Wednesday, August 21, 2013

MY LIFE - 50 For My 50th Day 11: "Boy In The Bubble" by Paul Simon and other tunes that remind me of my time in Africa

For an explanation of "50 For My 50th", go here - http://oldermusicgeek.blogspot.com/2013/08/entertainment-50-for-my-50th-50-days-of.html

Well, when I first started this 50 days of music for my 50th birthday, I claimed that these would all be songs that have special meaning to me.

Unfortunately, for this African segment, I'm kinda breaking that rule. I love a lot of African music, but most of it doesn't exactly speak to this white, middle class, midwestern American. Plus, most of it is in languages I don't understand whatsoever. So though I love many African tunes, I can't say they have a "special meaning" to me.

But I did spend 6 1/2 years living in Africa. And it did have a profound effect on me, the way I look at myself as well as the way I look at the world. You have to be pretty self-absorbed not to be affected by living in a completely different culture for so long!

So if these don't exactly speak of my life, they do reflect some of the thoughts, experience, and feelings that my African experience brought me.

I picked Paul Simon's 'Boy In The Bubble" as the first tune for a number of reasons. One, it reflects some of the chaotic feeling that I had living in a strange culture, and one that was next door to apartheid-era South Africa. Two, backing up Paul Simon is a band from the village where I first taught, Tau Ea Matsekha! Three, this album came out just before I left for southern Africa, and was a huge hit and played many times at our Peace Corps parties!

So enjoy a taste of Africa!

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1Vn2SencrSL_0ujzefX_Bfc_j-KJhKJzSUTDJi3CiQs8/edit?usp=sharing



A playlist of tunes that remind me of Africa including "Boy In The Bubble":



Click the link below to listen to my monstrosity of a playlist, OlderMusicGeek's 50th B-Day, on Spotify:
http://open.spotify.com/user/127676752/playlist/1bRKV8LHJIL3JQih1ZSq76




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