The skittering guitar riff that forms the backbone to this track has been in my psyche for so long, I was convinced that Mudiwa Lucy had been covered here previously, but it seems not, and I’m appalled that on some of their previous mentions here, I appear to have taken a Cha off the Zimbabwe Cha Cha Cha Kings name.
According to Urban Dictionary, Mudiwa is a name heard in Shona Zimbabwe culture meaning “loved one” or “darling”. However, it is usually applied to male names. While calling a song Darling Lucy makes it out to be - potentially, because I don’t have a translation of the lyrics - a love song to a woman, I did wonder whether in Shona culture, Lucy might be a name given to boys similar to Marion, Shirley or Beverly. The high-pitched spoken word duologue at 3:41 could be between a woman and a man, but given that the high-pitched voice is being done by a man, I like to think it captures a young Shona boy complaining bitterly about being called Lucy while the soft spoken adult tries to console him with talk of the great achievements other men with female names have achieved.
If this is true - and I’m aware that it probably isn’t but humour me for a moment - it’s a reflection of that period in a child’s life where every thing which has been given to them that they didn’t ask for is wrong. I hated my name for a spell when I was a child, fervently wishing that I’d been called Billy instead, after the comic strip character Billy Dane. Still, it could have been worse - from a child’s viewpoint - my father wanted to call me Bradley which I would have found unendurable as a child. Inevitably, I made peace with my name as I grew up and I hope Lucy grew into a strapping fine lad and did so too.
Video courtesy of salsomano.
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