Zimbabwe, but noneof it was like really good stuff.
Most of my knowledge isprevious knowledge was centered around
the rise to power and thecontinuing presence of Robert Mugabe
and the colonial interferenceof Cecil Rhodes. We'll hear a little
bit more about these twoduring the episode. But we're also
gonna learn things that don'tmake us disappointed in humanity.
(02:26):
Like the fact that Zimbabwecontains the largest man made lake
in the world. Named LakeKariba. It's a flooded out gorge
with an ecosystem rich enoughto support Nile crocodiles and hippopotamuses,
which is a word that lookswrong when written plural and feels
awkward to say. So it has beennice to brighten my outlook on this
country and I hope that thenext 2 minutes and 30 seconds or
(02:49):
so of music do a littlesomething to brighten your outlook
on this podcast. Enjoy. Myinitial reaction is that I like it.
(05:12):
And it's another one that hasmade the playlist. This is a proper
anthem and it checks off manyboxes for me. It's common for this
song to be sung in threelanguages in three verses like this
because all three of theselanguages are official versions of
the anthem. It's a very anthemsounding song and I prefer it done
by a choir or maybe just agroup of enthusiastic people singing
(05:34):
together. One of theintentions of an anthem is to bring
people together, isn't it? Solet's find out where the people of
Zimbabwe have been broughttogether to sing. We already know
that we're in Africa and onour third trip to humanity's cradle,
I will assume that mylisteners know where the continent
is. Recall that Africa isreally, really big because Zimbabwe
(05:58):
is like 1400 miles south ofthe equator, which is pretty far.
Probably the easiest way tofind it on a map is to locate Madagascar.
Madagascar is the big islandjust to the east of the southern
half of Africa. Then you gotwo countries to the west and that's
(06:19):
Zimbabwe. The neighbors areas. To the east we have Mozambique,
South Africa. To the south,Zambia again is the northern border
and we round out the compasswith Botswana to the west. The northern
border is defined entirely bythe Zambezi river, which has that
flooded out gorge I mentionedearlier. The gorge is flooded out
(06:41):
because of the Kariba Damwhich generates around 2010 megawatts,
about the same as the peakoperating capacity of the Hoover
Dam. If there are any damnerds listening now, it's okay, I
know that joke was terrible,but go ahead and chuckle. I can't
hear you moving past my badpuns with a geography thing. And
(07:03):
this one is super cool. It'snot a new to me term, but it's Victoria
Falls and it's one of thecoolest places on the planet. The
falls are also by mostmeasures the largest that we've got
on the planet. With a width ofover a mile or 1700 meters and 108
meter fall, that's 354ft. It'spretty fun because the waterfall
(07:26):
led me down a short littlerabbit hole that had me finding out
that the height of VictoriaFalls is about the same as the world's
tallest tree, the Saturn Vrocket, the diameter of the London
Eye, which I've been on thewingspan of the largest airplane,
something called theStratolaunch, and an American football
(07:47):
field with the end zones onit. It's a weird list of things to
be about the same size.Reality is odd. So the first mention
on the record of at least partof the region being called Zimbabwe
is from the 13th century inthe common era. It's a Shona kingdom
(08:07):
which has left the largeststone structure in pre colonial southern
Africa known as the GreatZimbabwe. Yes, pre colonial does
mean what you think. And thisstory is well influenced by a colonial
agenda that didn't align withthe real needs and desires of the
people that already livethere. Initially, the people on the
Zimbabwe plateau were able tokick the Portuguese out in the beginning
(08:30):
of the 17th century. Thingswere not entirely settled in the
region when the British Empireshowed up at the end of the 19th
century. Sure, but they wereat least in the hands of the people
that lived there and not inthe hands of people who were just
there to resource hunt. Sowe're gonna properly enter the timeline
with a guy that I'm not a fanof, Mr. Cecil Rhodes. He wanted to
(08:52):
expand the British Empire intoAfrica as much as possible because
it was making him crazy richwith diamond money and he thought
that white people from Englandwere the superior race. You can call
it cultural racism or minimalracism like some scholars do, but
it's just the regular kind asfar as I'm concerned. Old timey,
ignorant bigotry aside, it isnearly impossible to overstate this
(09:15):
guy's impact on the region andthe continent in general. Actually,
Rhodes began his company'sincursion in the beginning of the
1880s and by 1890 had obtainedenough land through treaties and
concessions from local kingsand leaders that the region was called
Southern Rhodesia. The Shonapeople did not succeed at forcefully
(09:38):
evicting the British andattempting resistance in 1896 and
97 failed. At that point, theexisting people were converted into
Rhodes administrative subjectsand British migration en masse began.
