World Cup fans will hear a lot of Wavin' Flag in the next month. And rightly so: it's a great song with catchy lyrics, good rhythm and beautiful melody and harmonies. I fell in love with it as soon as I heard Knaan sing the first soaring lines at the ACL festival last fall.
Please, however, take to heart the song's original message when you hear it. The stanzas have been rewritten for the World Cup, but the song's meaning comes straight from Knaan's childhood on the streets of Mogadishu. It is not the beautiful, soaring notes that it seems at first glance. The sarcasm of the title-line "They'll call me freedom, just like a wavin' flag" struck me the second time I heard the refrain back in October. This is an anthem not of freedom, but of the dream of freedom. It is of pride of one's people, not love of country. When you do see the waving flags in South Africa, while we're watching Knaan, Didier Drogba and Samuel Eto'o, please remember the millions of children who dream to leave villages and ghettos but will never get the chance. They are "struggling, fighting to eat" and are victims of "so many wars, settling scores.... leaving us poor." Those who can only dream of flying away from their abject poverty.
Like billions of others, I will get caught up in the beauty of the game, but let's not forget the billions who will walk miles and miles just to get to a TV to watch it. When you see the waving flags, think of what they really represent.
