Take Up The Gun And Establish Self-Rule

Transfer #2: The ZANU Choir's Pamberi ne Chimurenga

(back cover)

ZANU is the Zimbabwe African National Union, the political wing of the Maoist faction of the majority-rule movement in Zimbabwe in the 1970s; the militant wing being ZANLA, the Zimbabwe African National Liberation Army. They and ZAPU—the Zimbabwe African People's Union, the Soviet backed faction (with its Zimbabwe People's Revolutionary Army, ZIPRA)—used song to stir up the masses. "Chimurenga" is shona for "struggle"; these are songs of the struggle.

This LP, recorded in the soldier camps sometime in the 1970s, most likely in Mozambique (see Thomas Turino's Nationalists, Cosmopolitans, and Popular Music in Zimbabwe for info, especially pp. 206–207), contains folk songs, church songs and European choral music with the words changed to spread the revolutionary message. The idea was to use songs familiar to the people, allowing for easy teaching. Most songs are purely vocal, since instruments were not widely available in the soldier's camps; but a few have really great hand percussion.

My favorite track is the first one, "Zvinozibwa NeZANU," apparently hymn-based, according to Turino. It tells the story of ZANU:

of how "The sons and daughters of Zimbabwe came together to form a Party," and how they "chose Mugabe to lead the people." It told how "after our leaders left the country, we followed them, one by one in small groups until there were many of us." The song tells of how nationalist leaders were jailed and murdered, and concludes, "Now we are armed to the teeth, Our soliders are spoiling for a fight" (Turino, p. 211)