This song was written to pay homage to President Nelson Mandela, still I find there's a fine line between cultural appropriation and cultural pollination, and audiences measure this song in different was. I have been reminded of Billy Holiday's iconic song, "Strange Fruit", and Bob Dylan's songs that elicited similar considerations from others, including Sam Cooke.
Lyrics
“No Holiday for Madiba”
By: Rick Landers © Landers 2019
I’m sitting here in solitaire
Flipping through a magazine
As if you might care
I open to a beauty queen
She’s got bright red hair
Dark brown eyes, just like me
What can this mean?
Got thirty days in this hole
I’m fit to be tied
Uniforms in control
My days are long and
my nights are justified
I’m sitting in No. 5
Barely alive
Seems I’m meant to survive
Falling backwards
Forever it seems
I stand my ground
Things fall apart at the seams
One man forward
Ahead of a dream
One man in chains
I think it’s time for a change
Twenty and seven years
Seems like a lifetime ago
Surrounded by my friends
And loved ones I don’t really know
Can this really be?
This young man’s now grown old
Freedom’s no longer bought and sold
Freedom’s no longer down the road
Falling backwards
Forever it seems
I stand my ground
Things fall apart at the seams
One man forward
Ahead of a dream
One man in chains
I think it’s time for a change
No holiday for Madiba
No holiday for Madiba
No holiday for Madiba
Holiday for you and me
I'm sitting here in solitaire