More on Pearls and speech radio.

I've had some comments on that post from Françoise, the friend and huge India.Arie fan who introduced me to the song in the first place. She's allowed me use her comments here, and so I can make some more points about radio. Yay!

First off, the song is a cover, of one originally sung by Sade. Françoise points out "I also think this song is completely one that could have been written by her, and totally fits in the "politics" side of this album (along with songs like "Better way" and the great "Ghetto")"

Françoise says something I tried to say in the first post, only she says it, you know, clearly: "I also think the new shoes are more than a constrasting parallel for the pearls, knowing that the pearls she's looking for are meant for the same Western chicks whose shoes hurt (and that includes me, I know)"

Yep, I could have expanded on the meaning of contrasting parallel, but there's no need to now coz it's written just up there.

She points out how the song brings to mind this poster by Amnesty International.

"I really love what you say about how you can find a different meaning to the song each time you listen to it while a radio show is most of the time very poor (just delivering factual information) - that's why I loved… On est où là on RFI. I totally agree that radio is one of the most frustrating medium on earth for that!"

I generally agree, that the news bias of radio is more a weakness than a strength – while the general acceptance of it as a news medium keep a certain amount of funding coming into radio, it also plays a part in under-seling it. No radio programme will get the production or promotion budget of a Hollywood movie (nor the awards), but if you have a choice you can be as well entertained, enlightened or transformed in an hour at home – for free – than €10 worth of a trip to the cinema. Because, radio is for news and traffic, right?

Referencing: Towards the end, there are some vocals not in English. This is where I think of the typical Africa story on public radio – narrator-heavy stuff, that, frankly, switches me off. Does India.Aries' African ancestry change that? As a listener, hearing it once, not sure either way.

"These lines are really... Perplexing. First because I'm not sure I get why those "vocals not in English" make you think of the typical Africa story on the radio - rather than the lyrics of the song. By the way it's by Ivorian singer Dobet Gnahore, which I think is important because India makes a song on Africa that sounds African - the whole song's chords sound African actually. Please don't link this to India's African ancestry. Too much of a shortcut."

Exactly – does the performer (be it singer or host) being African-American mean their dealing with Africa in their work is more fair or accurate than someone else's? It's worth noting here that India.Arie has visited Africa, which is more than I have. But to go into more detail about my original post: So many radio pieces about Africa are narrator-driven, with the (usually white) reporter telling you pretty much everything, over a general sound bed of the events concerned. Interviewees are put to air far less than in other stories. The producer's line is probably a simple, mechanical radio one: the accent is too hard to understand on the radio.

Isn't that just patronising?

Well, once in a while one gets thorough, and suddenly, the feature's shows that have the values, the interest and the money to cover Africa, start getting kudos from features shows. Here's a recent and very good example: The Mender of Broken Hearts.

Back to the staid old model. Is it any different from how, towards the end, something obviously African briefly appears?

One reason why I am less qualified to have an opinion here is simply how it is a piece of music, and, I am ever happy to admit, I am not 100% on the vocabulary of music. Still, I wouldn't do it.

It's taken me days to finally sit down and write this, and so, I feel like I've left something out. Typical!

Update: Some very similar topics are being raised in photojournalism, at the duckrabbit blog. Simple, good points.