In 2004 Joseph was selected by renaissance one, Decibel and the Arts Council of England as one of fifty Black and Asian writers who have made major contributions to contemporary British literature, appearing in the historic Great Day photo. In 2005 he was selected as the British Council’s first Poet in residence at California State University, Los Angeles.
Joseph lectures in creative writing at Birkbeck College, University of London. He is a AHRC scholar and doctoral candidate at Goldsmiths College.
As a musician he has released three critically acclaimed albums with his band the Spasm band; all released to coincide with book publications. His debut album with the band, Leggo de Lion was released in 2007, and featured lyrics taken from his novel The African Origins of UFOs. Bird Head Son followed in 2009, with lyrics from the Bird Head Son collection. The band’s third album Rubber Orchestras was released in 2011, alongside a new collection of poems with the same title.
Joseph has also collaborated with several artists including Archie Shepp, Joseph Bowie, Laurent Garnier, Othello Molineaux, Malcolm Catto, Mop Mop, Robert Aaron, Roger Raspail, Keziah Jones and Jerry Dammers of the Specials as part of the Spatial AKA Orchestra.
Language
Anthony Joseph Lyrics
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How each leaf has its place at the shaded side of the river
The dark dirt under the cocoa onion has a name
For that kind of soil The soft cup of scales
Forming the echeveria has a name, the way it folds
The filament in the light of the firefly - the wick, the tail
Has a name: luciferin, in the production of light
Water in the knee and it has a name - meniscus - effusion
Dividing the meat into chunk and gill
Once, there were still unseen places and things
Corners of experience which had no name
cnd so you could walk upon them
cnd meet them solid for the first time
Be dubwise and dread and hail them up
cnd bump locks head
Dread
cnd my grandmother said that if the flying frog leapt
cnd landed on your face or the soft fold of your arm
That it would stay there cttach itself as if with glue
cnd you would have to iron or steam steel - heat - impress
Upon the frog-back skin till it stick to the stainless heat
Until it release, an' peel off
We returned from country visits, from visiting kin in churches
Hid in bush to find flying frogs perched in corners of the house
Trapped in their silence of peace I never saw their leap
But I seen what hurricanes could do to islands
I seen it on TV and it had a name
Nigropalmatus
Hylidae
Rhacophorus - fringe-limbed or marvellous
Ecnomiohyla
Polypedates - in the calabash tree
My cousin clvin and the hillside
where bananas are grown from seed
This place has a dance, and it has a name
Even vinegar has a seed
We were wild, we were wild children
We had names with which we moved through space like blades
It is language which calls all things to creation
cnd language is the origin of the world
The word
Was the great mass of a black star exploding
It was the beat of a drum
The vibration of the body
Was to bear the boom, the thrust into breath, and breath
Into fire and fire into rain and rain onto ocean
cnd ocean onto shore and shore upon rivers
cnd rivers upon land and rivers which pierced each region
With vines and veins and vitamins
c great storm was coming
The earth would shake
It would tumble, it would break
Each flash of lightning
Was a blade flung against temptation
But our little house would withstand it all
It would not fail, it would not fall
Language
Language
We held still
Within the great torrents of rain
Peering into the beginning of the world
It was language which formed nations
cnd decolonised our minds
c new language
Rooted deep in the resonance of the drum
Rooted down down into the centre
Root strata - in every beat and bell
In every scope of feeling
Like wind in the arc of the horn
In the cry of the horn
It was language which freed us from ourselves
Language
Language
Maculate
The dirty bone
Intractable
Unnameable
Language, language
Fluctuant
Leviathan
c molecule
c homecoming
c people who
cnd the hauteur
cnd the halter back of cousin Maria -1978, 1982
The brightness of the image
Remaining in the photograph
Space
The interstice (of loss)
Between canvas and paint
The lyrics of Anthony Joseph's song "Language" explore the power and significance of language in naming and understanding the world around us. The song starts by highlighting how we have names for everything now, from the smallest details like the type of soil to more complex structures like the filament in the light of a firefly. This emphasis on naming signifies our desire to categorize and label everything, showing how language has become a tool for ordering and organizing our experiences.
The second verse delves into the idea that there was a time when there were still unseen places and things that had no name. This suggests a sense of wonder and mystery, where one could encounter something for the first time and engage with it fully, without preconceived notions or expectations. The reference to the flying frog attaches a symbolic meaning to this idea, as the frog represents something unfamiliar and potentially transformative. The line about having to "iron or steam steel - heat - impress upon the frog-back skin till it stick to the stainless heat until it release, an' peel off" implies a sense of effort and persistence required to understand and assimilate new experiences.
The final verse addresses the transformative power of language on a societal level. It acknowledges that language has the ability to create and shape nations, as well as decolonize minds. The mention of a great storm and the imagery of lightning blades flung against temptation symbolize the challenges and obstacles faced by marginalized communities in their struggle for self-empowerment and liberation. Despite these challenges, the song ends on an optimistic note, highlighting how language ultimately frees us from ourselves, allowing us to transcend limitations and connect with others on a deeper level.
Overall, "Language" is a poetic exploration of the role of language in our perception of the world, and how it can both empower and limit us in our quest for understanding and self-expression.
Lyrics © O/B/O APRA AMCOS
Written by: Andrew John, Jason Yarde
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@kentglenzer2755
Magnificent. Thank you. I needed to hear this right now.
@Luakidinos
This is probably one of the best poems i have ever heard. Shout to all the people who are fighting for the recovery of our memory. Language, according to Prof ngugi wa thiong'o is a place where our collective memory resides. So yes, everything has its name and it’s time for Afrikan people to remember our names, mold and shape the world according to the imagination of our own and not that of the colonizers…the people who tarnished our name.
LANGUAGE ✊🏾🖤🌍🛖