The soundtrack to my childhood is music that played on a ZBC TV programme which used to be called Mvengemvenge (meaning assorted) which later became Mutinhimira wemimhanzi/Ezomgido meaning the rhythm of music on Thursday evenings. The video playlist was mostly local music with some regional songs from the continent making an appearance.
For the international music fix one tuned in on Saturday evening for Sounds On Saturday, which became Music Box and later known as Coke On The Beat when Coca-cola started sponsoring it.
Cecilia by the Rusike brothers was one of my favourite songs…
I loved the video and tried to dance along to the Michael Jacksonesque choreography.
If I squinted my eyes like so …^_^… and turned my head at an angle, the lady featured in the video as Cecilia reminded me of my mum. So yeah, the song has had a special place in my life, every time I heard it I smiled, never mind the lyrics flew over my head but I rolled on the floor and laughed and laughed just like they did at the end of the video… She loves me again!!!
I grew up, the song half-forgotten in my memories, until, years later, while scrolling through South African channels on the TV, I ran into this song by The Vamps – Oh Cecilia (breaking my heart)
My first thought had been wow, those Rusike brothers had made it so global they were being sampled by an international outfit… allow me, please.
The beauty and curse of the internet though, within a few clicks on the information superhighway, I had gotten to the bottom of this curious case to the shocking revelation that The Rusike brothers song had actually been a cover version…. Noooo
The 2014 release Oh Cecilia song by The Vamps had been adapted from a 1970s hit Cecilia.
Cecilia was originally written by Paul Simon and performed by the duo of Paul Simon and Art Garfunkel in April 1970 as their 3rd single of the album Bridge Over Troubled Water.
The song’s percussive rhythm is said to have to come about from a late-night party at which the duo and friends had began banging on a piano bench.
Did you know: The song’s title refers to St. Cecilia, patron saint of music and thus the song might refer to the frustration of fleeting inspiration in songwriting than about a literal capricious lover.
Older me looking at the lyrics like I can’t believe I actually sang along to this at the top of my voice: why would someone go wash their face after__ oh? ok never mind me.
~B
PS after getting over the disappointment that my childhood was a lie, I have decided I still like the Rusike Brothers rendition better than the Simon & Garfunkel original..
Becoming The Muse 
Like always, your writing is lovely 😊🌹🌹🌹👌
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Thank you, you say the nicest things ^_^
~B
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Oh you deserve each word 😊
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Hey Beaton, I mentioned you in my latest post, hope you don’t mind.
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mind? hmm it depends…. you say it like something someone would say before telling you that you have been volunteered to be sacrificed in volcano to stop it from erupting….
let me head over there,
~B
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Hahaha! That’s exactly it, sorry. Lol
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You had me worried there for a second.
“Was the song I’ve always known a cover?” (Because it was not by the Rusike Brothers.) And then you revealed the truth. Alright. I can breathe easy again.
I did not know about St. Cecilia and the whole inspiration interpretation. How interesting!
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hahaha I wonder if there’s a word to describe the number of emotions you feel when you discover a song is a cover…
For example when I found out Whitney Houston’s I will always love you had been originally by Dolly Parton…
But hey Simon & Garfunkel are safe… I actually really love Paul Simon’s music…
~B
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I love the song. But I heard the version of The Vamps first. 😂😊
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The Vamps version is pretty cool and the video is fun…. but a part of me small small cant move past the version I have known for years ^_^
~B
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Loved the song..
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Its a beautiful song especially now that I know part of the meaning behind it and it could be a song about an artist with an unreliable muse for inspiration…
~B
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So true
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A most interesting post about Cecelia! Your writing is always so eloquent!
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Oh, thank you for all the information. I really enjoyed the trivia around this song. I knew it is an old song because my parents listened to it. The newer cover is quite catchy, don’t you think? I laughed when you said if you squint and tilt your head, the woman looks like you mum. Haha!
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Glad to have shared some interesting trivia on a timeless classic.
The new cover is quite catchy which would explain how it topped global charts hahaha
thank you
~B
It does look like my mum ^_^ even if she says she never looked anything like that
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I miss Ezomgido!🥺
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Totally
I wonder if it still shows hahaha remember reading something about how they wanted to relaunch it new and improved
~B
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lovely
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I loved this song too. A classic for me
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I have always loved it and now that I have some background to it… its acquired a bit of an extra depth
~B
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