Radio Africa

Lyrics

I’m hearing only bad news from Radio Africa.
I’m hearing only bad news from Radio Africa

They’ve still got trouble with a monster in the South.
Heads buried deep in that lion’s mouth
Like a jaw snapped shut, it keeps them apart
If that jaw got broke it would be a start

The West still complains about the foreign aid
They’d do better to change the terms of trade
More tanks than food in the Ogaden
It looks like Moscow got it wrong again

Mozambique and Mugabe
Still got Frelimo I hear them say
But ‘Exchange’ means…
‘Recession’ means…
It all means ‘Harder to take’
Tanzania should be moving up a gear
Instead they’ve got to step on the brake

Can’t stop a movement that’s come this far
But ‘Lending’ means…
‘Interest’ means…
‘Harder to Fight’
Independence has a hidden expense
When the hands on the purse strings are white

Song Description

There’s only bad news from Radio Africa. In 1985 South Africa was still governed by the monster apartheid. The West complains about the foreign aid, but in the trade with the industrial nations, it’s the African countries who are at a disadvantage: They exchange cheap raw materials for expensive finished products. With the war in the Ogaden 1977/78 Moscow first supported the socialist government of Somalia, but then supplied weapons to the Ethiopian dictatorship. There is still hope for Mozambique and Zimbabwe, but for Tanzania progress has had to stop – the oil imports devoured too much foreign exchange. “Exchange”, “Credit”, “Interest”: technical terms that all add up to only one thing: Everything gets even harder. Independence is an expensive commodity when the finances lie in white hands.

Versions

• A1984 Recording (4:30)
• BStudio Version (3:53)
• CLong Wave Version (4:48)
• DLong Wave Version Extended (6:10)
• EDub Mix (4:30)
• FExtended Version (6:48)
• GThinking About Africa Mix (5:05)
• HRadio Edit ’91 (4:08)
• IFreedom Dub Mix (5:41)
• JRobin Millar Radio Edit (3:30)
• KTim Simenon Remix (4:05)
• LApollo 440 Remix (6:00)
• MTim Simenon Extended Mix (5:30)

Appears On