With the colonial influx camea formally drafted constitution in
(09:58):
1899 that was mostly anattempt to duplicate duplicate the
South African Union and createa shadow colony of the Cape. The
goal was for the colony toreach a sufficiently developed status
and join the South AfricanUnion. The territory was further
opened up to white settlementand given a governmental structure
that ensured the people incharge were people from Europe. So
(10:21):
basic colonialism that overthe course of the next century fell
completely apart. But beforethat World War I happened and as
a British colony, SouthernRhodesia immediately entered the
war. When England did, themain goal in Southern Africa was
to capture the Germancontrolled South West Africa, which
(10:41):
is modern day Nambia. Theyaccomplished that and the Rhodesian
forces served with honor inmany parts of the war. After the
war, it didn't take the colonylong to have a 1922 referendum that
resulted in self governingstatus. It's nice that I didn't have
to wade into World War I toodeep. And it turns out that we are
(11:02):
at a point in time when one ofthe anthem's key players enters the
tale. Mr. Solomon MengwiroMatsuero was born April 29, 1924
in Zawu, Rhodesia. And withhim we've encountered another absolutely
towering intellect and awriter that was steadfastly opposed
(11:24):
to the colonial occupation ofthe land he was born in and living
in. Matsuero's education beganat the Chewish Reserve in his hometown
and culminated in a 1958teaching degree from Fort Hare University
in South Africa. After that hetaught at a secondary school and
(11:46):
was the headmaster at BaptistMission where he participated in
some of the early developmentof the African Language development
association. In 1964, hereceived a Fulbright scholarship,
traveled to the US and fouryears later got a Master's in Geography
from the University of Ottawa.He eventually ended up getting a
(12:09):
PhD in English from HowardUniversity in 1979 before returning
to Zimbabwe in 1981. Upon hisreturn to the homeland after independence,
we're getting there. Matsuerobecame the first writer in residence
at the University of Zimbabwe,and a few years later he took up
a lecturing position there.Throughout his academic career he
(12:31):
wrote a lot of stuff,including the first novel in Shona
that was banned in Rhodesiafor its political implications. And
Matsuaro also wrote the lyricsto the national anthem. Sometime
towards the end of the 1980s,and in typical fashion for this show,
it's kind of a minor footnotein the man's life. The poet retired
(12:54):
from teaching and he finishedoff his career as the chairman of
the National Arts Council ofZimbabwe in the 1990s before passing
in November of the year 2005,the year before Matsuero was born,
Zimbabwe, while it was stillRhodesia, achieved self governing
status in the British Empire.I've been reading a lot of history
(13:16):
lately and obtaining thatstatus is almost always followed
by more steps down the path tofull independence, because even self
governance with supervisiongives you a taste of freedom. The
trip there was not all greatevents though, and colonial injustices
for sure continued. Oneexample, the 1930 Land Apportionment
(13:38):
act gave 51% of the availablefarmland to white inhabitants. And
after land set aside for thegovernment, just 29% was left over
for more than a millionAfrican people. Rhodesian forces
again participated with honorwhen Britain entered World War II,
and again they were usedmostly to counter Axis forces in
(14:01):
Italian East Africa. The nextmajor development really sets the
stage for a strong nationalindependence movement though because
in 1953 the Empireconsolidated north and South, Rhodesia
and Nyasaland, which is modernday Malawi. We'll hear about them
another day. And it turned outthat nobody was happy with this agreement
(14:23):
and well, arrangement itwasn't really an agreement. It set
up a discontented people and acontentious time that we're going
to get into in part in a bitbecause I want to talk about a musician
first. Fred Chengondega wasborn in Zimbabwe in 1954 and I've
(14:44):
uncovered very little aboutthe man's early life. All I've discovered
was that he apparently gotinto music at a young age. His family
fostered his interest. At somepoint he joined the ZCC Mbungo Choir
and from what I understand isstill a member because Fred is still
with us right now. I also knowthat he was formally educated in
(15:06):
music and obtained hismaster's diploma in band music sometime
in the 1980s, although I don'tknow where he went. He has used his
skills and talents to greatbenefit for the choir and under his
direction they become quitewell known and have a bunch of music
that's transcended gospel andentered Zimbabwe's popular music
scene. He's also been veryinvolved in teaching the younger
(15:28):
generation as they come intothe choir with a well known approach
that mentors the kids in lifeas well as harmony. He also composed
the music for the nationalanthem Bless Our Flag of Zimbabwe.
We'll hear more about Fred andthe anthem in a little bit. I gotta
catch the timeline up to afree Zimbabwe. Recall that Britain
(15:48):
tried to consolidate the twoRhodesias in another area and that
this didn't sit well withanybody involved. The idea endured
about a decade of growingAfrican nationalism and an increasingly
organized general descent. Soin 1960, 1960, Britain backpedaled
to allow Naisaland andNorthern Rhodesia to withdraw from
(16:12):
a situation they knew would bedominated by the minority white government
in Southern Rhodesia. Withthat set of cards on the table, it
took Rhodesia just three yearsto unilaterally declare full independence
from Britain. With Mr. IanSmith at the helm. This guy's got
an interesting story. But thecontribution of the fighter pilot
(16:33):
turned farmer turnedpolitician and first leader in Rhodesia
that was born and raised inthe country to this story is that
he wasn't interested inworking with those other countries
majority black government. Sothat's all we really need to know
about him. The United Kingdomdecried the entire thing as an act
of rebellion and immediatelytook a bunch of people to court and
(16:56):
they litigated things for fiveyears. In 1970, Smith's government
declared a republic anddropped the Southern, becoming the
Republic of Rhodesia. Thiskicked off a civil war that we're
going to skip entirely, prettymuch entirely, in favor of mentioning
one more sort of terribleperson. At the end of the civil war,
(17:19):
Robert Mugabe's ZimbabweAfrican National Union, or zenu,
became the dominant party thatarose in response to rising nationalism
in Zimbabwe. They, for reasonsburied in the civil war that we're
skipping, ended up in chargewhen the country gained official
independence in 1980. On April18, the official event commemorating
(17:44):
the independence had a mix ofleaders and luminaries that was as
diverse as Mahatma Gandhi,Prince Charles, now the King of England,
and Bob Marley, who wrote asong and flew in to perform it. There
were societal improvementsover the course of the next 10 years,
namely education and publicservices, but there was also a campaign
(18:05):
against the opposition thatexterminated tens of thousands of
people. I did tell you thatMugabe was a terrible guy, and honestly
I thought he'd figure moreinto the story. He did, because sometimes
anthems have a lot to do withthe story of independence in the
country, and he had a lot todo with that. But thankfully we're
in no more need of him becauseby 1994 we've got the anthem, but
(18:27):
we're going to hear about howexactly it became the anthem from
Fred I'm sorry for a sec ifyou thought I was going to have a
guest, but this operation isfar too stringently outfitted for
a cross global recording.However, he did give an interview
to an outfit calledeArground.com in May of 2024. In
(18:51):
case you're listening in thefuture, that's this year. A first
hand account is thishistorical podcaster's favorite thing,
especially when it correlateswith what other sources have to say
and reveals one of theapparently not entirely corrupt moments
in the Mugabe regime. Theselection process took place over
seven years, starting in 1987,and it kicked off with a contest
(19:15):
calling for verse. I have notbeen able to find the specific requirements
for the verse, but I'm surethere were at least some, maybe many
guidelines. A total of 1685respondents sent poems in for consideration
and as we know, Dr. SolomonMozzaro won the competition. Mr.
