The Sunday News
Bruce Ndlovu, Sunday Life Correspondent
IT is rare for musicians to excel at both writing and song making, but the late Oliver Mtukudzi is one virtuoso who seemed to wear both caps with comfort and ease, a feat that saw his pen win the begrudging respect of some of the country’s finest writers.
While the world waxes lyrical about his abilities as an unmatched music composer, Tuku’s ability as a writer and master of language seemed to be largely ignored.
Perhaps this is because before one could decipher the lyrics from the veteran artiste’s songs, they were attracted by the neatly arranged instruments which his husky voice seemed to ride with ease. It was the nectar that drove every listener to the world of Tuku Music.
The lyrics, although never far behind, always seemed to play second fiddle. In truth, Tuku seemed to achieve the impossible as a writer. In a world that is becoming small due to technology, he managed to hold tight to both tradition and language and do so while appealing to the country’s urban population.
Even in corporate functions which saw some of the country’s most respect number crunchers come out to play in the most elegant outfits in their wardrobes, Tuku’s lyrics always brought the dust and smell of rural Zimbabwe closer.
The commitment to upholding tradition is what stood out about his music according to award winning writer, Philani Nyoni.
“Tuku is part of that elite canon, alongside the Salif Keitas, that moves even those who cannot decipher their lyricism. Tuku was simple and deep-searching at the same time. The words are as well-written as the music and somehow he made it work with that voice. Sometimes he would go deep into the Korekore language and you’d realise this Copa Cabana Shona we speak is not good enough. That is an important lesson for any writer; not only to preserve their language and culture in the works, but also to respect the audience’s intelligence and will to experience,” he said.
Nyoni added that Tuku’s ability to make songs that often felt like they held more than one meaning made him a one of a kind wordsmith.
“There are several instances of open-ended translation in his songs and this is not just in Bvuma. Maybe on that one he was talking about himself, the old man who refused to ‘dress his age’. Maybe it was someone else, and that is what good writing does: it provokes thoughts, ideas and dreams,” he said.
Nyoni’s views were echoed by playwright Raisedon Baya, who said Tuku never agreed to rubber stamp certain meanings that were attached to his songs. An example of this was when Tuku refused to agree to the widely held belief that the lyrics of Bvuma were aimed then country’s leader, Robert Mugabe. This cat and mouse game with listeners is what defined him as a rare breed among writers, Baya said.
“To be honest he was the kind of writer that everyone would want to be. One thing that I found in his music was that his lyrics were not interpreted the same way by those that listened to him. For example, one line in an Mtukudzi song could mean ten different things to ten different people.
“Another thing that I liked about him was that he refused to be pinned down to one meaning for anything he wrote. He always said that the stories that I write are for you the listeners and not for me. He would say it was not for him as a writer to prescribe his own meaning for a particular song to his listeners. For me that’s the hallmark of a great writer,” he said.
Tuku’s love of language, Baya said, had led him to delve deeper than most writers ever dared.
“He was always fishing for words that are not common. When Tuku wrote, he was not using these common street words that everyone else uses. This shows the fact that he was a writer that researched the language and by extension the language that is really impressive. He was a poet and a storyteller rolled into one and that kind of gift as a writer is extremely rare. It is unfortunate but I think that it will be a long time before we find someone of that talent in the country.”
Poet and writer, Chirikure Chirikure, who translated some of Tuku’s songs into English, said despite the high quality literature he produced through his songs, Tuku always managed to keep his audience under a spell, a spell that was rarely broken over the course of four decades.
“To be honest he was not just a musician. He was a beautiful musician of course but it’s also important to acknowledge that he was also a fine poet. He had well thought out lyrics that were backed up by an excellent musical arrangement. His lyrics were very deep yet easy to understand and he could use various literary devices without necessarily being repetitive.
“The language was deep but accessible and that’s what every writer searches for. Every writer wants to be deep and art should be rich.
However, to achieve all of that without putting off the reader is not easy and he managed to do so and that makes him a rare breed among writers,” he said.
Historian and writer Phathisa Nyathi said that although other writers might try to do what Tuku did through literature, it was highly unlikely that any one of them could ever have the same impact.
“When we talk about writing we’re talking about the content, the lyrics and the nuances that go into storytelling. If you take all of that into consideration you will acknowledge that his writing was unmatched.
“One thing about music is that it communicates effortlessly. If you look at songs like Neria and Tozeza Baba, the talk about evergreen topics that will always be relevant. As writers, we could have tried to put the same point across but it wouldn’t have been the same. It is always easier to communicate through music. The content of his writing was always powerful but he enjoyed an advantage because he was backed up by powerful music. This was his strength,” he said.
