"
Biko" is a
protest songA protest song is a song which is associated with a movement for social change and hence part of the broader category of topical songs . It may be folk, classical, or commercial in genre...
by British rock musician
Peter GabrielPeter Brian Gabriel is an English musician and songwriter who rose to fame as the lead vocalist and flautist of the progressive rock group Genesis. After leaving Genesis, Gabriel went on to a successful solo career. More recently he has focused on producing and promoting world music and pioneering...
. The song was included on Gabriel's third album,
Peter Gabriel (1980). It is about
Steve BikoStephen Bantu Biko was a noted anti-apartheid activist in South Africa in the 1960s and 1970s. A student leader, he later founded the Black Consciousness Movement which would empower and mobilize much of the urban black population. Since his death in police custody, he has been called a martyr of...
, a noted black South African anti-apartheid activist. Biko had been arrested by the South African police in late August 1977. After being held in custody for several days, he was interrogated in room 619 of the Walmer Street prison in
Port Elizabeth, Eastern CapePort Elizabeth is one of the largest cities in South Africa, situated in the Eastern Cape Province, 770 km east of Cape Town. The city, often shortened to PE and nicknamed "The Friendly City" or "The Windy City", stretches for 16 km along Algoa Bay, and is one of the major seaports in...
. Following the interrogation, during which he sustained serious head injuries, Biko was transferred to a prison in
PretoriaPretoria is a city located in the northern part of Gauteng Province, South Africa. It is one of the country's three capital cities, serving as the executive and de facto national capital; the others are Cape Town, the legislative capital, and Bloemfontein, the judicial capital.Pretoria is...
, where he died shortly afterwards, on September 12, 1977.
"
Biko" is a
protest songA protest song is a song which is associated with a movement for social change and hence part of the broader category of topical songs . It may be folk, classical, or commercial in genre...
by British rock musician
Peter GabrielPeter Brian Gabriel is an English musician and songwriter who rose to fame as the lead vocalist and flautist of the progressive rock group Genesis. After leaving Genesis, Gabriel went on to a successful solo career. More recently he has focused on producing and promoting world music and pioneering...
. The song was included on Gabriel's third album,
Peter Gabriel (1980). It is about
Steve BikoStephen Bantu Biko was a noted anti-apartheid activist in South Africa in the 1960s and 1970s. A student leader, he later founded the Black Consciousness Movement which would empower and mobilize much of the urban black population. Since his death in police custody, he has been called a martyr of...
, a noted black South African anti-apartheid activist. Biko had been arrested by the South African police in late August 1977. After being held in custody for several days, he was interrogated in room 619 of the Walmer Street prison in
Port Elizabeth, Eastern CapePort Elizabeth is one of the largest cities in South Africa, situated in the Eastern Cape Province, 770 km east of Cape Town. The city, often shortened to PE and nicknamed "The Friendly City" or "The Windy City", stretches for 16 km along Algoa Bay, and is one of the major seaports in...
. Following the interrogation, during which he sustained serious head injuries, Biko was transferred to a prison in
PretoriaPretoria is a city located in the northern part of Gauteng Province, South Africa. It is one of the country's three capital cities, serving as the executive and de facto national capital; the others are Cape Town, the legislative capital, and Bloemfontein, the judicial capital.Pretoria is...
, where he died shortly afterwards, on September 12, 1977. Gabriel often plays the song at the end of concerts, encouraging the audience to join in the singing, and eventually leaving only the drummer on stage.
"Biko" was first released as a single in
1980-Events:*January 1 - Cliff Richard is appointed an MBE by Queen Elizabeth II.*January 7 - At the age of 44, songwriter Larry Williams is found dead in his Los Angeles, California home of a gunshot wound to the head...
, when it reached #38 on the
British chartsThe UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official Charts Company on behalf of the British record industry. The full chart contains the top 200 singles based upon combined record sales and download numbers, though some media outlets only list the Top 40 or the Top 75 of this list...