Chengdunga said he wassatisfied because the man was known
(19:39):
as a prolific writer and uponreading the poem, called it a perfect
piece for the task.Originally, the poem was submitted
as four verses, but during thefinalization process, Verse four
was condensed and integratedinto the rest, resulting in the lyrics
that you heard at thebeginning of this episode. After
that process was completed,the lyrics and a set of requirements
(20:00):
were published along with thesubmission deadline of March 30,
1990. These requirements I dohave and they're well suited. The
music was to be dignified intempo, simple, easily sung, and encourage
public participation, with thecomposer willing to surrender copyright
to the state. That's standardanthem stuff. Fred had recently obtained
(20:24):
his master's, so he felt likehe was at a peak in capability and
decided that not many could bebetter than him at this task. Inspiration
struck on the train and themelody came to him while staring
out the window. He snappedawake and jotted it in his notes.
After full composition, hesubmitted it and the field was narrowed
(20:44):
down to Chengandanga's pieceand one other. Both were recorded
and played on the radio forsome time so that people could make
up their minds and as we know,they chose the version using Fred's
musical composition and he wasawarded some 7,500 Zimbabwe dollars.
And with that we have theanthem and I will go on to talk about
(21:04):
the song itself. Musicallyspeaking, we are given a stately
and melodic composition with aclassical feel that emphasizes dignity
and patriotism. The anthemblends together traditional African
rhythmic considerations withWestern hymn like qualities. The
song has our faithful anthemtime signature, so we're again hearing
(21:26):
a 44 with a moderate tempo soit can be solemn and grand at the
same time. As asked by thegovernment. The song has a simple
melody so as many people aspossible are able to sing along and
it invites groupparticipation. The melody kicks off
with a leap forward and movesstepwise in major intervals with
(21:47):
the occasional leap. It'sreally good actually, and it kind
of gives an upward soar in apiece that tries to convey optimism,
strength and positivity. Idon't know enough, at least not yet,
about African music to hear itmyself, but I have read that the
song retains an identitythrough melodic phrasing and rhythmic
(22:09):
inflection. As you heardearlier, I shared a version of the
anthem sung by a choir and themusic was originally written for
a choir, but it gets amilitary band treatment and like
every other kind of treatment,because anthems do that. I will be
reading this anthem inEnglish, but note that the original
was written in Shona. As Isaid way back in the beginning of
(22:33):
the episode. The officialtranslations of the anthem are in
English, Shona and Ndebele.Those are the most commonly spoken
languages in Zimbabwe, comingin at 89, 87 and 13% respectively.
The song is sung in manylanguages, though, because there
are 16 official ones in thecountry, with many others spoken
(22:55):
Here we have three verses offive lines apiece, with the last
line of each verse being thesame refrain. It might be a hook.
I'm not sure what the correctterm for that ends in a poem Here
I'll read the entire thing outagain and then discuss each verse
in turn. O lift high, high ourflag of Zimbabwe Born of the fire
(23:17):
of revolution and of theprecious blood of our heroes let's
defend it against all foesBlessed be the land of Zimbabwe Behold
Zimbabwe, so richly adornedwith mountains and rivers beautiful
Let rain abound and fieldsyield the seed May all be fed and
(23:38):
workers rewarded. Blessed bethe land of Zimbabwe O God, bless
the land of Zimbabwe, the landof our heritage from the Zambezi
to the Limpopo May our leadersbe just and exemplary Blessed be
the land of Zimbabwe the firstverse centers almost entirely around
(23:58):
the flag of Zimbabwe, aphysical symbol representing the
country's hard won freedom.The very first line is a clear declaration
of national pride inindependence. The flag has become
a beacon of victory and areminder of sacrifice in a nation
that has suffered years ofcolonial rule but now stands tall
in independence. The secondline needs some clarification because
(24:20):
the original poem uses theShona word chimringa and this official
translation that I literallycopied from the Zimbabwe constitution
that was promulgated in 2013doesn't catch the depth of the word.
