Today brought a multi-coloured shit-storm in the form of an article written on 2oceansvibe to do with the possibly confusing music video made by SA band The Parlotones. We suggested the band had gone too far in aligning themselves with another country, what with the song name being “Come Back As Heroes,” and the video depicting them in a stadium surrounded by German fans waving German Flags. In other words, it begged the question.

Kahn, the lead-singer of The Parlotones, responded:

Forever a SOUTH AFRICAN

I do not normally reply to the hate because tastes do differ, but what is at question here is my patriotism, of which I have an over abundance of. So for once I will speak out and there will undoubtedly be opinions somehow laced with hate, a trait I do not possess and which considering our past, is a trait we should all attempt to extinguish. I do not care that some of you may call us corporate whores, as some of those very people spewing out that comment trundle 2 hours (there and back) through traffic to sit for 8-9 hours (sometimes more) beneath the neon lights of what? Ah ha…a corporate! Usually you’d be driving a branded car that you spend a significant chunk of your salary on for repayments, insurance, fuelling etc. All sold to you buy GIANT conglomerates. You’ll be Wearing clothing and cosmetic products from a corporate and later consuming the produce from a corporate, later settling in your home which technically a corporate bank or corporate hotel (SETH) owns! That’s right some of us work for a corporate, and some of us make a corporate work for us. Some of us do both, the question here is if you decided to name yourself GOD of the corporate whore comment, then are you truly an organic subsistence farming ‘walk everywhere’ hippy, deriving income from selling your handmade woven baskets? Either way Pick n Pay may come knocking after hearing about your awesome baskets and then what? We’re inadvertently endorsees in some form or another, some of us do it without knowing and others blatantly derive income from it SETH (your blog is laced with adverts for tyres etc.), why can’t we?

The truth is yes we did do a theme tune for a German broadcast company; the fact is that NOT for one second does anyone in the German public believe that we favour their country over ours. Here’s why,

for the past 2 years of us going to Germany, we’ve spoken very little about music and very much about South Africa, politics and our beautiful country in what must be close to a few hundred interviews, where their journalists seem less prone to a personal attack on the artist. Some journalists believe that what he or she does radiates from a place of pure perfection and knowledge of ALL; somehow affording them the license to condemn, i.e. rather don’t write about what you don’t like. We’ve constantly underplayed the crime scenario even though I was personally hijacked two years ago, and robbed, pick-pocketed etc. countless times, because even though this happened I did not want to be ‘That South Africa individual’ that fuels what is now an overzealous, stereotypical view of South Africa as some warzone, and I do love my country, this is my home and will always be! So, undoubtedly, we stand to gain by doing the German song but so too does South Africa as we paint a better more real picture and exude the fact that we love our country, so too do our other artists benefit as on many occasion we’re asked who Zolani is (as she does a duet on the album) and we recommend the many local artists we admire writing long list of artists to catch during the World cup and to research online, often pondering on whether or not they’d do the same? This song will last 4 weeks as part of an ARD (a television broadcast company) campaign to draw attention to the event and will be coupled with the highlights packages of the day. It’s just a song highlighting a South African band during a global event hosted in South Africa. How many times has Queen’s “We are the Champions” been used in a similar vein, has anyone question Freddy Mercury’s allegiance for ‘We are the Champions’ and his allegiance when he sang ‘Barcelona’?

The questions i have to ask are:

• Has anyone questioned the fact that the official carrier for the Springboks is BA?
• Has anyone ever put on another international football shirt because of some family line due to our years of colonisation, saying things like, “I’m behind the boys but my real side is __________ (can be filled with England, Germany, Italy, Portugal, Holland etc.)?
• Has anyone ever bad mouthed our country, further fuelling the now exaggerated impression of SA?
• Why is it okay for the adored Proteas to align themselves with KFC but we’re condemned when we do? Or our Springboks endorse Spur etc.?
• Has anyone gone to London (or elsewhere) to seek greener pastures?
• Now that everyone has found a new found patriotism for Bafana, how many of you have ever supported a local team (say Kaiser Chiefs), but yet pull your Manchester United shirt on every weekend to see Rooney dazzle!
• How many of you have ever even considered going to a Bafana game before the World Cup reached our shores?
• Has anyone begun the process of OZZIE immigration?
• Has anyone done the semi-gration from Joburg to ‘safer’ Cape Town?
• Is anyone sitting in another country hurling condemnation but ultimately does not reside here, contribute to taxes, contribute to social charities and to the society that is South Africa as a whole? But wears the card of ‘patriotism’ and flashes it before me.
• How many have even researched us enough to comment, or even asked our comments? A fair practice when engaging in opinion, a practice invented at the dawn of journalism to ensure an objective story.
• Have any of you read my recent blogs on myspace, titled ‘World cup fever’ laced with very obvious patriotism?
• How many of the new found Bafana patriots have actually put their money where their mouths are and backed them as final winners, the odds were at 150:1 before kick-off. I put a thousand bucks down and lost a further R500 on opening game because they did not win the game against Mexico. Not a fortune but a patriotic gamble at best!
• Does anyone realise that in every German, English, Italian, etc etc. Interview we’ve done I have expressed that I would Love South Africa to win and if not then an African side? I have said this in every interview including interviews carried on the very station carrying the theme song, THE SONG IS NOT A BETRAYAL OF OUR COUNTRY IT IS JUST A SONG!
• Does anyone realise that in every European interview dissing the Vuvuzela, I have vehemently defended it saying that this is an African World Cup and although the way Football is played is universal it’s fans appreciation of the game differs and the world should embrace an introduction to something new, often saying “Why go to Turkey to order from Starbucks when Turkey is famous for its very own coffee bars?” as an analogy?
• Would you rather not have a South African band have the massive opportunities connected with this song, than another band, they chose us because we are South African and the event is hosted here? Which makes me question OUR local supposed theme song which has the brilliant Freshly Ground as Shakira’s backing band!
• DID anyone watch the opening concert and see that I wore the SA flag shoes, a South African badge on my pocket, and Paul wore a South African tie around his waist?
• Do you know that before we started I said to a billion people around the world; “Welcome to our beautiful country”, that’s right , OUR as we stood on a stage in Orlando.
• Have we all become so accustomed to looking for the negative in everything that we are blinded to any positives?

