7 December 2013
Free Nelson Mandela. Free, Free, Free, Nelson Mandela.
– Jerry Dammers/The Specials (1984)
A simple, powerful song in tribute to Nelson Mandela and the cause of freedom in the early 1980s made us feel we were part of something much bigger than the sum of its parts, writes Tracee Hutchison on the ABC Drum website.
It was a simple song that packed a mighty punch, a masterstroke of music and politics, wrapped up in four glorious minutes of ska-infused beats from the pen of Jerry Dammers, of the UK group The Specials.
The spirited and defiant lyrics were a clarion call to release one man from jail and an entire nation from the shackles of Apartheid.