A better translation, I thinkis revolutionary struggle coupled
with the understanding thatthe line is referenced to some specific
(24:40):
events, namely in the 1980swhen the Native Shona and Ndebele
speakers had an insurrectionagainst the colonial occupiers that
resulted in the Rhodesian Bushwar of the 1960s and 70s. They were
the first and secondChimarangas. The anthem acknowledges
the sacrifices of countlessfreedom fighters who were hurt or
(25:03):
killed in those struggles. Soall very on point anthem stuff and
a verse that tries to inspirea sense of duty to defend a hard
won liberty and enshrine thesacrifices made by the people. The
second verse shifts the focusfrom the celebration of freedom and
national identity to reverencefor the beauty and natural wealth
(25:23):
of Zimbabwe. A couple ofminutes on Google will tell you that
saying the country iswondrously adorned when talking about
its mountains and rivers isquite an understatement. Another
of the planet's best lookingplaces. Talking about the physical
land as a source of nationalpride is a fitting thing to do in
an anthem, and this verseoffers it up as a gift. Framed as
(25:43):
a reflection of the nation'sabundance, the words call for rains
and fertile fields to aid inthe nation's agricultural prosperity.
The writing speaks to theagrarian life not just as a way to
feed the people, but also asan important part of national identity.
Saying may all be fed and theworkers rewarded functions to position
(26:04):
agriculture as a crucialcontributor to the well being of
those people. This is stilltrue in 2024, with agriculture standing
as nearly 70% of the workforcein the country, but it's not where
it was when the song waswritten. The 1980s were a boom time
for Zimbabwe farming, but landredistribution programs in the 90s
(26:25):
saw so much arable land gofallow that in between 2000 and 2008
there was a 51% drop inproduction across all crops and an
80% drop in tobacco, the mainexport crop. Now, the final verse
addresses the future ofZimbabwe and opens by invoking divine
(26:46):
protection and guidance forthe leadership. This is the only
explicitly religious line inthe piece, and as far as some of
the songs we encounter, thisis essentially not a religious anthem
at all, a small surprise in acountry where today and when the
anthem was written as well,there's something like 84% Christian.
(27:07):
The anthem goes on to pull thefull geographic extent of the country
into the blessing by namingthe rivers that make the northern
southern border. The poet isalso stressing the importance of
good leadership while hopingfor a just and exemplary people.
The song recognizes that thefuture of Zimbabwe rests not only
with its natural resources,beauty and historical legacy, but
(27:30):
also with the quality ofgovernance along with the decisions
made in the halls of power.You're going to have to read about
that leadership and make ajudgment on your own, though, because
that's past the part of thestory that I get to tell you. It's
a good closing verse with thecall for unity, leadership and progress,
though. Overall, the nationalanthem of Zimbabwe reflects the country's
(27:55):
cultural heritage, a historyof struggle and a strong sense of
patriotism. The anthem is ablend of pride, reverence for the
land, and a call for unity,prosperity and peace. Overall, blessed
be the land of Zimbabwe. He isa patriotic hymn that blends gratitude
for the country's naturalbeauty with pride in its historic
struggle and hope for aprosperous, united future. The lyrics
(28:20):
encourage Zimbabweans to honorthe past, cherish the present, and
look forward to a brightertomorrow through collective effort,
responsible leadership, andthe blessings of the divine. It is
both a reminder of thesacrifice of the past and a call
to protect the gains ofindependence. As always, I've learned
(28:41):
so much in my reading for thisepisode and I've discovered a story
that makes me want to knowmore about a place I'd like to go
to someday, and now forsomething completely different. I'm
just kidding. It's thecredits. The writing, recording and
production for the show aredone by me. I also wrote and played
(29:02):
the theme music and then Iused it with my permission unless
otherwise noted. The anthems Iplay our public domain or some other
equivalently free license orthing I got permission or I have
made a good faith effort toget this time. The audio comes from
the M. Chabisi choir at the2022 Festival of Sound in Harare,
(29:24):
Zimbabwe. I have reached outto the choir via email, but as of
this recording, I've yet tohear back from them. And if you know
how to get a hold of thisgroup, please let me know. My sources
and the specific items Imentioned in the show are contained
in the notes, and the mostdirect way to get to those notes
is@anthemspodcast.com Also,this show is canned credentialed,
(29:48):
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(30:09):
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(30:31):
media that somehow gets moredogs and cats adopted out of rescues.
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(30:53):
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(31:16):
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to you. So thank you. Untilnext time. Sa.
Hello and welcome to theAnthems Podcast. I'm Patrick and
I'm here to tell you the storyof a song that helps to tell the
story of a nation. Today weare taking a 6,820 mile blast across
the planet, which is equal toa 10,976 kilometer jaunt across the
(00:36):
globe. It's also almostexactly the same distance as it is
around the moon's equator.Seriously, it's like a half of a
percent difference. If we weretraveling at the same speed as something
orbiting the moon, we'd begoing at a very brisk 1.6 kilometers
per second, or 3,600 miles anhour. At that speed, it would only
(00:57):
take us 31 minutes to get backto Africa and our destination, the
Republic of Zimbabwe. We'reback in Africa because a couple reasons.
For one, I must frequentlyreturn to the continent because there
are so many countries thereand I'm gonna cover all of them eventually.
In fact, at one a month, it'llbe like another 14 years before I
(01:21):
get there. So, long termgoals. My daughter chose the country
because she wasn't sure ifthere were other countries that started
with the letter Z. Well, thereare. It's another one right in Africa.
Zambia, and directly north ofwhere we are. And physically twice
as big as Zimbabwe. But we'rein a country that holds the distinction
(01:43):
of being alphabetically last,which is fun because that's one of
the first things that you getto learn regarding the story of Simuzai
Mireza Way. Do we Zimbabwe orraise our flag of Zimbabwe? When
I started the reading for thisepisode, I did actually know some
(02:04):
stuff about Zimbabwe, but noneof it was like really good stuff.
Most of my knowledge isprevious knowledge was centered around
the rise to power and thecontinuing presence of Robert Mugabe
and the colonial interferenceof Cecil Rhodes. We'll hear a little
bit more about these twoduring the episode. But we're also
gonna learn things that don'tmake us disappointed in humanity.
(02:26):
Like the fact that Zimbabwecontains the largest man made lake
in the world. Named LakeKariba. It's a flooded out gorge
with an ecosystem rich enoughto support Nile crocodiles and hippopotamuses,
which is a word that lookswrong when written plural and feels
awkward to say. So it has beennice to brighten my outlook on this
country and I hope that thenext 2 minutes and 30 seconds or
(02:49):
so of music do a littlesomething to brighten your outlook
on this podcast. Enjoy. Myinitial reaction is that I like it.
(05:12):
And it's another one that hasmade the playlist. This is a proper
anthem and it checks off manyboxes for me. It's common for this
song to be sung in threelanguages in three verses like this
because all three of theselanguages are official versions of
the anthem. It's a very anthemsounding song and I prefer it done
by a choir or maybe just agroup of enthusiastic people singing
(05:34):
together. One of theintentions of an anthem is to bring
people together, isn't it? Solet's find out where the people of
Zimbabwe have been broughttogether to sing. We already know
that we're in Africa and onour third trip to humanity's cradle,
I will assume that mylisteners know where the continent
is. Recall that Africa isreally, really big because Zimbabwe
(05:58):
is like 1400 miles south ofthe equator, which is pretty far.
Probably the easiest way tofind it on a map is to locate Madagascar.
Madagascar is the big islandjust to the east of the southern
half of Africa. Then you gotwo countries to the west and that's
(06:19):
Zimbabwe. The neighbors areas. To the east we have Mozambique,
South Africa. To the south,Zambia again is the northern border
and we round out the compasswith Botswana to the west. The northern
border is defined entirely bythe Zambezi river, which has that
flooded out gorge I mentionedearlier. The gorge is flooded out
(06:41):
because of the Kariba Damwhich generates around 2010 megawatts,
about the same as the peakoperating capacity of the Hoover
Dam. If there are any damnerds listening now, it's okay, I
know that joke was terrible,but go ahead and chuckle. I can't
hear you moving past my badpuns with a geography thing. And
(07:03):
this one is super cool. It'snot a new to me term, but it's Victoria
Falls and it's one of thecoolest places on the planet. The
falls are also by mostmeasures the largest that we've got
on the planet. With a width ofover a mile or 1700 meters and 108
meter fall, that's 354ft. It'spretty fun because the waterfall
(07:26):
led me down a short littlerabbit hole that had me finding out
that the height of VictoriaFalls is about the same as the world's
tallest tree, the Saturn Vrocket, the diameter of the London
Eye, which I've been on thewingspan of the largest airplane,
something called theStratolaunch, and an American football
(07:47):
field with the end zones onit. It's a weird list of things to
be about the same size.Reality is odd. So the first mention
on the record of at least partof the region being called Zimbabwe
is from the 13th century inthe common era. It's a Shona kingdom
(08:07):
which has left the largeststone structure in pre colonial southern
Africa known as the GreatZimbabwe. Yes, pre colonial does
mean what you think. And thisstory is well influenced by a colonial
agenda that didn't align withthe real needs and desires of the
people that already livethere. Initially, the people on the
Zimbabwe plateau were able tokick the Portuguese out in the beginning
(08:30):
of the 17th century. Thingswere not entirely settled in the
region when the British Empireshowed up at the end of the 19th
century. Sure, but they wereat least in the hands of the people
that lived there and not inthe hands of people who were just
there to resource hunt. Sowe're gonna properly enter the timeline
with a guy that I'm not a fanof, Mr. Cecil Rhodes. He wanted to
(08:52):
expand the British Empire intoAfrica as much as possible because
it was making him crazy richwith diamond money and he thought
that white people from Englandwere the superior race. You can call
it cultural racism or minimalracism like some scholars do, but
it's just the regular kind asfar as I'm concerned. Old timey,
ignorant bigotry aside, it isnearly impossible to overstate this
(09:15):
guy's impact on the region andthe continent in general. Actually,
Rhodes began his company'sincursion in the beginning of the
1880s and by 1890 had obtainedenough land through treaties and
concessions from local kingsand leaders that the region was called
Southern Rhodesia. The Shonapeople did not succeed at forcefully
(09:38):
evicting the British andattempting resistance in 1896 and
97 failed. At that point, theexisting people were converted into
Rhodes administrative subjectsand British migration en masse began.
