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.
Dela
Johnny Clegg Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Like a simple question looking for an answer
Now I am the whale listening to some inner call
Swimming blindly to throw myself upon your shore
What if I don't find you when I have landed?
Would you leave me here to die on your shore stranded?
I think I know why the dog howls at the moon
I say dela, dela
Ngyanya
Dela
When I'm with you
Dela, dela
Ngyanya
Dela
I burn for you
I've been waiting for you all my life, hoping for a miracle
I've been waiting day and night, day and night
I've been waiting for you all my life, waiting for redemption
I've been waiting day and night, I burn for you
A blind bird sings inside the cage that is my heart
The image of your face comes to me when I'm alone in the dark
If I could give a shape to this ache that I have for you
If I could find the voice that says the words that capture you
I think I know, I think I know
I think I know, I think I know
I think I know why the dog howls at the moon
I think I know why the dog howls at the moon
I say dela, dela
Ngyanya
Dela
When I'm with you
Dela, dela
Ngyanya
Dela
I burn for you
I've been waiting for you all my life, waiting for a miracle
I've been waiting day and night, day and night
I've been waiting for you all my life, hoping for redemption
I've been waiting day and night, I burn for you
I say dela, dela
Ngyanya
Dela
When I'm with you
I've been waiting for you all my life, hoping for a miracle
I've been waiting day and night, day and night
I've been waiting for you all my life, waiting for redemption
I've been waiting day and night, I burn for you
I burn for you, I burn for you
I burn for you, I burn for you
Oh, I burn for you, I burn for you
Oh, you know, I burn for you, I burn for you
I burn for you, I burn for you
I burn for you, I burn for you
I say dela, dela
Ngyanya
Dela
I burn for you
The lyrics of Johnny Clegg's song "Dela" are about a person who has finally found the one they have been searching for their entire life. The song starts with the singer telling about how they suddenly found the person they were meant to be with. They use the metaphor of a whale swimming blindly towards the shore to describe their journey towards the person they love. However, they are also scared that they may not find the person they are looking for and might die alone. They say, "What if I don't find you when I have landed? Would you leave me here to die on your shore stranded?"
The singer then talks about how being with this person makes them feel complete, like the missing piece of their life's puzzle has finally been found. They also compare their feelings to that of a dog howling at the moon, which may suggest that their love is instinctual and natural. The chorus, "Dela, dela, Ngyanya, Dela. When I'm with you. Dela, dela, Ngyanya, Dela. I burn for you," is a Zulu chant that translates to "Love, love, trembling love. When I'm with you. Love, love, trembling love. I burn for you."
Moreover, the lyrics also show the person's vulnerability, their longing to be with the one they love and the pain of waiting for that love. The phrase "I've been waiting for you all my life, waiting for a miracle. I've been waiting day and night, day and night" displays the singer's yearning and the extent of their passion.
Overall, the lyrics of "Dela" are poetic and emotive, filled with sweeping imagery and powerful metaphors. They capture the essence of true love, waiting and the joy and pain associated with it.
Line by Line Meaning
One day I looked up and there you were
Out of nowhere, you came into my life and became a pivotal point that changed my perspective on things.
Like a simple question looking for an answer
Your presence in my life feels like a puzzle piece that had been missing for so long.
Now I am the whale listening to some inner call
I feel like I am a very small part in this vast and unexplained universe that is being guided by an unknown power.
Swimming blindly to throw myself upon your shore
I am willing to take any risk and get out of my comfort zone to be with you and embrace whatever comes ahead.
What if I don't find you when I have landed?
The fear of losing you after making an effort to be with you haunts me.
Would you leave me here to die on your shore stranded?
If things don't work out and you choose to leave me, I would feel helpless and lost without you.
I think I know why the dog howls at the moon
Sometimes, it feels like we are all shouting out in the void, hoping to hear a response that may never come.
Dela, dela
Ngyanya
Dela
When I'm with you
Dela, dela
Ngyanya
Dela
I burn for you
This refrain serves to reinforce the intensity of the singer's desire and passion for the person he's singing to.
I've been waiting for you all my life, hoping for a miracle
Finding you has been a long and arduous journey for me, and I've always believed that you were the answer to all my prayers.
I've been waiting day and night, day and night
Waiting for you has been a constant weight on my heart, without exception or release.
I've been waiting for you all my life, waiting for redemption
Your presence feels like a form of absolution or redemption for all my past mistakes and regrets.
A blind bird sings inside the cage that is my heart
My heart feels like a prison that is yearning to be freed by the hope and promise of love.
The image of your face comes to me when I'm alone in the dark
Even when I'm alone and the world seems cold and empty, the thought of you brings me warmth and reassurance.
If I could give a shape to this ache that I have for you
The longing I feel for you is so intense and indescribable that it's almost physical, and I wish I could make sense of it.
If I could find the voice that says the words that capture you
Expressing my innermost feelings for you in the perfect way feels like an impossible task, but I wish I could find the words that could do justice to you.
I burn for you, I burn for you
This repetition of the phrase serves to reinforce how aching and constant the singer's desire for the subject of the song is.
Lyrics © BMG RIGHTS MANAGEMENT (FRANCE), RHYTHM SAFARI PTY LTD, Downtown Music Publishing
Written by: Jonathan Paul Clegg
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@kennal9389
Still dreaming of a romance like Ursula and George
@ZzLiGHTNiNGzZ
Good luck
@alexanderson3197
I think most of us are.. so true...
@DinoBegic
Me too
@Fareena89
Me too
@alexanderson3197
@Reena S came to the right place... hmmm
@zim_christ_lion
Who came here because they also loved the song? RIP Johnny Clegg. Gone too soon. A pure voice for Africa.
@susanlarhubarbe9475
💯💗💗
@Carnifex2023
May the kingdom of heaven be yours Johnny Clegg!
Thank him very much for the song!
@MrBlobhunter
I 100% want this song to play at my wedding. I plan to dance this with my boys for my wife XD