If you have not seen the film, please watch it. You’ll be glad you did. Trust me on this. I asked our Kerry about him, and her immediate reply was: "I know the words to every song he ever wrote. That story is 100% true for me and thousands like me. My kids sing along to his songs, as they've heard Cold Fact since birth."
Okay, so obviously you MUST watch the film. In
the meantime, I note that Rodriguez is currently on tour in the United
States; he has many sold-out dates on his current tour, including (close
to me) the Beacon Theater in NYC and the Somerville Theater in Boston
next week. As it should be.
See
for yourself. Here is his August 2012 performance on the David
Letterman show. As Letterman says, Rodriguez’s story is “jaw-droppingly
fascinating” and “incomprehensible, but true.” A link to the lyrics for this song is posted below.
I
am close to speechless about this, friends. Enjoy! As always, please
write something new for this prompt, and I look forward to reading your
poems.
The lyrics for "Crucify Your Mind" by Rodriguez, from the album Cold Fact, can be found HERE.
27 comments:
Oh my this is a challenging prompt! I have heard of the film but did not know what it's about. I listened to the clip and will do my best! I am unfamiliar with this singer and his story. Now I will have to look it up!
Saw the film a couple of months ago and gave it an "A" on my film review blog. How did he catch on in South Africa and not in the U.S.? He just struck a chord (pardon the pun) with the people there. It was when apartheid still existed, and the anti-apartheid forces found something in his lyrics they could rally around. Also, it was before the internet. Today, the news of an artist catching fire like that in one part of the world would be all over twitter, and thus a secret to no one, but it apparently was to most of us back then.
The rumours of Rodriguez' death was largely fueled by the fact that there was no word from or about him in the US music charts. Just the 2 albums then nothing. South Africa was under heavy overseas boycott too, cut off from the rest of the world and living in a bubble of censorship created by the ruling party, with movies, books music, news reports..all falling under heavy censorship. Rodriguez was underground and they could do nothing about it... a bird in the hand. When we watched Searching for Sugarman as a family, there was not one of us who didn't weep. Such a humble man - if anyone deserved a fairytale ending in this life, it was him.
Many thanks to Marian for bringing his legacy to Real Toads.
Marian, I was unfamiliar with this man or his music before today, but now I'm very taken with his story. I have read much that I could find on the net and I'll watch the documentary over his weekend. Thanks so much for the introduction.
Sorry, my first link didn't work. Perhaps you can remove it. Fat fingers on the keyboard I think :-)
gotcha, Ellecee, you're all set. a lovely poem, too :)
i'm blown away by Rodriguez, by his story, by his music and words, by his impact, all of it. it's unbelievable!
I haven't watched the film yet, and give you a song in first response to his song and lyrics. He, she, it, countries, worlds . . . just that one song made me think of Leonard Cohen in voice as it fell into my heart. The song, your essay, and Kerry's comment above have left me so moved that I am eager to acquaint myself with the rest of his work.
i watched the film with my mouth hanging open, exclaiming "what!" and "WHAT!" and "unbelievable!" and "can you imagine!" the whole way through. imagining our Kerry in the audience of the enormous show he first performed in South Africa (which she says she attended in spirit but not in body, as it's far away from where she lives). i was and still am so blown away by the whole thing! i wanted to surprise Kerry with the prompt but almost immediately i had to write her, shrieking in ALL CAPS about it, asking questions and continuing to exclaim my disbelief. fantastic! truly.
oh and also, i'm broken up about the passing of Roger Ebert. here is his review of Searching For Sugar Man:
http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20120808/REVIEWS/120809984
Loved the movie... will give this a go.
This is difficult for me, Marian. His words are so inculcated in my consciousness that I can't find words to say anything to match his poetry. He got there first.
well, you know nobody's obligated to respond to any individual prompt, Kerry. i can kinda imagine what it's like for you, but only kinda. take it easy on yourself. or write something tangentially related? i'm so easy... i have no expectations for what anyone will get (or not get) from my prompts. xoxo
I need to watch this documentary!!! Thank you Marian for shining the light on him!!
It's done :D
After your introduction and then reading about him and his story online I will definitely try to find the movie -- Netflixs maybe? Amazing how clueless one can be about the goings on in the rest of the world. Thanks again for the introduction.
if you don't find it on Netflix i believe we rented it from Amazon.
Thanks to Marian for introducing his music to us/me ~ I read and listened to his music and was just amazed at the lyrics and his place in history ~
I posted mine, then forgot to link it to Real Toads for an hour and a half.
Sigh.
Thanks for this fascinating challege, Marian!
K
living near Lake Erie, i grew up listening to AM radio from Detroit. sure as hell wish i had heard Sixto Rodriguez on the radio as a kid.
Thanks for the info. about this musician. I ended up writing about something else, but he's very interesting and I'll watch the movie.
Well...I did sort of manage something (though I'm not thrilled with it). I'll be back to read yours tomorrow! Thanks again for the prompt!
Thanks for the prompt. I was not aware of this legendary singer. I read about him and wrote a few lines ...( may be, its kiddish..but, felt very deeply about this old man..'
I'll be busy this weekend, but, I would surely come back to read others....
I have posted from my wordpress account. The url is different..
Thank you kindly for the introduction -- I may watch this with my kids.
We finally watched the documentary last night and hubby and I enjoyed it. My friend in Detroit is saying that they knew about him, and now they are petitioning him to be Mayor for Detroit. You can read his comments in my blog post ~
cool, Grace!
I'm not really into movies like others.
I did a cinquain!
Thanks Marian for the prompt. It is such an incredible story.
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