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“Where the Water Was” New song about water and climate justice.
Connecting the mindset behind the inequities of the past to social and environmental transgressions in the present, “Where the Water Was” calls for an awakening of care and connection.
“We as songwriters feel that if we can retrain ourselves to take care of water, in all its forms, we may simultaneously learn to address the challenges of environmental crises in constructive ways. Therefore “water” is used both as a physical, political, and metaphorical reference throughout the lyric,” say songwriters Casper Ace and Martin Høybye.
“Where The Water Was” sings a story of the impact that the first permanent European settlement at the Western Cape in South Africa had on the indigenous inhabitants, the Khoi and the San peoples. The consequences left a legacy still felt by their descendants, and by extension the descendants of many others living with the repercussions of colonialism at the Cape today.
Using Cape Town as a lens, a resilience and a resourcefulness inherent in indigenous knowledges are highlighted in the song. It proposes that an awareness informed by these knowledges may further greater harmony with nature and each other in the present.
Towards the end of 2022 the two artists met in central Cape Town at the event “Water & You” organized by the “Future Water Institute” (UCT). Here, they invited the general public to participate in a music video for “Where the Water Was.” Each participant lip-synced a line from the lyric to the song which they connected with upon having read the words and listened to the music.
lyrics
Where the Water Was
Words and music by Gideon Malherbe and Martin Høybye
Water and water scarcity
was a part of life for the Khoi and the San
moving to where there was rain
and to where the water was
With deep connection to the land
to the animals and the indigenous plants
folks set out with great knowledge of what could be found
and where the water was
When the Europeans came
they claimed land by right of conquest
and took the area between the Liesbeek and the Black rivers
that favored place to graze, where the water was
The Company wanted a refreshment point
to farm for profit despite erratic rain
but the people of Camissa knew better how to navigate the cape
and where the water was
With a different concept of landownership
they would herd, or hunt or gather
and follow the spirit to where it would lead
and life would always be where the water was
And the company men braved new frontiers
while following instructions
they were told and paid to divide and conquer
and laid claim to lives and souls, and where the water was
Today nothing much has happened,
poor people are as ever in dire straits
propping up a shrinking middle class
when we could be living in brotherly ways
Many of those now doing the hard living
as our nature burns and floods and dies
descend from those that knew the land
and where the water was that sustains all life, all life
We must find where the water runs
that we might stand a chance
and let our beating hearts rejoin the rhythm of the earth
in a sacred dance
Where the water was
Back to where the water was
Where the water was
credits
released November 24, 2023
Where the Water Was
(Gideon Malherbe/Martin Høybye)
Musicians:
Martin Høybye: Ac gtr, vocals.
Dennis Ahlgren: El gtr, juno, percussion, vocals.
Peter Dombernowsky: Percussion.
Ida Gormsen: Bass
Andreas Brinck: Wurlitzer
Producer/recording engineer:
Martin Høybye & Dennis Ahlgren
Martin Høybye has spent more than two decades honing his craft as a songwriter and co-writer professionally, before taking
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