Africa (idea)

So say the liner notes, "One doesn't necessarily have to understand Ms. Makeba's native tongue, or speak French, to comprehend the depth and scope of this musical blend." Stop reading there; the rest is yap yap yap. This bit is important though. You're probably not going to understand what she's singing, but it's no big deal. Her sound and rhythm are the important parts, she could be singing her grocery list for all I care. After lots of listening, I've started to supply English approximations of her lyrics ("a cheek on my daughter, "poking a goose head.") It's an odd surprise when she starts speaking English on one track, and a worse surprise when what she's saying is a pretty horrible story. Maybe we'll skip that song and go back to the imaginary grocery list.

Her voice tells me everything there is to know about being lithe and fluid. Listen to tracks 11 and 12, and I dare you not to envision a tall gleaming African woman swaying and shimmering on the veldt. I dare you not to want to be her, at least with your hands, like butterflies in the air. Maybe Africa doesn't have butterflies - fine, be a gazelle, be a veldt-y, reedy plant thing, but I promise you, you will imagine yourself there in her village, in the dry African air.

This has always been good afterglow music for me. Mind out of the gutter, Tiger. I just mean, it makes excellent "boy do I ever feel good about this stuff going down in my life" music. Soothing, then peppy, then sexy, she's all over the spectrum, and it's nice.

The instruments are lovely but kept to a respectful minimum - a guitar being plucked, something maraca-like being gently shi-shished. The spotlight is where it should be: on Miriam. I only wish the songs were longer - it seems that just when she's getting into a nice repetition, just when I could almost sing along with her, she's on to another melody. A little frustrating, but also makes me want to listen to it some more, and then a little more. It's one of the very few albums I ever listen to more than once in a row. It works well on repeat; each rhythm builds and flips into the next one, like a paper chain, and the last leads into the first, and you kind of just never want her to shut up, ever. You can tell she's smiling when she sings. I like that.