1958-2008 by Tashi Dhondup

Album: Torture Without Trace (2009)

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Songfacts®:

The title of this song is not rendered "Nineteen-Fifty-Eight To Two-Thousand-And-Eight" because it is actually written in the Tibetan language. In English its opening lines may be rendered:

Hey! The year of 1958
Is when the black enemy entered Tibet

With words like that, no one with a little knowledge of geography and current affairs will need to be fluent in Tibetan to understand the gist of the song. China actually invaded Tibet in 1950, but it was not until the end of 1958 that the country was totally subjugated.

Although this song has a pleasing and not untypical traditional Oriental folk-type melody, it did not please the Chinese Government, and on December 3, 2009, shortly after his album was released, Dhondup was arrested. On January 5, 2010 he was sentenced to 15 months imprisonment for the "crime" of composing and performing music. >>>
Suggestion credit:
Alexander Baron - London, England

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