Sometimes called Le Zoulou Blanc, he is an important figure in South African popular music history, with songs that mix Zulu with English lyrics and African with various Western music styles.
Clegg was born in Bacup, Lancashire, to an English father and a Rhodesian mother. Clegg's mother's family were Jewish immigrants from Poland, and Clegg had a secular Jewish upbringing, learning about the Ten Commandments but refusing to have a bar mitzvah or even associate with other Jewish children at school. His parents divorced when he was still an infant, and he moved with his mother to Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe) and then, at the age of 6, to South Africa, also spending less than a year in Israel during childhood.
As an adolescent in Johannesburg's northern suburbs, he encountered the demi-monde of the city's Zulu migrant workers' music and dance. Under the tutelage of Charlie Mzila, a flat cleaner by day and musician by night, Clegg mastered both the Zulu language and the maskandi guitar and isishameni dance styles of the migrants. Clegg's involvement with black musicians often led to arrests for trespassing on government property and for contravening the Group Areas Act. He was first arrested at the age of 15 for violating apartheid-era laws in South Africa banning people of different races from congregating together after curfew hours. At the age of 17, he met Sipho Mchunu, a Zulu migrant worker with whom he began performing music. The partnership, which they named Johnny & Sipho and then Juluka, was profiled in the 1970s television documentary Beats of the Heart: Rhythm of Resistance.
As a young man, Clegg pursued an academic career for four years, lecturing at the University of the Witwatersrand (Wits) and the University of Natal, and writing several seminal scholarly papers on Zulu music and dance. In the early stages of his musical career, Clegg combined his music with the study of anthropology at Wits, where he was influenced, among others, by the work of David Webster, a social anthropologist who was later assassinated in 1989. He preceded each song with snippets of Zulu culture, information, commentary, humor and personal anecdotes relevant and unique to that song. An engaged social anthropologist, he not only mastered the theories but delved into the culture and disseminated it.
Juluka was an unusual musical partnership for the time in South Africa, with a white man (Clegg) and a black man (Mchunu) performing together. The band, which grew to a six-member group (with three white musicians and three black musicians) by the time it released its first album Universal Men in 1979, faced harassment and censorship, with Clegg later remarking that it was "impossible" to perform in public in South Africa.[9] The group tested the apartheid-era laws, touring and performing in private venues, including universities, churches, hostels, and even private homes in order to attract an audience, as national broadcasters would not play their music. Just as unusually, the band's music combined Zulu, Celtic, and rock elements, with both English and isiZulu lyrics. Those lyrics often contained coded political messages and references to the battle against apartheid, although Clegg has maintained that Juluka was not originally intended to be a political band. "Politics found us," he told The Baltimore Sun in 1996. In a 1989 interview with the Sunday Times, Clegg denied the label of "political activist." "For me a political activist is someone who has committed himself to a particular ideology. I don’t belong to any political party. I stand for human rights."
Juluka's music was both implicitly and explicitly political; not only was the fact of the success of the band (which openly celebrated African culture in a bi-racial band) a thorn in the flesh of a political system based on racial separation, the band also produced some explicitly political songs. For example, the album Work for All (which includes a song with the same title) picked up on South African trade union slogans in the mid-1980s. As a result of their political messages and racial integration, Clegg and other band members were arrested several times and concerts routinely broken up.
Despite being ignored and often harassed by the South African government at home, Juluka were able to tour internationally, playing in Europe, Canada, and the United States, and had two platinum and five gold albums, becoming an international success. The group was disbanded in 1985, when Mchunu returned to his rural home to care for his family.
Together with the black musician and dancer Dudu Zulu, Clegg went on to form his second inter-racial band, Savuka, in 1986, continuing to blend African music with European influences. The group's first album, Third World Child, broke international sales records in several European countries, including France. The band went on to record several more albums, including Heat, Dust and Dreams, which received a Grammy Award nomination. Johnny Clegg and Savuka played both at home and abroad, even though Clegg's refusal to stop performing in apartheid-era South Africa created tensions with the international anti-apartheid movement and led to his expulsion from the British Musicians' Union. In one instance, the band drew such a large crowd in Lyon that Michael Jackson cancelled a concert there, complaining that Clegg and his group had "stolen all his fans". In 1993, the band dissolved after Dudu Zulu was shot and killed while attempting to mediate a taxi war.