With the colonial influx camea formally drafted constitution in
(09:58):
1899 that was mostly anattempt to duplicate duplicate the
South African Union and createa shadow colony of the Cape. The
goal was for the colony toreach a sufficiently developed status
and join the South AfricanUnion. The territory was further
opened up to white settlementand given a governmental structure
that ensured the people incharge were people from Europe. So
(10:21):
basic colonialism that overthe course of the next century fell
completely apart. But beforethat World War I happened and as
a British colony, SouthernRhodesia immediately entered the
war. When England did, themain goal in Southern Africa was
to capture the Germancontrolled South West Africa, which
(10:41):
is modern day Nambia. Theyaccomplished that and the Rhodesian
forces served with honor inmany parts of the war. After the
war, it didn't take the colonylong to have a 1922 referendum that
resulted in self governingstatus. It's nice that I didn't have
to wade into World War I toodeep. And it turns out that we are
(11:02):
at a point in time when one ofthe anthem's key players enters the
tale. Mr. Solomon MengwiroMatsuero was born April 29, 1924
in Zawu, Rhodesia. And withhim we've encountered another absolutely
towering intellect and awriter that was steadfastly opposed
(11:24):
to the colonial occupation ofthe land he was born in and living
in. Matsuero's education beganat the Chewish Reserve in his hometown
and culminated in a 1958teaching degree from Fort Hare University
in South Africa. After that hetaught at a secondary school and
(11:46):
was the headmaster at BaptistMission where he participated in
some of the early developmentof the African Language development
association. In 1964, hereceived a Fulbright scholarship,
traveled to the US and fouryears later got a Master's in Geography
from the University of Ottawa.He eventually ended up getting a
(12:09):
PhD in English from HowardUniversity in 1979 before returning
to Zimbabwe in 1981. Upon hisreturn to the homeland after independence,
we're getting there. Matsuerobecame the first writer in residence
at the University of Zimbabwe,and a few years later he took up
a lecturing position there.Throughout his academic career he
(12:31):
wrote a lot of stuff,including the first novel in Shona
that was banned in Rhodesiafor its political implications. And
Matsuaro also wrote the lyricsto the national anthem. Sometime
towards the end of the 1980s,and in typical fashion for this show,
it's kind of a minor footnotein the man's life. The poet retired
(12:54):
from teaching and he finishedoff his career as the chairman of
the National Arts Council ofZimbabwe in the 1990s before passing
in November of the year 2005,the year before Matsuero was born,
Zimbabwe, while it was stillRhodesia, achieved self governing
status in the British Empire.I've been reading a lot of history
(13:16):
lately and obtaining thatstatus is almost always followed
by more steps down the path tofull independence, because even self
governance with supervisiongives you a taste of freedom. The
trip there was not all greatevents though, and colonial injustices
for sure continued. Oneexample, the 1930 Land Apportionment
(13:38):
act gave 51% of the availablefarmland to white inhabitants. And
after land set aside for thegovernment, just 29% was left over
for more than a millionAfrican people. Rhodesian forces
again participated with honorwhen Britain entered World War II,
and again they were usedmostly to counter Axis forces in
(14:01):
Italian East Africa. The nextmajor development really sets the
stage for a strong nationalindependence movement though because
in 1953 the Empireconsolidated north and South, Rhodesia
and Nyasaland, which is modernday Malawi. We'll hear about them
another day. And it turned outthat nobody was happy with this agreement
(14:23):
and well, arrangement itwasn't really an agreement. It set
up a discontented people and acontentious time that we're going
to get into in part in a bitbecause I want to talk about a musician
first. Fred Chengondega wasborn in Zimbabwe in 1954 and I've
(14:44):
uncovered very little aboutthe man's early life. All I've discovered
was that he apparently gotinto music at a young age. His family
fostered his interest. At somepoint he joined the ZCC Mbungo Choir
and from what I understand isstill a member because Fred is still
with us right now. I also knowthat he was formally educated in
(15:06):
music and obtained hismaster's diploma in band music sometime
in the 1980s, although I don'tknow where he went. He has used his
skills and talents to greatbenefit for the choir and under his
direction they become quitewell known and have a bunch of music
that's transcended gospel andentered Zimbabwe's popular music
scene. He's also been veryinvolved in teaching the younger
(15:28):
generation as they come intothe choir with a well known approach
that mentors the kids in lifeas well as harmony. He also composed
the music for the nationalanthem Bless Our Flag of Zimbabwe.
We'll hear more about Fred andthe anthem in a little bit. I gotta
catch the timeline up to afree Zimbabwe. Recall that Britain
(15:48):
tried to consolidate the twoRhodesias in another area and that
this didn't sit well withanybody involved. The idea endured
about a decade of growingAfrican nationalism and an increasingly
organized general descent. Soin 1960, 1960, Britain backpedaled
to allow Naisaland andNorthern Rhodesia to withdraw from
(16:12):
a situation they knew would bedominated by the minority white government
in Southern Rhodesia. Withthat set of cards on the table, it
took Rhodesia just three yearsto unilaterally declare full independence
from Britain. With Mr. IanSmith at the helm. This guy's got
an interesting story. But thecontribution of the fighter pilot
(16:33):
turned farmer turnedpolitician and first leader in Rhodesia
that was born and raised inthe country to this story is that
he wasn't interested inworking with those other countries
majority black government. Sothat's all we really need to know
about him. The United Kingdomdecried the entire thing as an act
of rebellion and immediatelytook a bunch of people to court and
(16:56):
they litigated things for fiveyears. In 1970, Smith's government
declared a republic anddropped the Southern, becoming the
Republic of Rhodesia. Thiskicked off a civil war that we're
going to skip entirely, prettymuch entirely, in favor of mentioning
one more sort of terribleperson. At the end of the civil war,
(17:19):
Robert Mugabe's ZimbabweAfrican National Union, or zenu,
became the dominant party thatarose in response to rising nationalism
in Zimbabwe. They, for reasonsburied in the civil war that we're
skipping, ended up in chargewhen the country gained official
independence in 1980. On April18, the official event commemorating
(17:44):
the independence had a mix ofleaders and luminaries that was as
diverse as Mahatma Gandhi,Prince Charles, now the King of England,
and Bob Marley, who wrote asong and flew in to perform it. There
were societal improvementsover the course of the next 10 years,
namely education and publicservices, but there was also a campaign
(18:05):
against the opposition thatexterminated tens of thousands of
people. I did tell you thatMugabe was a terrible guy, and honestly
I thought he'd figure moreinto the story. He did, because sometimes
anthems have a lot to do withthe story of independence in the
country, and he had a lot todo with that. But thankfully we're
in no more need of him becauseby 1994 we've got the anthem, but
(18:27):
we're going to hear about howexactly it became the anthem from
Fred I'm sorry for a sec ifyou thought I was going to have a
guest, but this operation isfar too stringently outfitted for
a cross global recording.However, he did give an interview
to an outfit calledeArground.com in May of 2024. In
(18:51):
case you're listening in thefuture, that's this year. A first
hand account is thishistorical podcaster's favorite thing,
especially when it correlateswith what other sources have to say
and reveals one of theapparently not entirely corrupt moments
in the Mugabe regime. Theselection process took place over
seven years, starting in 1987,and it kicked off with a contest
(19:15):
calling for verse. I have notbeen able to find the specific requirements
for the verse, but I'm surethere were at least some, maybe many
guidelines. A total of 1685respondents sent poems in for consideration
and as we know, Dr. SolomonMozzaro won the competition. Mr.
