Aktuelle Hits verstehen: „If I Were a Boy“
Aktuelle Hits zu verstehen ist oft nicht ganz leicht. Gut, wenn ein Engländer erklärt, worum es dabei eigentlich geht. David Fermer erzählt auf englisch diesmal - über „Wavin' Flag“ von K'naan. Fürs Hörverständnis mit Audio.
“Let's rejoice in the beautiful game!“ This summer, the eyes of the world are looking at South Africa, host of the 2010 World Cup. Not only is South Africa the first African country to host the World Cup, it is also a country with a very special - and very dark - history. Until only 20 years ago, white people and black people were not equal in South Africa. The whites had the power and the money, while black people were left without chances in life, without basic human rights . It is therefore very appropriate that the Somali-Canadian K'naan begins his World Cup song, “Wavin' Flag“, with three words that millions of South Africans spent a lifetime saying: “Give me freedom“.
K'naan knows a lot about the struggle for freedom. He was born in Somalia and he spent his childhood in the middle of a terrible civil war. When he was 13 years old, he was able to leave the civil war behind him and move to Canada with his family. Canada became his new home, and English became his new language. Today it is in English that K'naan sings his songs which are heard by millions of people all over the world.
“Wavin' Flag“ is a song full of hope - like K'naan's own personal story, as well as the story of the people of South Africa. “When I get older, I will be stronger / They'll call me freedom, just like a waving flag.“ It is a song that makes ordinary people feel like the champions they are watching on the sports field. “In the streets, our heads are lifting ... See the champions take the field now ... Celebration, it's around us / Every nation, all around us.“
There are other World Cup songs, like Shakira's “Waka Waka“ or “Jabulani“, but none of the songs capture the spirit and struggle of Africa as much as K'naan's “Wavin' Flag“. For many people in South Africa, that struggle isn't over yet. Hopefully K'naan's song will give them fire and maybe even take them higher.
Vokabeln
rejoice = sich freuen
host = Gastgeberland
equal = gleichgestellt
power = Macht
human rights = Menschenrechte
appropriate = passend
struggle for freedom = Freiheitskampf
civil war = Bürgerkrieg
hope= Hoffnung
