rebecca

partially functional chaos.

[imthegodofthissmallthing]

so i think johnny clegg might be my new fav singer of all time???

warning: very cringe ramble incoming

i've liked him for ages bc of what he represented and stood for and because he was such a tangible link back to south africa, but i only knew like 4 of his songs, and then this year i started listening to more of his stuff and oml

i think he's been my favourite for a while but i just never considered the fact that my 'fav band/singer/musician/music artist of all time' could change; for my whole life (all eighteen warped years of it), my favourite band/singer has been dire straits/mark knopfler (his solo stuff), and i grew up with that music (much more than johnny clegg, who's music i first heard when i was about ten) so it was not only my favourite because of the music itself, but because of it's significance and meaning to me.

but i realised today that i've listened to johnny clegg way more than i've listened to dire straits this year (i don't use spotify but if i did i'm 99% sure johnny clegg would be my top artist), and his music makes me feel ways that no other music has ever.

i think one of the first reasons i grew to love him so much is because growing up i felt much more connected to my south african roots rather than the english part of my nationality, but i felt a bit uncomfortable because i felt like people would judge me for claiming to be south african and being so involved in my family's culture when i was born and raised in england. this was actually less of an issue in secondary school, but it's definitely something i've been struggling with since i started sixth form; i took the change of school & location (my sixth form is in a whole different city to my secondary school) as a chance to reinvent myself, to become who i'd wanted to be all the years in secondary school when i felt too insecure, and this included being open about and embracing my south african roots. i loved it at first, and i largely still do, but there's always a small part of me that feels uncertain and wonders if i'm being too over the top and milking it too much - i do it because i genuinely love south africa (the country, the culture, the people) and i am proud to be 'from' there, but i do worry that i come across as pretentious and attention-seeking to others. johnny clegg's music helped me so much with this because it's so full of pure love and admiration of africa - it's geography, it's societies, it's cultures & traditions - and i really related to it because it felt like someone had taken all of my feelings, all the yearning i felt for south africa (i think i've been back maybe twice since 2014), and put it into music, made whole albums out of it - basically, he got it.

and then it's the way his songs are so full of emotion, not just in lyrics but in the music & melodies themselves - love and longing and loss and grief and joy and excitement and pride and friendship and injustice and peace and community and journeying and growth and a bone-deep yearning, for specific people and places (specifically africa) and times, and STANDING UP FOR WHAT YOU BELIEVE IN (asimbonanga much), it feels like his music was written right out of his soul, and i can feel it in mine. i can go days and days with his lyrics in my head, and they mean more to me than any other song ever has. i want to get his lyrics tattooed on my heart, i want his songs to be playing in the background of my life as long as i live, i want to be able to listen to him in the best and the worst moments, and all the moments in between.

also shout out to all the respective members of savuka & juluka! the bands johnny formed to make his music, who i have infinite love and admiration for.

if you scroll back on my account a bit you'll see posts that are just random johnny clegg lyrics i like, and i might continue posting them because

IN SHORT i love his music so much and it mean so very much to me (as does he) and i want to share it because it's beautiful and i think he deserves more appreciation outside of south africa.

[imthegodofthissmallthing]

yk what at this point i should just make this into a johnny clegg fan page.

[imthegodofthissmallthing]

so i think johnny clegg might be my new fav singer of all time???

warning: very cringe ramble incoming

i've liked him for ages bc of what he represented and stood for and because he was such a tangible link back to south africa, but i only knew like 4 of his songs, and then this year i started listening to more of his stuff and oml

i think he's been my favourite for a while but i just never considered the fact that my 'fav band/singer/musician/music artist of all time' could change; for my whole life (all eighteen warped years of it), my favourite band/singer has been dire straits/mark knopfler (his solo stuff), and i grew up with that music (much more than johnny clegg, who's music i first heard when i was about ten) so it was not only my favourite because of the music itself, but because of it's significance and meaning to me.

but i realised today that i've listened to johnny clegg way more than i've listened to dire straits this year (i don't use spotify but if i did i'm 99% sure johnny clegg would be my top artist), and his music makes me feel ways that no other music has ever.

i think one of the first reasons i grew to love him so much is because growing up i felt much more connected to my south african roots rather than the english part of my nationality, but i felt a bit uncomfortable because i felt like people would judge me for claiming to be south african and being so involved in my family's culture when i was born and raised in england. this was actually less of an issue in secondary school, but it's definitely something i've been struggling with since i started sixth form; i took the change of school & location (my sixth form is in a whole different city to my secondary school) as a chance to reinvent myself, to become who i'd wanted to be all the years in secondary school when i felt too insecure, and this included being open about and embracing my south african roots. i loved it at first, and i largely still do, but there's always a small part of me that feels uncertain and wonders if i'm being too over the top and milking it too much - i do it because i genuinely love south africa (the country, the culture, the people) and i am proud to be 'from' there, but i do worry that i come across as pretentious and attention-seeking to others. johnny clegg's music helped me so much with this because it's so full of pure love and admiration of africa - it's geography, it's societies, it's cultures & traditions - and i really related to it because it felt like someone had taken all of my feelings, all the yearning i felt for south africa (i think i've been back maybe twice since 2014), and put it into music, made whole albums out of it - basically, he got it.

