"Nelson Mandela" (known in some versions as "Free Nelson Mandela") is a song written by Jerry Dammers and performed by his Coventry-based band The Special A.K.A. - with lead vocal by Stan Campbell - released on the single Nelson Mandela / Break Down The Door in 1984 as a protest against the imprisonment of Nelson Mandela. Unlike most protest songs, the track is upbeat and celebratory, drawing on musical influences from South Africa. The song reached No.9 in the UK charts and was immensely popular in Africa.
Read more about Free Nelson Mandela: History, Chart Positions
Famous quotes containing the words nelson mandela, free, nelson and/or mandela:
“Only free men can negotiate. Prisoners cannot enter into contracts.”
—Nelson Mandela (b. 1918)
“In the deserts of the heart
Let the healing fountain start,
In the prison of his days
Teach the free man how to praise.”
—W.H. (Wystan Hugh)
“Where did we ever get the crazy idea that in order to make children do better, first we have to make them feel worse? Think of the last time you felt humiliated or treated unfairly. Did you feel like cooperating or doing better?”
—Jane Nelson (20th century)
“Communists have always played an active role in the fight by colonial countries for their freedom, because the short- term objects of Communism would always correspond with the long-term objects of freedom movements.”
—Nelson Mandela (b. 1918)