Chengdunga said he wassatisfied because the man was known
(19:39):
as a prolific writer and uponreading the poem, called it a perfect
piece for the task.Originally, the poem was submitted
as four verses, but during thefinalization process, Verse four
was condensed and integratedinto the rest, resulting in the lyrics
that you heard at thebeginning of this episode. After
that process was completed,the lyrics and a set of requirements
(20:00):
were published along with thesubmission deadline of March 30,
1990. These requirements I dohave and they're well suited. The
music was to be dignified intempo, simple, easily sung, and encourage
public participation, with thecomposer willing to surrender copyright
to the state. That's standardanthem stuff. Fred had recently obtained
(20:24):
his master's, so he felt likehe was at a peak in capability and
decided that not many could bebetter than him at this task. Inspiration
struck on the train and themelody came to him while staring
out the window. He snappedawake and jotted it in his notes.
After full composition, hesubmitted it and the field was narrowed
(20:44):
down to Chengandanga's pieceand one other. Both were recorded
and played on the radio forsome time so that people could make
up their minds and as we know,they chose the version using Fred's
musical composition and he wasawarded some 7,500 Zimbabwe dollars.
And with that we have theanthem and I will go on to talk about
(21:04):
the song itself. Musicallyspeaking, we are given a stately
and melodic composition with aclassical feel that emphasizes dignity
and patriotism. The anthemblends together traditional African
rhythmic considerations withWestern hymn like qualities. The
song has our faithful anthemtime signature, so we're again hearing
(21:26):
a 44 with a moderate tempo soit can be solemn and grand at the
same time. As asked by thegovernment. The song has a simple
melody so as many people aspossible are able to sing along and
it invites groupparticipation. The melody kicks off
with a leap forward and movesstepwise in major intervals with
(21:47):
the occasional leap. It'sreally good actually, and it kind
of gives an upward soar in apiece that tries to convey optimism,
strength and positivity. Idon't know enough, at least not yet,
about African music to hear itmyself, but I have read that the
song retains an identitythrough melodic phrasing and rhythmic
(22:09):
inflection. As you heardearlier, I shared a version of the
anthem sung by a choir and themusic was originally written for
a choir, but it gets amilitary band treatment and like
every other kind of treatment,because anthems do that. I will be
reading this anthem inEnglish, but note that the original
was written in Shona. As Isaid way back in the beginning of
(22:33):
the episode. The officialtranslations of the anthem are in
English, Shona and Ndebele.Those are the most commonly spoken
languages in Zimbabwe, comingin at 89, 87 and 13% respectively.
The song is sung in manylanguages, though, because there
are 16 official ones in thecountry, with many others spoken
(22:55):
Here we have three verses offive lines apiece, with the last
line of each verse being thesame refrain. It might be a hook.
I'm not sure what the correctterm for that ends in a poem Here
I'll read the entire thing outagain and then discuss each verse
in turn. O lift high, high ourflag of Zimbabwe Born of the fire
(23:17):
of revolution and of theprecious blood of our heroes let's
defend it against all foesBlessed be the land of Zimbabwe Behold
Zimbabwe, so richly adornedwith mountains and rivers beautiful
Let rain abound and fieldsyield the seed May all be fed and
(23:38):
workers rewarded. Blessed bethe land of Zimbabwe O God, bless
the land of Zimbabwe, the landof our heritage from the Zambezi
to the Limpopo May our leadersbe just and exemplary Blessed be
the land of Zimbabwe the firstverse centers almost entirely around
(23:58):
the flag of Zimbabwe, aphysical symbol representing the
country's hard won freedom.The very first line is a clear declaration
of national pride inindependence. The flag has become
a beacon of victory and areminder of sacrifice in a nation
that has suffered years ofcolonial rule but now stands tall
in independence. The secondline needs some clarification because
(24:20):
the original poem uses theShona word chimringa and this official
translation that I literallycopied from the Zimbabwe constitution
that was promulgated in 2013doesn't catch the depth of the word.
