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NATIVE

by John Ellis

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1.
Be When Done 02:56
humpback floating on the low tide beneath a dark lighthouse on a rainy night i guess all journeys end on a foreign shore i’m on my own now – wonder who i’ll be when i’m done highway collapsed on Christmas day – by the time they noticed i was miles away i’m not suggesting i’m fully responsible but these things happen wonder where i’ll be when i’m done devil’s in blackface God’s in white everything’s mysterious if you look at it right Jesus is an acrobat who talks this and acts that right now i’m a dancer – wonder who i’ll be when i’m done inside that humpback they found my painting there were signs of struggle some kind of battle had been raging i caught my reflection in my whale’s dead eye - they were three long nights while i wondered where i’d be when done © John Ellis 2022
2.
I came of age on a 747 strange how you can feel like hell so close to heaven even with a backstage pass for the Magic Kingdom apart from the fine print everything out there is bigger the only time I thought again was Pennsylvania I had ammunition but no-one to squeeze my trigger and I left home with my tail between my legs and I came home with it tied around my neck …. (what can I say?) If I knew then what I know these days I would’ve put a chain around my heart everything I learned I learned the hard way I paid too much for what I got There is a restaurant in the Land of Milk & Honey™ All You Can Eat and you walk out feeling hungry Everybody’d busking in the country that invented money They say it takes ten thousand hours to pay your dues It only takes one broken heart to learn the blues If I knew then what I know these days I would’ve put a chain around my heart everything I learned I learned the hard way I paid too much for what I got and I left home with my tail between my legs and I came home with it tied around my neck …. (what can I say?) If I knew then what I know these days I would’ve put a chain around my heart everything I learned I learned the hard way I paid too much for what I got © John Ellis
3.
i’d rather be alone than ever be in love again (love again) i’d prefer remembering to waiting for the bitter end (bitter end) when i was a young man i i was a young man i i was a young man i waited night and day (night and day) for the love of my dreams to finally come my way (come my way) and when my turn finally came i went down on one knee (on one knee) and sooner or later i was on both begging darling please (darling please) then i was a free man i was a free man i was a free man met the love of my life (of my life) she took my broken heart and somehow broke it two more times (broke it twice) so i’d rather be alone than take somebody’s hand (someone’s hand) i’d rather be somebody’s memory than be somebody’s man (someone’s man) everywhere i go everywhere i go everywhere i go i tread carefully around broken hearts (broken hearts) everybody seems lonely wishing they could go back to the start (to the start) because we’re all born alone maybe we’re better off staying that way (staying that way) yes i’d rather be alone than ever be in love again (love again) i’m just kidding baby i would love to be your friend (be your friend) © John Ellis 2022
4.
that was the hottest January ever recorded since they ever started keeping records but don’t worry baby – it’s just the sun going down this is the first time in living memory we’re trying to keep from importing something made in China but don’t worry baby – it’s just the sun going down the Empire’s over all the royals are decamping there is one less yellow star in the gold blue Union but don’t worry baby – it’s just the sun going down clowns on thrones nobody’s hands on the wheel they’re trying to make it all great again when it was never really great but don’t worry baby – it’s just the sun going down we’re all quantumly entangled still stuck in our teens we’re no better at reality since Jesus was weaned we’re not officially at war but we are all refugees we should have known – sunset is inevitable my GPS shows a new destination all made from plastic floating loose in the ocean but don’t worry baby – it’s just the sun going down humpbacks have evolved a forty-a-day habit it’s all worse than you can imagine should you choose to believe it but don’t worry baby – it’s just the sun going down Russia’s got Rambo and China’s got Mao and Africa is darker and Europe is sinking but don’t worry baby – it’s just the sun going down so far all we have to share with life on Mars is if you hold the camera right you too could be star we are all so surprised that it’s getting so dark we should have known – sunset is inevitable used to have Dylan now all we’ve got is Sheeran everybody’s a preacher and there’s no more silence but don’t worry baby – it’s just the sun going down i’m going to find myself a quiet mountain looking over the ocean and i’m, i’m going to sit there until until until the sun goes down © John Ellis 2022
5.
What A Time 02:14
the Southern Cross hangs above the beach the summer sun within our reach so let’s sit below the mountain pour another glass of wine what a time to be leaving what a time and rain will come to the thousand hills and everything will drink its fill all the highveld waits expectant as towers of cloud begin to climb what a time to be leaving what a time jacarandas on a purple breeze the night comes late – the crescent moon agrees she was once an unwed mother but she has just learned to be kind what a time to be leaving what a time so throw another log on the fire nothing here dies on the vine what a time to be leaving what a time
6.
facedown in a sunflower field state – state of the nation burning books in a burnt-out school state – state of the nation totem poles of slanted eyes crocodile teeth, suits and ties state – state of the nation state – state of the nation my turn to eat and i want more didn’t join the struggle to be poor state – state of the nation state – state of the nation born-free nights work-free days state – state of the nation NDR - RET RDP - EWC state – state of the nation if it’s a rainbow then there has to be a pot of gold and a pHD state – state of the nation state – state of the nation warlords on the building site state – state of the nation to fill the taxis: burn the trains state – state of the nation state – state of the nation penthouse suite of a sinking ship state – state of the nation minority rule: minority rule state – state of the nation state – state of the nation © John Ellis 2022
7.
Dogs 04:05