and then it's the way his songs are so full of emotion, not just in lyrics but in the music & melodies themselves - love and longing and loss and grief and joy and excitement and pride and friendship and injustice and peace and community and journeying and growth and a bone-deep yearning, for specific people and places (specifically africa) and times, and STANDING UP FOR WHAT YOU BELIEVE IN (asimbonanga much), it feels like his music was written right out of his soul, and i can feel it in mine. i can go days and days with his lyrics in my head, and they mean more to me than any other song ever has. i want to get his lyrics tattooed on my heart, i want his songs to be playing in the background of my life as long as i live, i want to be able to listen to him in the best and the worst moments, and all the moments in between.

also shout out to all the respective members of savuka & juluka! the bands johnny formed to make his music, who i have infinite love and admiration for.

if you scroll back on my account a bit you'll see posts that are just random johnny clegg lyrics i like, and i might continue posting them because

IN SHORT i love his music so much and it mean so very much to me (as does he) and i want to share it because it's beautiful and i think he deserves more appreciation outside of south africa.

[imthegodofthissmallthing]

i'm back!!! :D

finally remembered my pw for this account and it's been MONTHS so i'm going to absolutely spam posts hehe >:) also a large portion of these posts are probs just going to be me ranting about music (specifically johnny clegg) lol

[imthegodofthissmallthing]

btw if i start posting random ass quotes it's bc i've been listening to too much johnny clegg :)

[imthegodofthissmallthing]

‘deliwe can you see the clouds rolling in? the wind in the north has changed and it blows your way. whatever will you do when the rain starts to fall?

will you join the swallows and fly away?’

- johnny clegg, deliwe

[imthegodofthissmallthing]

‘i can speak a little bit of english, i am a seed, i have survived. i am the fire that has engulfed him,

i am a third world child.’

- johnny clegg, third world child

[imthegodofthissmallthing]

‘i hate the world and it doesn’t care.’

- dodie, all my daughters

[imthegodofthissmallthing]

‘i know that time is a distance, distance is a space. i've come so far to find you, it's you i can't replace.’

- johnny clegg, i call your name

[imthegodofthissmallthing]

‘would you leave this land that's green, where your home straddles the earth? leave the winds and the blessing of the bushland?

you are a child of africa, you are a wilderness.’

- johnny clegg, deliwe

[imthegodofthissmallthing]

‘i never knew whom i could love more, you or the land.’

- johnny clegg, december african rain

[imthegodofthissmallthing]

literally am one of the most impulsive ppl to exist and i’m still wondering how it hasn’t ruined more friendships

[imthegodofthissmallthing]

i don’t understand how ppl can so easily believe in a god? like the world is falling apart, the worst are happening to the kindest people and ppl are sitting there like ‘yeah it’s all part of gOd’S pLaN.’

[imthegodofthissmallthing]

‘was there any other way? a different path, a different day?  every lover walking free,

now rid of me.’

- dodie, all my daughters

[imthegodofthissmallthing]

ok but when someone's wearing a winter coat and you go to hug them and they open the coat and you hug them inside the coat and they close the coat around you and it's so warm and cosy and loving and easy and it's just hhhhhh yes

[imthegodofthissmallthing]

unmatched experiences / feelings

- sitting on the ground outside, drawing in the dirt/picking at the grass while talking to someone - listening to your fav song while staring out the window in a moving car/train/bus - the weird dizzy/brain squeezy feeling when a plane first takes off - when something completely random unearths a previously forgotten but happy old memory - hearing a song you haven’t heard for ages and remembering all the lyrics - being home alone and playing music super loudly and singing & dancing completely freely, without any fear of judgement

[imthegodofthissmallthing]

do you ever just

HONEY THERE'S NO CREMORA IN THE REFRIGERATOR

ᴵᵀ'ˢ ᴺᴼᵀ ᴵᴺˢᴵᴰᴱ ᴵᵀ'ˢ ᴼᴺ ᵀᴼᴾ

IT'S NOT INSIDE IT'S ONNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNN TOP

[imthegodofthissmallthing]

i have no memory of making this post

[imthegodofthissmallthing]

can i pls have the part of my brain responsible for catching feelings surgically removed bc it’s caused me way too much trouble this year :))

[imthegodofthissmallthing]

update i got another crush and it's also painful please help