Adventures on rainy days: How Majek Fashek’s ‘Send Down the Rain’ shaped my childhood
Subtle reminders about the irony of life and nostalgia welcomed my waking moment today. There was an early morning rain in Lagos, and conspicuously puzzling also was the news about the death of Majek Fashek. Born Majekodunmi Fasheke and popularly known as Majek Fashek, the legendary reggae musician was called The Rainmaker for his 1988 hit single ‘Send Down the Rain’. And nothing could have been more thought-provoking than hearing about his death while it was raining.
The magical and yet sad reality of his passing took me back to when my life was just beginning and how his songs, especially ‘Send Down the Rain’ formed the central part of my childhood. I wasn’t the only one. All the friends I played with, in the late 90s and early 2000s sang some parts of the chorus as our anthem for playing in the rain.
“Papa, papa, papa yo; mama, mama, mama yo, send down the rain,” we’ll serenade the compound while our mothers screamed that we’d catch a cold. But the theatrics of our plays would always prompt them to allow us to continue with our ‘madness’ unless the rain became heavy.
On one occasion, my twin brother and I sneaked out of the house while it was raining heavily, just a few days to our birthday to play under the rain singing ‘Papa, papa, papa yo’. For all we cared, that was the title of the song and it drew us like a moth to the flame. On this particular day, the rain was so severe that we started shivering after a while. Everyone thought we were still indoors until my elder sister saw us shaking at the pavement. She alerted my mother and we were saved from hypothermia.
We were not beaten because everyone was focused on saving us. My mother yanked off the wet clothes, marinaded our bodies with hot ointment (Robb) until our eyes and ears were peppery. Heavy sweaters and wrappers were wrapped around our bodies. We were taken to the kitchen, where a big fire was made for us to warm ourselves.
“You children will not disgrace me,” my mother said after we regained our warmth.
After the incident, we were banned from playing in the rain, but thankfully we were not banned from singing ‘Send Down the Rain’. Going forward, we stayed indoors whenever it rained, singing ‘Papa, papa, papa yo’, just like other children would sing ‘Rain, rain go away’.
One amazing thing about our obsession with the song was that it was already more than ten years after it was released before we got a chance to listen to the song. No one knew we would even be born when the song was released in 1988. But here we were, the sons of a school headmaster in a remote village in Abia State, listening to a song that was transcending generations and equally brightening the most part of our childhood.
It was magical and reinforced the peculiarity of Majek Fashek’s talent and the ability of his music to resonate with people of all ages, cultures, and backgrounds. A gift that he explored by creating a unique reggae sound he dubbed Kpangolo which shot him to the global spotlight.
Growing up, his songs became the melodies for celebration and reawakening. It was not just ‘Send Down the Rain’, it also included ‘Love and Affection’; ‘So Long Too Long’; ‘Religion na Politics’; ‘African Unity’; ‘Kpangolo’; and one of my personal favourite, ‘Little Patience’ among a list of many great songs.
He was a shining light for many years until he took a detour. And despite his troubles, Majek Fashek believed he would always bounce back. A sense of never-giving-up attitude that I found inspiring.
“I’m still in my glory days. I’m still a legend. I still play my music every Friday night in this joint,” he told the then Netng’s correspondent, Victor Enengedi in 2013 as rumours of his mental health issues began to gain popularity.
Although his health continued to deteriorate with the years until his death today, Majek Fashek has always lived in my memory for his deep and meaningful music. The rainmaker who made his exit with the rains would without a doubt remain evergreen to all generations of people that his music will continue to touch in a remarkable way.
We lost a great one with Majek Fashek… RIP The Rainmaker.
