Hank Williams and Dolly Parton?

I noticed it yesterday, and seem to recall thinking a bit about it last time I was here. But today some new Burundian friends confirmed it for me.

The background music that plays in most coffee shops and meeting places here is not traditional Burundian music, nor is it modern African music or R&B from the States, as is the case in other African nations I know of.

Here, you are more likely to hear the smooth sounds of Kenny Rogers or Hank Williams Jr. or Dolly Parton playing.

I couldn't help but point this out to Olivier, who was showing me all around the city and introducing me to people he knows through his business ventures. He and his wife Francine had taken me to a nice beachfront area of Lake Tangianika to have a bite to eat.

And again I heard the familiar sounds of  country classics.

'You know it is funny hearing this music here because practically only white people listen to it in the States," I said. Olivier said he likes the music because it is calm and soothing.

I explained that it is not so much that Blacks in the States don't like the music, but that it is probably associated with unpleasant memories for black people collectively.

Later, Delphine, his 31-year-old neighbor who lived in France for three years before moving back to Burundi with her French husband, continued the discussion with me.

"My father had all those albums when I was growing up," she said. "It's like the old classic standards to us. We all know them." Olivier and Francine nodded their heads with smiles that suggested they had checked out to memory lane.

"We don't have the same history that you guys have with this music," she said. "For us, the memories are good ones. Perhaps for you guys you can't appreciate the music because of your history."

I had never thought of it before, but perhaps she is on to something. I know that many southern and rural blacks do like country music. At least the old stuff. But still, it was the last thing I expected to find here.

'

Comments

[jude]

That is wild. Things that make you go hmmm...

[Petey]

This is an interesting observation. It's interesting to observe my own internal response to Darius Rucker's recent move into country music. He's very good at it, but there's something in me that keeps saying, for no good reason, "This is just ... wrong!" I'm pretty sure the problem is not with him, it's with me.