Picture: gillstrawberry.co.za
The birth of the South African band, Bright Blue, during 1983, included Dan Heyman as the keyboard-player, a position he held until the band's
dissolution in 1990; He also wrote several songs, the most familiar being "Weeping".
Weeping
, written by
Dan Heymann
(sometimes mis-spelled as
Dan Heyman
), is a
famous protest song
that emerged from the
South African anti Apartheid movement
during the mid-1980's, and this
song of freedom
has been recorded by many artists, including noted South African band
Bright Blue
and, more recently,
Josh Groban
, in a collaboration with
Ladysmith Black Mambazo
and
Vusi Mahlasela
, who has previously released a solo recording of this
song of protest
. The
anti Apartheid
lyrics Weeping
contains are among the most-recorded
freedom song lyrics
of any
protest song
to have come out of South Africa.
The Weeping song
(rights to which are partially controlled by
Muffled Music
) led to a February, 2006, encounter between singer Josh
Groban
and songwriter Dan
Heymann
(occasionally mis-spelled as
Heyman
) at New York City's Sony Studios, a legendary institution which has given many a
song freedom
to soar. It was a thrill for Dan to hear his anti
Apartheid song
being recorded by such a high-caliber team. Having been a musician in contact with various
anti-Apartheid movements
during the Freedom-Struggle in South Africa, when examining the
Weeping lyrics
, Dan was thrilled to feel the connection of his
lyric to protest song
tradition. When the time came to add backing vocals, nobody needed to teach
Vusi Mahlasela lyrics
to the
Weeping song
, having already performed it live so many times, and this new rendition of Dan's familiar rhyming-
lyric protest song
should give
the song freedom
to reach many new listeners. Many
protest songs
were inspired by the
anti Apartheid movement
and Dan is proud that his
freedom song
has been so well-received, particularly when there are already so many wonderful
anti-Apartheid
protest song lyrics
in existence.
Heyman was raised in Cape Town and, until his early teen years, learned
classical piano at school.
However, Heyman never managed to learn sight-reading properly; he was
happier trying to figure tunes out by ear.
This meant that Heyman couldn't get far in classical music!
Heyman, after giving up the classical lessons, switched his focus to
contemporary music, hooked up with schoolmates for the occasional "jam";
two of them later teamed up with Heyman in Bright Blue.
An old electric organ was the only keyboard Heyman had available, that
could be moved around.
after leaving high school, Heyman signed up for Mechanical Engineering at
the University of Cape Town, where his interest in music continued, and, he
would tinkle alone on any piano available on campus.
For his twenty-first birthday, Heyman treated himself to a new instrument,
a Wurlitzer electric piano; this was much better than the old organ, for
his percussive style.
That summer, Heyman landed a gig playing background-music in restaurants;
there he met Tom Fox, a guitarist who invited Heyman to join Soft Landing,
an informal jazz band, for a few shows.
Tom Fox later joined Bright Blue as well.
Traditional South African music influences were irresistible;
Surrounded by those sounds, the piano-style of Heyman acquired some of the
local character.
It was during his final year at UCT, 1983, that Heyman teamed up with his
old high-school-mates, the Cohen brothers (bass-player Ian and drummer
Peter) who wanted to form a band with a singer-songwriter called Robin
Levetan, and felt Heyman's keyboard style could suit their sound.
And the guitarist they invited to join them was the same Tom Fox from the
short-lived jazz band with whom Heyman had played two years before.
After a hectic first year in Bright Blue, Heyman was drafted into the Army
of the white-supremacist regime.
Forced to spend two years in uniform, Heyman continued to improvise on any
piano he found; That's where he wrote the music of "Weeping".
Heyman meant it to be a sad instrumental piece, expressing his feeling
about the situation;
But later, when the authorities declared a State of Emergency to silence
the press, Heyman added words to the tune, and "Weeping" was born.
Released from the army in 1986, Heyman moved with the rest of the band
(except Robin Levetan) to Johannesburg, South Africa's largest city and the
hub of the local music industry.
It was there that "Weeping" was taped by the band, and Heyman was thrilled
when it spent two weeks at the top of the charts on the government-owned
"Radio Five".
After Bright Blue disbanded, Heyman remained in Johannesburg as a
free-lance keyboardist,
until early 1992, when Heyman moved to New York City, where he still lives
and writes.
Click here for "Weeping" Homepage