An African Song (On That Great Civilized Morning)

Song Meaning

The song opens with a vocable chant, "a wimoweh," creating a rhythmic, almost primal soundscape that contrasts sharply with the biting, satirical questions that follow. This juxtaposition immediately signals that the lyrics are not a straightforward narrative but a commentary, using a familiar, perhaps even indigenous, sound as a foundation for a critique of colonial attitudes. The core tension lies in the narrator's relentless questioning of African readiness for independence, framed through a deeply ironic lens. Each verse poses a question that, on its surface, seems to inquire about preparedness, but the specifics reveal a cynical projection of Western societal ills onto the continent. The narrator asks if Africans are prepared for "smog enough," "rivers with pollutions," and the complex, exploitative economic systems that characterize industrialized nations, implying that true "evolution" is measured by the adoption of these negative traits. The craft here is in the relentless, almost absurd, cataloging of societal failures presented as markers of progress. The lyrics cleverly invert the idea of civilization, suggesting that the true test of a nation's advancement is its capacity to replicate the very problems – pollution, economic inequality, unemployment through automation, and militarization – that plague the colonizing powers. The phrase "keep the poor flat in their axis" is particularly sharp, illustrating a systemic economic structure designed to maintain a subservient underclass. This song hits hard because it uses the language of concern to expose a profound hypocrisy. The narrator's "questions" are not genuine inquiries but a sarcastic indictment of a worldview that judges other cultures by their ability to mirror the West's own destructive tendencies. The repeated "a wimoweh" at the end, returning after the barrage of critical questions, serves to underscore the absurdity of the preceding inquiries, leaving the listener with a sense of unease and a critical re-evaluation of what constitutes true progress.