{"id":40511,"date":"2017-02-10T08:54:07","date_gmt":"2017-02-10T06:54:07","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.times.mw\/?p=40511"},"modified":"2017-02-10T08:54:08","modified_gmt":"2017-02-10T06:54:08","slug":"no-childs-play","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/archive.times.mw\/index.php\/2017\/02\/10\/no-childs-play\/","title":{"rendered":"No child\u2019s play!"},"content":{"rendered":"

Now, nobody knows w<\/strong>hat went into gospel songbird Ethel Kamwendo Banda\u2019s mind then.<\/p>\n

Maybe psychoanalyst Sigmund Freud was right when he suggested that the creative impulse is \u201ca continuation of, and a substitute for, what was once the play of childhood\u201d.<\/p>\n

Whatever the case, it came to pass that, between January and October 1996, a spirit bordering on the \u201cplay of childhood\u201d crossed the song bird\u2019s mind.<\/p>\n

The creative impulse\u2014 I mean, \u201ca continuation of, and a substitute for, what was once the play of childhood\u201d\u2014 must have caught up with Ethel around the month of January, February, March, April, May, June, July, August, September or October 1996. It surely could not be November 1996, for that is when Ethel found herself at the centre of a storm.<\/p>\n

Is it not surprising that Ethel now carries herself with an easy grace\u2014 full of the peace the Lord Jesus Christ has given her! The truth is that she made a famous attempt at \u2018gospel\u2019 music far back in 1996, or so it seems.<\/p>\n

For Ethel, then known as Malawi\u2019s Mbilia Bel, decided to go \u2018gospel\u2019. That \u2018play of childhood\u2019 spirit might, probably, have been at work. Ethel decided to, of all things, break away (albeit temporarily) from secular music she had mastered so well<\/p>\n

with Ravers. Do not look at me like that. Ravers is a band!<\/p>\n

She, therefore, did the song \u2018Bismilla Lailala…Ilala\u2019.<\/p>\n

I do not know why she did the song in October\u2013 a hot month in this part of the world\u20131996. I say this because, much as the month was hot, it became hotter for Ethel, as people who were unhappy with the song ganged up against her and Ravers.<\/p>\n

For a feel of what it was like (in terms of the scene and Ethel), let us walk down that road, thanks to Malawi News <\/em>of December 28 1996 \u2013 January 3 1997:<\/p>\n

\u201cMalawi\u2019s Mbilia Bel\u2014 Ethel Kamwendo\u2014 was in trouble in October with the song \u2018Bismilla Lailala…Ilala\u2019. The song got on Muslims\u2019 nerves. They said it was blasphemous.<\/p>\n

\u201cMuslims argued that mimicking Muslim words is against their religion. After all, Muslim songs are not supposed to be weaved with musical instruments, they argued.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut Ethel and the Ravers argued they composed the song purely for entertainment and not to insult anyone or a particular sect. Ethel and the Ravers have entertained people and surely Queen Ethel deserves the crown\u201d.<\/p>\n

Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha!<\/p>\n

Let me quickly say something about the Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! I have deliberately chosen 12 has! Count if you can. They represent the 12 tribes of Israel for reasons I do not know!<\/p>\n

Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha!<\/p>\n

Now [and this is what I am thinking], imagine Ethel \u2013 and Ravers, of course\u2014 feeling hunted by people who do not appreciate the flexibility of art.<\/p>\n

Imagine Ethel innocently taking a walk in Blantyre Central Business District and someone calling her name: \u201cHey, Ethel…\u201d<\/p>\n

And Ethel, without looking back, starts running away, thinking it\u2019s one of the people who are not happy with the song \u2018Bismilla Lailala…Ilala\u2019.<\/p>\n

It turns out it\u2019s a male vendor who wants to sell bananas to her!<\/p>\n

Ethel Kamwendo runs home and hides under the table!<\/p>\n

Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha!<\/p>\n

Well, it\u2019s good that Ethel Kamwendo Banda is now the gospel musician she wanted to be!<\/p>\n

She sings freely on stage. She has no reason to run away. No reason to feel persecuted!<\/p>\n

And, ah! She even stands in the open on billboards. Like the one in Limbe, Blantyre City\u2019s commercial hub. Smiling, she stands resplendent in clothes tailored along the lines of school uniform. She preaches the message of good health by rallying against trachoma.<\/p>\n

What a long time it has been since October 1996!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Now, nobody knows what went into gospel songbird Ethel Kamwendo Banda\u2019s mind then. Maybe psychoanalyst Sigmund Freud was right when he suggested that the creative impulse is \u201ca continuation of, and a substitute for, what was once the play of childhood\u201d. Whatever the case, it came to pass that, between January and October 1996, a […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":40513,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-40511","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/archive.times.mw\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40511","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/archive.times.mw\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/archive.times.mw\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archive.times.mw\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archive.times.mw\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=40511"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/archive.times.mw\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40511\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":40514,"href":"https:\/\/archive.times.mw\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40511\/revisions\/40514"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archive.times.mw\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/40513"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/archive.times.mw\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=40511"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archive.times.mw\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=40511"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archive.times.mw\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=40511"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}