Soldier goes mellow

He is not militant, but mellow and on the middle in his 18th coming, writes EPHRAIM NYONDO of Lucius Banda’s Thank You album being launched this evening at Robin’s Park in Blantyre.

He is great—a Sir and an honorary doctorate degree, of course; but such is an honour that comes from 30 years of being a relentless voice of the voiceless, a Malawian version of South Africa’s Archbishop Desmond Tutu of being blunt and fearless to power.

He was not nicknamed ‘Soldier’ for nothing. Interestingly, that cause, which he was called ‘Soldier’ for, always gets stirred whenever he announces a new album. There are always greater, but usual expectations of his stature.

Lucius Banda—yes, that fierce social and political critic; yes, that militant artist—is back for the 18th time, surprisingly not with the usual sticks and bullets, but carrots. He is mellow and, indeed, you should be surprised.

But you should not be completely surprised. Thank You is a celebratory album of 30 years of making good music, Lucius told Chill on Wednesday.

“When you have been successful as I am in music, it is important to stop, for a minute, and say ‘Thank You’,” added Lucius.

But, even amidst celebrating, it is still cold outside.

Malawians, as per tradition, still expect their Soldier to play to history of being their voice, that social and political critic, yes, that militant musician who, even in the depth of Kamuzu Banda’s scary dictatorship, could challenge the establishment on the suspicious deaths of four party officials in Thambani, Mwanza.

Surely, you have not forgotten MzimuwaGadama

Thank You, fortunately, is not short of that. Released in the shadows of Cashgate, unpopular policies by government and internal squabbles in his political party, United Democratic Front (UDF), Lucius, however, takes quite a different swipe at these.

For instance, in the song Sagona, instead of hitting at the State or the President as he always does, he challenges the youths in the country to learn ethical ways of getting rich.

He abhors the spirit of using shortcuts to instant richness, which is Cashgate’s root cause. He calls for patience, honesty and hard work as important virtues of getting wealthy—in fact, he is a living symbol having stayed put in music for 30 years.

Mwapindula chain/Kubandalamazaboma/Nkukatherakundende….!

He has five songs in the 14-track album that captures his social and political activism.

The title-track, something unusual of him, is purely gospel, but it is in the track Way Forward where he does the commentary—mind you, Lucius, often, uses the title-track to do his commentary.

Again, in Way Forward, Lucius is not fierce and militant as he was in How Long? in 2003 where he openly challenged BakiliMuluzi, then pushing for a third term, how long he want to stay in power.

In Way Forward, Soldier goes mellow.

He takes the middle course of suggesting how Malawi can deal with Cashgate, increased subsidies and, most importantly, reduce poverty.

Asked why, the Nthawi star said: “I am moving away from just criticising. I think we need to start debating solutions and seek a better way forward for our country.”

Perhaps, as he sings in Nthawi, time might have taught him some great lessons of life. In fact, one lesson has lived with has been in the power of working with others.

Thank You, arguably, could be deemed a gospel album.

The title-track is gospel, but it is in the song YahweWandikumbuka, which begins with a prayer, that Lucius, with ThokoKatimba on the chorus, brings a listener on the doorsteps of heaven.

Yet in all this, one question lingers about Lucius. He is a UDF legislator for Balaka North, a political critic and a musician with a following. How he balances this, some music experts argue, remains delicate.

But he explained: “I make sure that my music does not get affected by politics.”

He added that as a politician, “Honourable Banda will always be told issues of UDF and agree”.

“But Lucius—the Sir, the musician—does not agree with every view advanced by ‘Honourable Banda’. That is why I stand for what is true and what happened recently [refusing to follow UDF legislators to government bench] is not the first. The song How Long? was challenging Muluzi’s third term bid,” he said.

However, Thank You, as a phrase, has a connotation of bowing out. Is he?

“Music,” Lucius responded, “is life to me, so you don’t plan when life will stop. Do you? No.”

Surely, Lucius’ life will continue though not as the militant Soldier you knew. He is mellow, thanks to time.