http://johnellis.bandcamp.com/edit_album?id=971191992

.

You can also download "Get You" from the SA iTunes store.

Unfortunately, Human Rights Day in SA in 2013 is a day for drinking, missing work and avoiding SA president Jacob Zuma's stilted, halting, poorly-delivered and utterly unconvincingspeechon 'socio-economic freedom for all'. In South Africa, 'human rights' have come to mean "the rights of the entitled and empowered to loot and pillage a powerless nation in the name of 'victory over apartheid' ".

We have managed to get our human rights all wrong. I wrote a song to that effect a few years ago, and it came out on last year's "Rural" album.

History sadly shows us that protest music cannot change the world, but that shouldn't stop songwriters from at least saying something, should it?

Watch and listen to "Rights All Wrong"here. And download the song for free, for the week of Human Rights Day in SA, here.

A luta continua.

Unfortunately, Human Rights Day in SA in 2013 is a day for drinking, missing work and avoiding SA president Jacob Zuma's stilted, halting, poorly-delivered and utterly unconvincing speech on 'socio-economic freedom for all'. In South Africa, 'human rights' have come to mean "the rights of the entitled and empowered to loot and pillage a powerless nation in the name of 'victory over apartheid' ".

We have managed to get our human rights all wrong. I wrote a song to that effect a few years ago, and it came out on last year's "Rural" album.

History sadly shows us that protest music cannot change the world, but that shouldn't stop songwriters from at least saying something, should it?

Watch and listen to "Rights All Wrong" here.

A luta continua.

PROTEST SONGS (July 2010)

I’m very excited. I’ve just been commissioned by ANC Youth League President Julius Malema to write songs about politics. There I was, wondering how the recent tirades on my debut album would come across, when all of a sudden, Bra Julius opens the floodgates! Last week, he addressed the Southern African Music Conference in Johnnesburg and all but handed me my manifesto. “Never dissociate music from politics”, he said; “Music is politics”. Wow! Is that permission or what?

During the apartheid years, most political protest music was made, understandably, by black musicians. Sankomoto, Lucky Dube and Hugh Masekela, to name but a small few, expressed their frustration and rage outstandingly. There were significant contributions from Whitey, too: rock bands like Dog Detachment, Bright Blue and Tribe After Tribe also gave voice to white indignation. Anti-apartheid music was, however, the black musician’s domain, and to a huge degree, rightly so.

Fast-forward 20 years, and what does Bra Julius see? “Bling”. Lots of it. “All of you grew up dedicating your life to bling”, he told his young, star-struck audience. “We must be like Venezuela, where there is a hit song about Che Guevara. We must be more like South America”. Yes, Julius, yes! At last, an inclusive statement from one of the most racist politicians South Africa has ever produced! OK, fair enough, he’s not exactly talking to Rich Suburban Whitey, he’s talking to his Peeps. What do I have to protest about anyway? I benefited from apartheid, I vote white liberal, I live far from a disgusting township, I can emigrate when I want to, and my skin colour is wrong.

Well, Bra, let me tell you. This is a democracy now, which means everyone, and that means everyone, has a voice. I agree with you, Comrade, that politics and music are a potent mix, however ineloquently you phrased that. Watch out, though, that someone, regardless of his or her skin colour, doesn’t come along and turn that pointed finger back in on itself. This isn’t ‘us vs. them’ anymore, it’s ‘us vs. YOU’. You Glorious Victorious Revolutionary Leaders are answerable to us now, and so far, we’re not happy. That ‘us’, by the way, is comprised of all South Africa’s skin colours. It’s no longer Moral High Ground Black pitted against Evil Racist Minority White. The ANC is in charge, and so far, despite Madiba’s outstanding example, you have failed everybody and broken every promise you made. And damn right, we’re gonna sing about it. Be careful what you encourage, Bra, you might just get it.

Oh and Comrade, one more thing: you’re the first target. Check out the 7th song on that John Ellis guy’s “Come Out Fighting” album. Champagne Revolutionaries Unite!

(Thanks to Carien du Plessis’s article, “Make Political Music, Not Love”, published on July 8 2010 in The Star).

http://m.iol.co.za/article/view/s/11/a/14017

"If Sheryl Crow were a South African man, she would probably want to sound like John Ellis. Surprising and beautifully sentimental, 'Rural' addresses real issues without preaching or losing sight of the music. Music these days is often too concerned with image; so much so that even heartfelt songs get lost under a deluge of substandard lyrics. 'Rural' is honest, earthy and full of texture. Ellis's vocals perfectly top off excellent compositions. [IPOD READY:] 'Rights All Wrong' sets the record straight, while 'Come Home' takes us back to the heart of what it means to be human. " [5 stars]

Jason Alexander Basson, GQ SA March 2013 (p.47)

https://soundcloud.com/johnelliscoza/04-government-song?in=johnelliscoza/sets/come-out-fighting

RURAL

JOHN ELLIS

By DIANE COETZER

JANUARY 08, 2013

Cut free from his Tree63 worship roots and the brash constraints of rock, John Ellis has turned in a record of such simplicity and elegance it feels like he’s finally come home. Recorded acoustically in Knysna with only drummer Barry van Zyl as accompaniment, Ellis moves softly into Ron Sexsmith terrain on “Any Minute Now” while on “To Aliena” it’s as if he has stepped onto the stage at a gathering of the Durban Folk Club, circa 1970, just his acoustic guitar in hand. A diehard Dylan fan, there’s also no hiding Ellis’ musical hero’s influence on the foot-stomping “Jack Kerouac’s Blues” but the elegiac, atmospheric “Back of Beyond” signals Ellis’ ability to express a musical voice that’s all his own. The only misstep on the 14-track record is the political material. “We Are Not A Nation Yet” and “Rights All Wrongs” are heartfelt but don’t come close to the emotional heft of the personal material.

http://www.rollingstone.co.za/albumsrev/363-john-ellis