106 african appropriations
figure 3.5
Audiocassette cover art for Nyasho Kwaya’s Titanic (2000).Christ, as imparted by the Bible. The very form in which it is presented
legitimizes the song’s message. The simile of the ship that sank despite a
common belief that it was unsinkable lends credibility to Adventist escha-
tology. The passengers on the Titanic are likened to the inhabitants of a
world who live as if the world would last forever: “On the journey they got
drunk to celebrate because Titanic / cannot sink.” The song admonishes
those who have yet to bear witness to the Adventist creed. “And so it was
lies and stupidity / There is nothing that has a beginning but has no end,”