whispering voices in the trees hungry jackals on the prowl whispering voices in the treetops hungry jackals all on the prowl you better come on in the farmhouse i hear the dogs beginning to howl we just lost another acre i can tell because the air is foul we just lost another acre i can tell because the air smells foul you better come in from the fields i hear the dogs beginning to howl telephone wires hanging loose all the neighbours are throwing in the towel telephone wire hanging loose on the poles neighbours are throwing in the towel you better stand guard on the hilltop i hear the dogs beginning to howl spies in the countryside warlords are sending out scouts spies in the countryside warlords sending out their scouts you better shelter on the mountain i hear the dogs are beginning to howl chain link is ringing underneath gathering clouds chain link fence is ringing underneath the gathering clouds you better stand back from the roadside i hear the dogs are beginning to howl round up your sheep and cattle dig your treasure from the ground round up all your sheep and cattle dig your buried treasure up from the ground pull the night up like a blanket i hear the dogs are beginning to howl © John Ellis 2022
8.
pulled across the high river on a swollen summer day Great White Queen waiting for them on the other side she spoke in their favour sitting cross-legged at her feet in the shade of the ultimatum tree sugar-water in the noon-day heat ox on the fire courtesy of the Empire cloaks up around their shoulders sticks in hand to leave the queen said “one more thing before you go” “i have decided to rescue your people from your king i heard them cry for help from across the sea” “and I’m here to tell you it is time to change your ways i am here to tell you i am now your queen” “so dismantle your army let your soldiers marry young and only go to war if i say so” they asked her “when have our people ever complained? we do things as they have always been done” she said “you have until the moon comes up again over this ultimatum tree” two weeks they walked through the rain back to the king the demands of the queen in their ears but the king already knew from the whispering hills he knew a great enemy had come the Great White Queen swam across his river in the night long before the new moon came around and she marched through the summer grass dressed red and white for war bearing a club fashioned from the ultimatum tree all asleep under a mountain in the January sun the king beat her back with the horns of a bull in time she dragged the king from his forest and crumbled up his kingdom in her hands and she led him to a wooden ship bound for captivity a ship made from the ultimatum tree in time the king was allowed to return home to die and he sailed back the way he had come the Great White Queen, home and dry, warmed her feet at the fire the flames rising from the ultimatum tree © John Ellis 2022
9.
when i got back from the war i wasn’t sure who the enemy was when i got back from the war i wasn’t sure who the enemy was every president prays every thief makes the sign of the cross i’ve got an exit strategy for when the apocalypse comes i’ve got an exit strategy for when the apocalypse comes i’ve designed it to withstand the light of a thousand suns today the clouds gathered up the horizon waited for the command today the clouds gathered up the horizon waited for the command since the weather changed hands it’s unlikely things’ll go as planned thirty-seven roses at the foot of the lighthouse and i waited all night thirty-seven roses at the foot of the lighthouse and i waited all night i have to admit she’s putting up a hell of a fight sometimes i hear my guitar telling secrets meant for someone else sometimes i hear my guitar telling secrets meant for someone else sometimes you’ve got to watch the ones you love do things you’ve never done yourself i feel a little more bewildered at the end of every day i feel a little more bewildered at the end of every day i’ve got a mantra i just wish i had a license to pray i’m at right angles to the sun in the cradle of humankind i’m at right angles to the sun in the cradle of humankind my voice has a colour but thank God the whole world is going blind i’m neither one nor the other mama, i’m non-binary i’m neither one nor the other mama, i’m non-binary i get all my clothes from the Subaltern Boutique © John Ellis 2022
10.
there are better days ahead there are better days ahead burning skies behind us now behind us now come with me down paradise come with me down paradise come and see what we could be what we could be there’s a weeping woman there there’s a weeping woman there and a young man beating all for love all for love there are better days ahead there are better days ahead smoking fires behind us now behind us now ©John Ellis, Patric van Blerk, Fransua Roos 2022
11.
t-shirt Levi’s polarized lens four wheel drive Mercedes Benz i am gujarati Zulu kingdom original Khoisan Anglo Saxon what’d you call me? goat skin on my wrist next to Lakshmi’s thread my earth turns gold my rivers run red i am French Huguenot indentured Hindu 1820, 1652 what’d you call me? pangas in the sugar cane fire on the hill single-malt in the dunes, I’ll drive, I don’t spill I am southern suburbs - Amanzimtoti Higginson Highway - Shoshanguve what’d you call me? electrified my fence on the Day of the Vow i paid for my wife with fifteen cows i am umnumzane - indoda Gereformeede - Tamil Tiger what’d you call me? run of the country Speaker of the House that’s my Honourable Member you’ve got in your mouth i am monopoly capital - Spear of the Nation redeployed cadre without compensation what’d you call me? president’s keeper - email leaker Bafana republic thank you Fifa i am junk status - state capture flying economy - Born Free-loader what’d you call me? ancestral visa K-Mash Section T i have reason to believe we all be received in Kempton Krugersdorp Khayelitsha Sophiatown -District Six- Wild Coast- Nyanga what’d you call me? personalized plates in Die Ou Transvaal stockpiled ammunition from Die Swart Gevaar i am migrant labour - Mini Cooper frequent flyer - Flying Dutchman what’d you call me? Manenberg Skokiaan Sarie Marais hot pants at Splashy Fen - Durban Poison in my hair i am Shosholoza- Pata Pata Woza Friday - Alibama what’d you call me? cloth’s on the Table bitter almonds on the fence armed forces in the suburbs - pasop amagents i am ducking and diving - cattle rustling border duty - stick fighter what’d you call me? children kicking round the Cullinan diamond in the yard i turned a hill into a hole trading beads for the farm i am Barney Barnato -blue blood diamond Hensopper- veteran - Uitlander what’d you call me? Auckland Brisbane London Toronto passport in my pocket like a dompas from long ago i am kwere kwere- amabhunu interloper - sea-borne umlungu what’d you call me? if Orania has a blackout, white hats in parliament bunny chows in Woolworths, Red Ants in the squatter camps satellite dish on the tin roof, Mount Nelson high tea beetroot in the hospitals - halal Gatsbys what’re you going to call me? i am Boesman - Michael K- Boksombende Beloved Country - Sizwe Banzi Ke a leboga - shalom Aleichem Thuma Mina - Om Sai Ram cold Benguela - Ponto d’Ouro African Renaissance - Adamastor Gondwanaland- Mzansi Cape Dutch -Meadowlands - Kalahari aweh brasse - amajita dankie – Inshallah- dhanyavaad © John Ellis

