We celebrated Heritage Day in South Africa on Thursday, so I thought to pick and celebrate a South African heritage artist, albeit a fringe one, for today’s song. If I had to list my top five homeland songs of all time, Hillbrow by Johannes Kerkorrel would be on it.
Kerkorrel (“church organ” for non-Afrikaans speakers), the professional name for singer songwriter Ralph Rabie, started his musical career doing critical cabaret during the height of apartheid. He was a founder of what became the “alternative Afrikaans” music movement and soon hit the stage in more of a rock context, challenging the political mainstream with his Gereformeerde (Reformed) Blues Band, the name taking a snipe at the politically dominant and for activists, oppressive positioning of the Dutch Reformed Church in South Africa.
Joining the edgy, relevant Shifty Records, Kerkorrel recorded and played live music that was fun, politically charged and challenged mainstream notions of Afrikaans music and prevailing government politics. With a punkish attitude, Kerkorrel was often
in trouble. He was headstrong, outspoken, intelligent and fearless and was a leading light of the counter-cultural Voëlvry movement, which used music as a form of protest against oppression and the apartheid state, appealing to young Afrikaners who were disillusioned with the cultural direction of the mainstream Afrikaans community.
Kerkorrel could rock with the best of them, but offstage he was often quiet and sensitive, with a wicked sense of humour. He was also a somewhat tragic figure and it’s the quiet and tragic side that is evident in the composition of Hillbrow, a song of simple yet enduring melodic beauty and supreme lyrical acuity.
Hillbrow the place and ‘Hillbrow’ the song
A suburb of Johannesburg, Hillbrow was a cosmopolitan, cultural melting pot of people, clubs catering to different tastes, book and record stores, restaurants and coffee shops, apartments and hotels. At the time Kerkorrel composed the song, it was a meeting place for everyone who thought of themselves as different, cultured or adventurous – and a parcel of urban land that slid first into mediocrity, then decay as the centuries turned from 20th to 21st.
Afrikaans is a deeply expressive language and the “gee gee gee” of the song’s chorus, a plea to “give, give, give” your cents, dreams, future and heart to a place and time past, a memory and a bygone era, could not be said with more pathos than in Afrikaans, or sung with more conviction than by Kerkorrel. The song is delivered over a loping, sad percussive shake and expressive accordion. It speaks of beggars, parking guards, favourite haunts, sects, streets and hotels, evangelists and other oddball characters and feels overwhelmingly sad. If ever a song captured a sense of place, time and emotion in a complete narrative about part of our heritage in just four minutes, it’s Hillbrow.
You’d know if you’d been there… enjoy the song and have a good weekend!
Listen to Hillbrow on Spotify:
And on Apple Music:
I started a music WhatsApp group in 2023. I send one song a week on a Friday, with links to both Apple and Spotify, and an accompanying narrative/capsule piece. If you want to engage about a song, get a playlist or just get in touch, email me on markgrosin@gmail.com.
For more of Mark’s memorable track selections, go here.