Rodriguez

[bi_janus]

Sixto Rodriguez in South Africa, March 1998
Bi Janus

 

Ave, South Africa, blessed among nations,

and blessed is the great mystery

such that you cannot believe

that the dead is risen and is flesh.

 

Ignored in the Motor City and America,

when you struggled and Afrikaans children

had no voice and no way to help,

Rodriguez gave you a voice

and a vocabulary--"establishment."

 

He is a carpenter to this day,

and lives in his native home.

You took a chance that annunciation

was no scam, that the voice 

would become flesh,

and then the great mystery

in your presence was flesh and sound.

 

Up from The Sewer, bigger than the King

or the Nobel laureate.

[Camy]

A wonderful poem and turn on, so thank you.

And another thank you, too: I'd never heard of Rodriguez, never heard any of his music, never heard of 'Searching for Sugar Man.'

Now I have, and I have to get 'Cold Fact' and see the film.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sixto_Rodriguez

 

[colinian]

Rodriguez was featured on '60 Minutes' (maybe a year ago?) and I thought it was hard to believe that his music was so popular outside of the US and not known here except among a few fans. His songs are amazing.

Colin