credits

released April 27, 2022

Produced by John Ellis
Executive Producer: Duncan Brown
Recorded, engineered and mixed by Brent Quinton
Assisted by Dale Wardell
Mastered by Rogan Kelsey

Recorded at The Audio Suite, Westville, KwaZulu-Natal Feb-April 2021
Additional recording at the Atterbury Theatre, Pretoria March 2021 by Fuzz Senekal and at the United Rhythms Studio, Durban May 2021 by David Jenkins
Some extra recording happened in Durban North and Pietermaritzburg May 2021

String arrangement and orchestration for “Dogs”: Bryan Schimmel

Artwork: Aimee Lindeque
Art Direction: Antony Ellis

Words and Music: John Ellis
“Down Paradise”: John Ellis, Patric van Blerk, Fransua Roos
Published by Jellisongs/ Admin. by CNC Music
All songs © John Ellis 2021

These musicians played these instruments:
David ‘Qadasi’ Jenkins (umhuphe, concertina, maskandi guitar) Maqhinga Radebe (maskandi guitar) Njabulo Shabalala (percussion) Victor Sithole (umqangala, udloko, umzaneno) Burton Naidoo (piano) David Klassen (drums) Rixi Roman (upright bass) Regardt de Bruin (konsertina) Shanjeet Teeluck (sitar) Vishen Kamraj (tabla) Barry van Zyl (additional percussion) Andy Turrell (snare drum and coffee) Ralitza Macheva (violin) Petya Koleva (violin) Kolio Koleva (cello) Ralitsa Pechoux (cello) John Ellis (guitar, singing, additional percussion)

“Native” was made possible by the AW Mellon Foundation through the “Rethinking South African Literature(s)” project at the University of the Western Cape.

Siyabonga:
All the wonderful musicians. Brent Quinton. Dale Wardell. Fuzz Senekal. Bryan Schimmel. Aimee Lindeque. Antony Ellis. Rogan Kelsey. Jill Flusk.
Siyabonga kakhulu:
David ‘Qadasi’ Jenkins. Susan du Toit. Duncan Brown, without whom this album would not exist.

For Liam, Bethany and Sadie: natives, too.

A Luta Continua.

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John Ellis Durban, South Africa

A singer-songwriter from Durban, South Africa, John has played his music all over the world. His fifth full-length solo album "Native"will be released on April 27 2022.

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