. A live version, recorded in July
1987See also:Record labels established in 1987-Events:*January - Steve "Silk" Hurley's innovative "Jack Your Body" becomes the first house music record to top the UK singles chart....
at the
Blossom Music CenterBlossom Music Center is an amphitheatre located in Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio. It is the summer home of the Cleveland Orchestra, which performs its annual Blossom Festival there. The venue is also host to a full summer schedule of popular music acts and symphonic performances.Blossom Music Center is...
in
Cuyahoga Falls, OhioCuyahoga Falls is a city in Summit County, Ohio, United States. As of the 2000 census, the city population was 49,374. It is currently the second largest city in Summit County. It is a suburb of Akron and Cleveland and part of the Akron Metropolitan Statistical Area and the Cleveland-Akron-Elyria...
, was released later that year, reaching #49 in the UK. This version was included on the
soundtrackA soundtrack can be recorded music accompanying and synchronized to the images of a motion picture, television program or video game; a commercially released soundtrack album of music as featured in the soundtrack of a film or TV show; or the physical area of a film that contains the synchronized...
of
Cry FreedomCry Freedom is a 1987 feature film directed by Richard Attenborough, set in the late 1970s, during the apartheid era of South Africa. The film was shot in neighbouring Zimbabwe, and, although not banned in South Africa, cinemas showing the films were faced with bomb threats. According to the...
, a 1987 film about Steve Biko.
Robert WyattRobert Wyatt is an English musician, and founding member of the influential Canterbury scene band Soft Machine...
released his version in
1984This is a list of notable events in music that took place in the year 1984.-Events:*January 21 - "Relax" by Frankie Goes to Hollywood reaches number one in the UK singles chart; it spends a total of forty-two weeks in the Top 40....
on his E.P. "Work In Progress" (Rough Trade RTT149).
Simple MindsSimple Minds are a rock band from Scotland, who had their greatest worldwide popularity from the mid-1980s to the early 1990s. The band, from the south side of Glasgow, produced a handful of critically acclaimed albums in the early 1980s, and later went on to produce some politically inspired and...
released a cover version on their 1989 album
Street Fighting YearsStreet Fighting Years is the eighth studio album by Simple Minds, released in 1989. It was a major stylistic departure from the previous album, 1985's Once Upon A Time, and contained the band's most overtly political lyrics. The album contained contributions from Lou Reed, former Police drummer...
. It was also covered by Black 47 and
Joan BaezJoan Chandos Baez is a folk singer and songwriter known for her highly individual vocal style...
on her 1987 album
RecentlyRecently was a 1987 album by Joan Baez. At the time of its release, it was the performer's first album of new material issued in the U.S. in eight years...
and by
Manu DibangoManu Dibango is a Cameroonian saxophonist and vibraphone player. He developed a musical style fusing jazz, funk and traditional Cameroonian music. He is a member of the Yabassi ethnic group, though his mother was a Duala...
on his 1994 album
Wakafrika.
Steve Van Zandt stated that he was inspired by this song to write his 1985 anti-apartheid protest song "
Sun City"Sun City" is a 1985 protest song written by Steven Van Zandt and recorded by Artists United Against Apartheid to convey opposition to the South African policy of apartheid.-History:...
", performed by
Artists United Against ApartheidArtists United Against Apartheid was a 1985 protest group founded by activist and performer Steven Van Zandt to protest apartheid in South Africa...
.
"Biko" was also featured prominently in "Evan", the next-to-last episode of the first season of the American television show
Miami ViceMiami Vice is an American television series produced by Michael Mann for NBC. The show became noted for its heavy integration of music and visual effects to tell a story. The series starred Don Johnson and Phillip Michael Thomas as two Metro-Dade Police Department detectives working undercover in...
.
One line of the lyrics reads "Yihla Moja" which in
XhosaXhosa is one of the official languages of South Africa. Xhosa is spoken by approximately 7.9 million people, or about 18% of the South African population. Like most Bantu languages, Xhosa is a tonal language, that is, the same sequence of consonants and vowels can have different meanings when...
means "Come Spirit".
The organization
Playing for ChangePlaying for Change is a multimedia music project created by producers Mark Johnson and Enzo Buono with their Timeless Media Group, that seeks to bring together musicians from around the world...
did a cover of the song for their album "Songs Around the World"