Briefly reunited in the mid-1990s, Clegg and Mchunu reformed Juluka, released a new album, and toured throughout the world in 1996 with King Sunny Ade. Since then, Clegg has recorded several solo albums. His touring schedule was abbreviated in 2017 after undergoing surgery for pancreatic cancer, and Clegg performed his last scheduled tour date in Maritius in October of 2018. During one concert in 1999, he was joined onstage by South African President Nelson Mandela, who danced as he sang the protest song Savuka had dedicated to him, "Asimbonanga". Asimbonanga became something of an anthem for the Mass Democratic Movement's umbrella organisation, the United Democratic Front. During Mandela's illness and death in 2013, the video of the concert attracted considerable media attention outside South Africa.
His song "Scatterlings of Africa" gave him his only entries in the UK Singles Chart to date, reaching No. 44 in February 1983 with Juluka and 75 in May 1987 as Johnny Clegg and Savuka. The following year the song was featured on the soundtrack to the 1988 Oscar-winning film Rain Man.
His song "Life is a Magic Thing" was featured in Ferngully.
Savuka's song "Dela" was featured on the soundtrack of the 1997 film George of the Jungle and its 2003 sequel, while "Great Heart" was the title song for the 1986 film Jock of the Bushveld. "Cruel, Crazy, Beautiful World" was featured in the 1990 film Opportunity Knocks and 1991 film Career Opportunities. "Great Heart" was also the end credits song for the 2000 Disney movie Whispers: An Elephant's Tale. In 2002 Clegg provided several songs and incidental background music for Jane Goodall's "Wild Chimpanzees" DVD. Included in the extras on the disc are rare scenes of Clegg in the recording studio.
Jimmy Buffett recorded "Great Heart" for his 1988 album, Hot Water.
He co-wrote "Diggah Tunnah" with Lebo M. for Disney's 2004 direct-to-video animated film The Lion King 1½.
Clegg was awarded the Chevalier des Arts et Lettres (Knight of Arts and Letters) by the French Government in 1991.
In 2004, he was voted 23rd in the SABC3's Great South Africans.
In 2007, Clegg received an honorary doctorate in music from the University of the Witwatersrand.
In 2011, Clegg received an honorary Doctor of Laws degree from City University of New York School of Law.
In 2012, Clegg received the Order of Ikhamanga,Silver as part of the National Orders ceremony. This award is the highest honour a citizen can receive in South Africa. It was presented by President Jacob Zuma.
In 2012, Clegg received an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters degree from Dartmouth College, Hanover, NH, USA.
In 2013, Clegg received an honorary Doctorate in Music from the University of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa.
In 2015, Clegg was made an Officer of the Order of the British Empire.
Clegg's son Jesse Clegg is also a recording artist. Displaying a style markedly different from that of his father, in 2008 he released his debut album When I Wake Up. As a rock musician, the younger Clegg has quickly built up a following, with the album being nominated for two South African Music Awards.
Clegg was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in 2015. Clegg died in his Johannesburg home on 16 July 2019.
Bibliography
Clegg, Jonathan (1981). Phil Bonner (ed.). ""Ukubuyisa Isidumbu", "Bringing back the body": An examination of the ideology of vengeance in the Msinga and Mpofana Rural Locations, 1822–1944". Working Papers in Southern African Studies. Johannesburg: Ravan Press. 2.
Clegg, Jonathan (1981). Andrew Tracey (ed.). "The Music of Zulu Immigrant Workers in Johannesburg: A Focus on Concertina and Guitar". Papers presented at the Symposium on Ethnomusicology. Grahamstown: International Library of African Music.
Clegg, Jonathan (1982). Andrew Tracey (ed.). "Towards an understanding of African Dance: The Zulu Isishameni Style". Papers read at Second Symposium on Ethnomusicology, 24–26 September 1981, Rhodes University, Grahamstown, South Africa. Grahamstown: Institute of Social and Economic Research.
Always On Time
Johnny Clegg Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Every moment I'm looking for a
New plan of attack
Every night I lie awake listening
To the river flow time is slipping away
I watch each second of it go
Then you step out smiling in the sun
Always on time never like the others
Always on the line showing your true colours
My true other you are my true other
I see others run i even see some of them fly
I'm standing on the earth but
I'm thinking of the sky where do I belong?
Is there a place here for me?
I don't want to be a passing
Moment in someone else's dreams
Then you step out smiling in the sun
And I knew that if I waited you would come
Always on time never like the others
Always on the line showing your true colours
Always on time my true other
You are my true other
There's a picture of my loneliness
It's a man on a highway
Walking
There's a picture of my loneliness
It's a boy at the station
Waiting
You are where I want to be
Always on time never like the others
Always on the line showing your true colours
Always on time my true lover
You are my true lover
There's a picture of my loneliness
It's a man on the highway
Walking
There's a picture of my loneliness
It's a boy on the station
Waiting
The lyrics of Johnny Clegg's song "Always On Time" encapsulate a sense of urgency and longing that permeates the singer's existence as they navigate the tumultuous journey of life. The opening lines liken each day to a thundering train relentlessly pushing them forward, forcing them to constantly search for new strategies to confront the challenges thrown their way. The river symbolizes the passage of time slipping away, with the singer acutely aware of each moment slipping through their fingers.
The arrival of a significant other, depicted as stepping out into the sunlight with a smile, brings a ray of hope and reassurance to the singer. This beloved figure is described as always arriving on time, in stark contrast to the vagueness and unpredictability of others. The repeated emphasis on being "always on the line showing your true colors" underscores the authenticity and reliability of this person, serving as a steady anchor for the singer amidst life's uncertainties.
The singer grapples with feelings of disconnection and yearning for belonging, pondering their place in the world and questioning whether they will be merely a fleeting presence in the dreams of others. The juxtaposition of watching others run and fly while feeling grounded on earth but yearning for the sky reflects a sense of restlessness and a search for purpose and belonging. The longing to find a sense of home and acceptance is palpable in these verses.
The imagery of loneliness, portrayed through a man walking on a highway and a boy waiting at a station, reinforces the theme of longing and solitude that permeates the song. The presence of the beloved figure serves as a source of solace and belonging in the midst of the singer's loneliness and uncertainty. The repeated refrain of "you are my true lover" echoes the deep connection and significance of this relationship, emphasizing the constancy and reliability of this love amidst the transient nature of life's struggles and uncertainties.
Line by Line Meaning
Each day is a train thundering down my back
Every day feels heavy and unstoppable like a train running over me
Every moment I'm looking for a new plan of attack
I constantly search for a fresh approach to face the challenges before me
Every night I lie awake listening to the river flow time is slipping away
During the night, I stay awake hearing the passing of time, feeling it slip through my fingers
I watch each second of it go
I observe every moment as it disappears
Then you step out smiling in the sun
When you appear with a smile under the sun
And I knew that if I waited you would come
I had faith that you would arrive if I remained patient
Always on time never like the others
Consistently punctual, unlike anyone else
Always on the line showing your true colours
Always honest and authentic in your actions
My true other you are my true other
You are my genuine love and partner
I see others run i even see some of them fly
While others run and succeed, some soar with accomplishment
I'm standing on the earth but I'm thinking of the sky where do I belong?
I exist on the ground but dream of the sky, uncertain of where I fit in
Is there a place here for me?
I question if there is a place for me here
I don't want to be a passing moment in someone else's dreams
I desire to be more than just a fleeting thought in someone else's aspirations
Always on time never like the others
Always prompt and distinctive from everyone else
Always on the line showing your true colours
Consistently transparent in revealing your true self
Always on time my true other
Always punctual, my genuine partner
You are my true other
You are my authentic love and match
There's a picture of my loneliness it's a man on a highway walking
A lonely image of a man walking along the highway
There's a picture of my loneliness it's a boy at the station waiting
An image of a lonely boy waiting at the station
You are where I want to be
You are the place I long to be
Always on time never like the others
Continuously punctual and distinct from others
Always on the line showing your true colours
Always transparent in revealing your true self
Always on time my true lover
Always on time, my genuine love
You are my true lover
You are my authentic love
Lyrics © Downtown Music Publishing
Written by: JOHNNY CLEGG
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@Love6653
Where Are The Other 3 Remaining Tracks From This Cd? Universal Men, Ride In My Car, And The Best Song On The Cd. Father? Are You going To Upload These Tunes As Well?