South African Treasures: Artists United Against Apartheid, Paul Simon, and Hakuna Matata!!

One of the first organized protest against the living conditions in South Africa came from Artists United Against Apartheid. An idea put into practice by Little Steven Van Zandt focused attention on the plight and disparity between the rich and poor in South Africa. It certainly helped that high profile contributors like Bruce Springsteen, Bono, and Lou Reed added their talents:

The song that most people know from Paul Simon’s Graceland, one of the greatest albums ever recorded, is You Can Call Me Al. There was an awful video that was originally released, but the song really took off when Paul got his buddy Chevy Chase to do a silly video that emphasizes the wide variation in height between the two performers. Talk about a real life “Mutt and Jeff!:

And right around the time that Nelson Mandela was released from prison and rose to lead South Africa, Disney had begun work on their first original story release, The Lion King, which featured African themes. “Hakuna Matata” is probably the best known African phrase known worldwide because of the song: