I knew Makeba’s signature song, going back to its original American presentation in the 1960s. But until now, I didn’t know the defiant dancehall history behind it, per Wikipedia:
… The song’s title “Pata Pata” means “touch touch” in the Xhosa language, in which the song was originally written and sung. “Pata Pata” was also the name of a style of dance that was popular in the shebeens of Johannesburg’s Townships in the mid-1950s. The dancer crouched before his partner and patted her body to the rhythm of the music as he rose up and she spun around, making hip circles. In another version of the dance,
The male dancers stand in a row with their arms extended out to the front, palms to the floor, while the women pat each in turn in a manner resembling security search body-frisking, after which the men do the same to the women.…
D’ya think Mr. Sullivan had any idea what Ms. Makeba was actually talking about?
phdesmond
Pata pata — the first word in !Xhosa i probably ever learned.
phdesmond
I think i’m confusing Xhosa with !Kung. well, i never went on to learn either.
mrmoshpotato
Mary G
Hoocoodanode?
NotMax
@Mary G
Stop! In the Name of Guv
(With apologies to The Supremes.)
Sab
Wow! I remember this song since forever, and I had no idea what it was about.
raven
@Mary G: Hell, it’s like that half the time!
raven
I never got to see her but I did see Hugh Masekela, Chaka Kahn and Phillip Bailey once. Stimela was once of there best live performances I’ve even seen.
suezboo
A National Treasure. Both Mama Afrika and the times she evokes in this song.