Бико: Песня протеста против апартеида Питера Гэбриэла

1980 song by Peter Gabriel

"Biko" is an anti apartheid protest song by English rock musician Peter Gabriel. It was released by Charisma Records as a single from Gabriel's eponymous third album in 1980. The song is a musical eulogy, inspired by the death of the black South African anti apartheid activist Steve Biko in police custody on 12 September 1977. Gabriel wrote the song after hearing of Biko's death on the news. Influenced by Gabriel's growing interest in African musical styles, the song carried a sparse two tone beat played on Brazilian drum and vocal percussion, in addition to a distorted guitar, and a synthesised bagpipe sound. The lyrics, which included phrases in Xhosa, describe Biko's death and the violence under the apartheid government. The song is book ended with recordings of songs sung at Biko's funeral: the album version begins with "Ngomhla sibuyayo" and ends with "Senzeni Na? ", while the single versions end with "Nkosi Sikelel' iAfrika". "Biko" reached No. 38 on the British charts, and was positively received, with critics praising the instrumentation, the lyrics, and Gabriel's vocals. A 2013 commentary called it a "hauntingly powerful" song, while review website AllMusic described it as a "stunning achievement for its time". Several musicians wrote songs about Biko, including Tom Paxton, Peter Hammill, Steel Pulse, and Tappa Zukie. The 7 and 12 inch single versions ended instead with an excerpt from "Nkosi Sikelel iAfrika", a song which would later become South Africa's National Anthem. The German version of the song began and ended with "Nkosi Sikelel iAfrika". The recording ends with a double drum beat reminiscent of gun shots that cuts off the singers at the funeral, seen as representing a repressive government. The recording at the beginning of the song fades into a two toned percussion, played on a Brazilian Surdo drum, described by Gabriel as the "spine of the piece". "Biko" makes use of a "hypnotic" drum beat throughout the song, influenced strongly by African rhythms Gabriel had heard. In particular, Gabriel would credit the soundtrack LP Dingaka with influencing the percussion of the track. Music scholar Michael Drewett writes that Gabriel tried to create an "exotic" African beat "without really approximating the sound he imitated", thus creating a "pseudo African" beat. The tune is punctuated with vocal percussive sounds that have a "primordial" feeling, combining Gaelic and African influences. The drums are overlaid with an artificially distorted two chord guitar sound, which fades out briefly during the vocal percussion, before returning during the first verse. The first verse describing Biko's death is followed by a distinct chord change before the Xhosa invocation "Yehla Moya". The sound of bagpipes, created with a synthesiser, enters the song during the interlude between the verses. Played in a "mournful" minor key, they have been variously described as creating a "funeral" and a "militaristic" atmosphere. The bagpipes continue alongside the drums and guitar through the second verse, followed by an interlude identical to the first. A snare drum is also added to the sound for the second and third verses. The third verse concludes with a non verbal chant following the chord progression of the song, while the climax is a chorus of male voices, accompanied by bagpipes and drums.

Gabriel provided lead vocals and piano. The guitarist for "Biko" was David Rhodes, Gabriel's longtime collaborator. Other participants included Jerry Marotta on drums, Phil Collins on surdo, Larry Fast on synths and synthesised bagpipes, and Dave Ferguson on screeches. "Biko" was first released as a single in 1980. Gabriel donated the proceeds from both versions of the single to the Black Consciousness Movement in South Africa. These donations would total more than 50,000 pounds. The B side of the 7" version contained Gabriel's version of the Ndebele folk song "Shosholoza", while the 12" version also carried a German vocal version of Gabriel's 1977 track "Here Comes the Flood". "Biko" was included on Gabriel's third solo album Peter Gabriel III (1980) (a. k. a. Melt) released by Charisma Records in 1980. At seven and one half minutes, it was the album's longest song. The track was later included on his 1990 compilation Shaking the Tree: Sixteen Golden Greats.

Gabriel sang the piece at Nelson Mandela 70th Birthday Tribute concert at Wembley Stadium in 1988. The concert featured a number of well known artists, including Dire Straits, Miriam Makeba, Simple Minds, Eurythmics, and Tracy Chapman. During his live performances of "Biko", Gabriel frequently concluded asking the audience to engage in political action, saying "I've done what I can, the rest is up to you." It was often the last song of a performance, with the band members gradually leaving the stage during the song's concluding drum coda. A live version, recorded in July 1987 at the Blossom Music Center in Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio, was released as a single later that year, to promote Richard Attenborough's Biko biopic Cry Freedom. The music video consists of clips from the film and Gabriel singing. The song did not appear in the actual film. "Biko" was covered by a number of well known artists. Robert Wyatt's 1984 version from his Work in Progress EP made #35 in that year's John Peel Festive Fifty. "Biko" was featured prominently in "Evan", the penultimate episode of the first season of the American television show Miami Vice in 1985. Folk musicians and activist Joan Baez recorded a version on her 1987 album Recently. Simple Minds released a cover version on their 1989 album Street Fighting Years, a version later featured on other collections of their music. It was covered by Cameroonian musician Manu Dibango on his 1994 album Wakafrika. Dibango's version also featured Gabriel, Sinéad O'Connor, Ladysmith Black Mambazo, Geoffrey Oryema, and Alex Brown. Folk rock musician Paul Simon recorded a cover of the song for inclusion on the 2013 Gabriel tribute album And I'll Scratch Yours.