Why Them, Why Me
1968 · Soul S 35051 · USA
- Artist
- Abdullah
- Title
- Why Them, Why Me
- Release
- Why Them, Why Me / I Comma Zimba Zio (Here I Stand the Mighty One)
- Year
- 1968
- Label
- Soul # S 35051
- Format
- 7" · Single
- Language
- English
- Country
- USA
- Genre
- Soul, Gospel & Funk · Soul
- Primary theme
- Peace, Protest & Anti-War
Annotation
The song "Why Them, Why Me" was released by Abdullah on Soul (# S 35051), a subsidiary of Motown Records, for blues and R&B (1964-1978). The b-side "I Comma Zimba Zio" was an strong civil rights, African-American militant song, evoking Africa and the fight for freedom. Born Joseph McLean, he changed his name as a follower of Elijah Muhammad, a self-proclaimed black Muslim nationalist. (1) He apparently fell out with Motown's Ralph Seltzer in a racial confrontation, hence only one single on Motown. (2) It is fairly difficult to transcribe, but clearly it is narrated from the perspective of a soldier on "the shores of Vietnam", who was "fighting and dying". He was looking out at sea for a ship, probably to take him home.
Annotation by Justin A. Brummer
About the artist
Abdullah was the stage name of Joseph McLean, a Black nationalist singer whose lone single 'I Comma Zimba Zio' b/w 'Why Them, Why Me' appeared on Motown's Soul subsidiary (S-35051, 1968); after a violent falling-out with Motown management he returned to New York. [Source: Michigan Quarterly Review; Discogs]