THIS is not a question of patriotism, this is the country I choose as home, in fact I recently bought a house a block down the road from where I was hi-jacked (I’m sure some of you may hope they’d done the job properly , and I contribute economically in every way from taxes, to investment, to social donations. I did not choose to leave, often saying that I would rather die with a bullet in my head BUT a smile on my face than leave my family , friends and this beautiful, colourful land I CALL HOME! A place which for 99% of my life has sprouted wonderful memories, I choose to NOT let the 1% miffness affect me and instead try to be involved in initiatives that fight crime, giving of my time, voice and money. I ONLY support South Africa in every sporting code and thereafter I support an African side, I have NO dual alliances even though I was born in Belgium and have the passport. Ultimately though, I am a fan a football, if South Africa falls out I will back an African side and if Africa falls out I have many sides I may support because I have a massive admiration for a lot of players from different countries, Messi from Argentina, Rooney from England and Ronaldo from Portugal, I am a fan of Soccer! And I have a pair of ‘FLAG’ branded Superga shoes for South Africa, Germany, Brazil, England and Italy. I will wear these shoes in those respective countries when we play there, NOT to somehow switch allegiance but to show appreciation to fans from those countries for supporting us, this is not dissimilar to the front man from Collective Soul wearing a sharks rugby shirt during their performance at Coke fest in Durban, or Skin from Skunkanasie wearing a Springbok rugby jersey at Standard Bank Arena (whoops I quoted Standard Bank in this reply…corporate whore?). NOT once while they were adorning our truly SA merchandise did I believe Skin was about to pack up and leave England to buy a place in Roodepoort or even support the springboks in a British Lions game. I am also a BIG fan of Rugby, a staunch supporter of the Lions despite our recent decade of lacklustre performances. I have never switched allegiance from the lions but will strongly shout for any remaining South African side. How many JOBURG boys can claim the same support for our local lions?

Ultimately my intentions have not been to insult anyone who may flicker between dual nationality and support because I know NO man is an island including my very close friends who possess a sea of British premiership paraphernalia, but may only possess a Pirates sticker on the side mirrors of their cars as some sort of anti-hijack device (NOT so current now, but believe me it did exist). Some of my very good friends have departed because they feel better and safer opportunities exist elsewhere. . I will never judge our rather schizophrenic allegiances to supporting foreign sides over our own or the mass exodus to other parts of the globe because I understand why each and every one of them did it or still want to do it. This is not some competition about who can rack up the most patriotic points, what I question is those who judge from LOFTY heights without looking around to take a view at their families, their friends and most importantly themselves.

I only expressed my opinion, because I care when my patriotism is questioned. You can insult us about our style of music, you can call us corporate whores, to whom I say turn off the radio or TV, NO-one is holding you at gun point to buy our product and you don’t have to taste our wine. We are South African and proudly so, why can some of our citizens NOT get behind those representing us even if you don’t necessarily like us or if we don’t do business as eloquently as your idealist mind would like, and why not comment on what you like rather than labouring over what sometimes borders on hate speech (HAVE WE NOT LEARNT?). If any South African achieves success abroad we all benefit and that’s the BIGGER picture.

We are just four ordinary guys, raised by middle-class families from a small suburb called Roodepoort trying to make our way in this difficult world of music, we can take the criticism from those who hate our music, even those critics who pull us apart as individuals as though they hate us with every inch of their souls, we can take being called corporate whores for aligning ourselves with corporations (who work for us, because they ensure our longevity in one of the most difficult industries in the world, ask some of your friends in bands), we know that the business of music means that something we labour over for hours, months, years, decades can be ripped to shreds in 5 minutes by an OPINION from the lofty heights alluded to earlier. However, after this article I doubt you’ll be able to question our patriotism, maybe you’ll question your right to a one-sided opinion afforded to you due to a large readership and a revenue stream from car tyres?

Just as there is a clash of 2 Oceans resulting in what is the most beautiful city in the world, hopefully we can find peace in a clash of 2 opinions!

Much love Seth, despite this article you’re doing a remarkable job making money by talking shit.

Maybe we can share a beer one day and you’ll realise I’m just a normal guy with the same complex dynamics running through my head, a body of atoms NOT sure of all the answers, and prepared to make mistakes in this journey called life because I’d rather be criticised than be invisible.

All the best,

Kahn ‘Corporate Whore’ Morbee – THE PARLOTONES

_____________________________

Nice one, Kahn.

Catch you for a Jack Black beer at Caprice when you’re back in town (with your Pumas on).