In 1977, the government of Nigeria had enough of and decided to take evasive action on his walled-in residence that he called the Kalakuta Republic ( declared it a separate state). Over a thousand soldiers descended on the compound and savagely beat the residents.

Himself escaped death (but not incarceration), but his activist mother was thrown through a window and broke her hip -- causing an injury that would take her life within that month. This prompted to begin recording reactions to this event:,, and were those reactions. 'Coffin for Head of State' was an elegy for his lost mother, to whom he was very close. The song opens lackisdasically and never really steps to any sort of fire that many of his compositions contain. He starts singing with the lines 'Amen, Amen, Amen.,' but he continues to talk about how those that live 'by the Grace of Almighty Lord' do wrong by their fellow man.

He talks about walking through the cities of Africa and seeing those that do bad things by the 'grace of Allah.' Throughout the song his sadness grows: 'Them kill my Mama/So I carry the coffin.' He then directly blames Nigerian President Obasanjo for her death: 'Obasnjo dey there/With him big fat stomach. Slacking Games Of 2013. ' 'Coffin for Head of State' is the saddest in his repertoire.

Has certainly dealt with sad issues in his songs, but here he deals with sadness in a very direct, morose personal way. [In 2000, MCA released and as a two-fer.].

Coffin For Head Of State 22:42 about After the sacking and burning of Fela’s Kalakuta Republic in 1977, Fela wrote several musical responses attacking the culpable Nigerian government, including this mournful tribute to his mother. Mar 30, 2011 'Coffin For Head Of State (part 2)' by Fela Kuti Listen ad-free with YouTube Red; Show more Show less. Mix - Fela Kuti - Coffin for Head of State YouTube. Jul 27, 2015 Coffin For Head of State (1981) Fela Kuti From the LP Coffin For Head of State (CD release 1997) This video is part of a.

Fela Kuti - Coffin for Head of State Lyrics. Amen, Amen, Amen. [Chorus] Amen, Amen, Amen! Business Everywhere Software V9.3.2. Through Jesus Christ our Lord By the grace of Almighty Lord Through Jesus.