(Reposting - first post seems to have been erased)

Read the BBC article ( I think) on Google, then went to the song.

I did not find the story of the song depressing - thought it was upbeat and lyrical and I was amazed at how timeless it sounded. I can see why it survived so long. And it outlasted apartheid - perhaps because it was a celebration of living ( defiantly happy in the face of crushing oppression) .