A better translation, I thinkis revolutionary struggle coupled
with the understanding thatthe line is referenced to some specific
(24:40):
events, namely in the 1980swhen the Native Shona and Ndebele
speakers had an insurrectionagainst the colonial occupiers that
resulted in the Rhodesian Bushwar of the 1960s and 70s. They were
the first and secondChimarangas. The anthem acknowledges
the sacrifices of countlessfreedom fighters who were hurt or
(25:03):
killed in those struggles. Soall very on point anthem stuff and
a verse that tries to inspirea sense of duty to defend a hard
won liberty and enshrine thesacrifices made by the people. The
second verse shifts the focusfrom the celebration of freedom and
national identity to reverencefor the beauty and natural wealth
(25:23):
of Zimbabwe. A couple ofminutes on Google will tell you that
saying the country iswondrously adorned when talking about
its mountains and rivers isquite an understatement. Another
of the planet's best lookingplaces. Talking about the physical
land as a source of nationalpride is a fitting thing to do in
an anthem, and this verseoffers it up as a gift. Framed as
(25:43):
a reflection of the nation'sabundance, the words call for rains
and fertile fields to aid inthe nation's agricultural prosperity.
The writing speaks to theagrarian life not just as a way to
feed the people, but also asan important part of national identity.
Saying may all be fed and theworkers rewarded functions to position
(26:04):
agriculture as a crucialcontributor to the well being of
those people. This is stilltrue in 2024, with agriculture standing
as nearly 70% of the workforcein the country, but it's not where
it was when the song waswritten. The 1980s were a boom time
for Zimbabwe farming, but landredistribution programs in the 90s
(26:25):
saw so much arable land gofallow that in between 2000 and 2008
there was a 51% drop inproduction across all crops and an
80% drop in tobacco, the mainexport crop. Now, the final verse
addresses the future ofZimbabwe and opens by invoking divine
(26:46):
protection and guidance forthe leadership. This is the only
explicitly religious line inthe piece, and as far as some of
the songs we encounter, thisis essentially not a religious anthem
at all, a small surprise in acountry where today and when the
anthem was written as well,there's something like 84% Christian.
(27:07):
The anthem goes on to pull thefull geographic extent of the country
into the blessing by namingthe rivers that make the northern
southern border. The poet isalso stressing the importance of
good leadership while hopingfor a just and exemplary people.
The song recognizes that thefuture of Zimbabwe rests not only
with its natural resources,beauty and historical legacy, but
(27:30):
also with the quality ofgovernance along with the decisions
made in the halls of power.You're going to have to read about
that leadership and make ajudgment on your own, though, because
that's past the part of thestory that I get to tell you. It's
a good closing verse with thecall for unity, leadership and progress,
though. Overall, the nationalanthem of Zimbabwe reflects the country's
(27:55):
cultural heritage, a historyof struggle and a strong sense of
patriotism. The anthem is ablend of pride, reverence for the
land, and a call for unity,prosperity and peace. Overall, blessed
be the land of Zimbabwe. He isa patriotic hymn that blends gratitude
for the country's naturalbeauty with pride in its historic
struggle and hope for aprosperous, united future. The lyrics
(28:20):
encourage Zimbabweans to honorthe past, cherish the present, and
look forward to a brightertomorrow through collective effort,
responsible leadership, andthe blessings of the divine. It is
both a reminder of thesacrifice of the past and a call
to protect the gains ofindependence. As always, I've learned
(28:41):
so much in my reading for thisepisode and I've discovered a story
that makes me want to knowmore about a place I'd like to go
to someday, and now forsomething completely different. I'm
just kidding. It's thecredits. The writing, recording and
production for the show aredone by me. I also wrote and played
(29:02):
the theme music and then Iused it with my permission unless
otherwise noted. The anthems Iplay our public domain or some other
equivalently free license orthing I got permission or I have
made a good faith effort toget this time. The audio comes from
the M. Chabisi choir at the2022 Festival of Sound in Harare,
(29:24):
Zimbabwe. I have reached outto the choir via email, but as of
this recording, I've yet tohear back from them. And if you know
how to get a hold of thisgroup, please let me know. My sources
and the specific items Imentioned in the show are contained
in the notes, and the mostdirect way to get to those notes
is@anthemspodcast.com Also,this show is canned credentialed,
(29:48):
which means that you canreport incidences of harassment,
abuse or other harm on theirhotline at 617-249-4255 or on the
website atcreatoraccountabilitynetwork.org or
you can go there and volunteeryour time or join up. As a creator,
(30:09):
I can be found on Facebook andWhatsApp as the anthems podcast.
You should follow me onFacebook because when I post, it's
about the show and you'veheard yet another one of those. For
now, I try to get the episodesshared on whatever platform I can
with the hashtag anthemspod,so it'd be cool if you hashtagged
a post like that too. Maybeit'll start a chain reaction on social
(30:31):
media that somehow gets moredogs and cats adopted out of rescues.
Self fulfilling prophecy. Go.As always, you can email me corrections,
comments, concerns,suggestions, ideas, instructions
on how to do awesome things,or ask me questions@anthemspodmail.com
perhaps you want me to hearexactly how mad you are or how happy
(30:53):
you are with my content. Ifso, call me or text at 1-203-759-8375.
Or better still, leave me areview wherever you can so you can
be part of the reason thatmore people hear me. Or give me a
rating on your podcast app,because that really does help. Maybe
you'll be at an upcoming boardmeeting for the nonprofit you work
(31:16):
for, and you'll piquesomeone's interest by mentioning
a fun fact that you learned inthis very episode. But even if all
you do is listen to one moreof them, then I am quite grateful
to you. So thank you. Untilnext time. Sa.
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