Ballad of the Southern Suburbs
| "Ag Pleez Deddy" | |
|---|---|
| Single by Jeremy Taylor | |
| B-side | "Jo'burg Talking Blues" |
| Released | 1962 |
| Format | 7-inch single |
| Genre | Folk, children's |
| Label | Gallotone PD 7-8531 |
| Songwriter(s) | Jeremy Taylor |
"Ag Pleez Deddy" (also known as The Ballad of the Southern Suburbs) is a classic South African song written and recorded by Jeremy Taylor. It was written for the stage show 'Wait a Minim!', and has been described as the 'showpiece' of said musical.
The song was penned in 'South African creole English', this being the vernacular of young, English-speaking South Africans, containing smatterings of Afrikaans phrases. The song's language was that of Jeremy's students, to whom he taught Latin in the southern suburbs of Johannesburg. On the surface a children's song, it became broadly popular. It is full of references to places, brands and entertainment popular among working-class white South Africans. The single, described as 'insightful', and a 'fond classic', became a 'cause célèbre' in South Africa, Rhodesia, Kenya, and Mozambique. In addition, the song sold more copies in South Africa than any single by Elvis Presley, as well as outselling any previous domestic single. The success of the song led to the popularity and acceptability of political satire in South Africa during later decades.
In the first four verses, a boy pesters his father to take him and his numerous friends to the drive-in theatre, the funfair, a wrestling match, and finally to a distant beach in Durban, with a chorus chanting: "Popcorn, chewing gum, peanuts and bubblegum". The father remains silent until the abortive fifth verse, when he retorts, "!" When the song resumes, the boy complains that, since his father won't take him out for amusements, he will have to entertain himself by beating up the boys (moer all the outjies) next door.
On release in 1962, the song caused significant controversy, with many Afrikaners unhappy about the mixing of Afrikaans and English in the lyrics, and its 'far-from-flattering' description of working-class whites, although some praised it for its 'gutsiness'. Post-apartheid, it was described as 'vulgar and base, revealing the raw side of South Africans in all their humour’, and 'a liberating anthem for hitherto doomed anglophone youth'.Gillian Slovo wrote that the song is very familiar with white South Africans who grew up during the apartheid era, saying 'We loved the song's words, the demands of insatiable childhood for zoos and aquariums'.
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