When I was a little girl, my parents played a record for me of a South African singer. She wore a beautiful blue wrapped fabric dress and her head was wrapped with a similar fabric. I studied the cover of that album carefully as I listened to her songs; her miraculous voice was as exotic as her outfit. She could make a clicking sound in the back of her throat while singing that sounded just like a cork popping! I was amazed.
Well, that singer, Miriam Makeba, died last Sunday at age 76 in Italy during a protest concert. I actually sing one of her songs to Abby nearly every night. It's called The Naughty Little Flea, and several months ago I found this amazing video of her at her prime on You Tube. If you watch to the end, you'll hear her do her clicking as she sings just one verse in her non-English native tongue. Oh, and I just found her doing the Click Song at the same concert!
In this video, I love her dress, her muscles, her synchronized improvisation, and most of all, her eyes! You can see the sweet voice coming from a person full of personal power. She was exiled from South Africa for over 30 years for her anti-Apartheid politics, sang with Harry Belafonte and Paul Simon, and was finally invited back to her home country by Nelson Mandela in the 90's.
Goodbye, Miriam... Abby and I will think of you as the naughty little flea bites her "here, there and almost everywhere!" And Jake too, as he loves your Click Song!
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