Canada Day isn't just an opportunity to celebrate our country and its history, it's a chance to celebrate our freedom and our good fortune to live in a democratic country that respects individual rights. Nelson Mandela is the embodiment of peace and freedom enduring over violence and oppression. He has been gravely ill of late but regardless of how much longer he lives, his legacy will remain.
Simple Minds had the foresight to record Mandela Day in 1989, just a year before Mandela was finally released from his South African prison. While Mandela Day would be an excellent song of the day, a better choice is Peter Gabriel's Biko, a song immortalizing Steven Biko, an anti-apartheid activist who was tortured and beaten to death by South African police in 1977.
Simple Minds routinely included Biko during their live shows and Gabriel closed with it when I saw him on the So tour in 1986.
Gabriel joined Simple Minds to perform Biko at the Nelson Mandela 70th Birthday Tribute concert at Wembley Stadium in London on June 11, 1988 as the protest against Mandela's continued imprisonment and South Africa's apartheid government became a worldwide demand for justice and change.
Powerful music and individuals fighting for freedom can change the world. Check out Peter Gabriel and Simple Minds performing Biko at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ewK_Pdj0GCQ
