"46664 Part 2: Long Walk to Freedom" - Various Artists

Compilation Album

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Full Track Listing:

  • 46664 (Long Walk to Freedom) – Bono, the Edge, David A. Stewart, Abdel Wright, Youssou N’Dour (6:26)
  • Speech – Nelson Mandela (6:36)
  • Invincible Hope / 46664 (The Call) / The Show Must Go On – Queen featuring Nelso Mandela, Brian May, Treana Morris, Zoe Nicholas and Chris Thompson (9:19)
  • Afrika – Angelique Kidjo (5:07)
  • Umquombothi – Yvonne Chaka Chaka (5:36)
  • The Way – Bongo Maffin (7:46)
  • Asimbonanga – Johnny Clegg and Guests (5:00)
  • People – Johnny Clegg / Jimmy Cliff (4:42)
  • Many Rivers to Cross – Jimmy Cliff (3:12)
  • I Can See Clearly Now – Jimmy Cliff (2:39)
  • Breathless – The Corrs (3:49)
  • Toss the Feathers – The Corrs / Roger Taylor (3:33)
  • Leliungelo Elakho – Ladysmith Black Mambazo / The Corrs (4:04)
  • Homeless – Ladysmith Black Mambazo (5:11)
  • Is this the World We Created? – Andrea Corr / Brian May (2:29)

Background Information

On October 21, 2003, it was announced that a huge concert would be held in Cape Town, South Africa to raise awareness of Africa’s AIDS plight. The initiative, called 46664 represented Nelson Mandela’s prison number for more than 18 years while he was a prisoner in Robben Island in South Africa. Mandela explained the use of the number, “Millions of people today infected with AIDS are just that — a number,” he said. “They too are serving a prison sentence for life. That’s why for the first time I am allowing my prison number…to brand this campaign.” The concert had initially been planned for earlier in 2003 but had been pushed back to coincide with World AIDS Day. The concert was streamed on the internet, and was later televised to the world.

The campaign took it’s name from another source, David Stewart of the Eurythmics had started working with Joe Strummer of the Clash and later Bono on a song in 2002. The song was titled “46664 (Long Walk to Freedom)”. Dave Stewart had approached Nelson Mandela in November 2002 about using the number for the basis for a song, and explained his desire to use the proceeds from the song for raising money for the Nelson Mandela Foundation. Stewart first approached Joe Strummer of The Clash to co-write the lyrics to the song, but after Strummer’s death Stewart finished the song with Bono. The two recorded the song with Youssou N’Dour and Abdel as the first in a series of songs for the campaign which would eventually be launched. It was released as a digital single in October of 2003.

The concert was released on DVD, as well as on CD. Rather than releasing a pricey 3-disc set, the record label released three separate discs, each with a subtitle, “African Prayer”, “Amandla” and “Long Walk to Freedom”. Each disc was released with a picture of Mandela on the cover, although tinted different colours to make telling the difference between the CDs easier.

The second disc was “Long Walk to Freedom” taking the name from the song “46664 (Long Walk to Freedom)” that Bono had co-written. The performance of “46664 (Long Walk to Freedom)” is featured on this disc and the live performance featured Bono and The Edge performing the song with David A. Stewart, Youssou N’Dour, and Abdel Wright joining them on the song.

A studio version of “46664 (Long Walk to Freedom)” was released as a digital download during the early days of the campaign, just shortly after the concert had been announced. That version of the song featured the same vocalists who perform the song here. This live performance was the first time that the song had been released in a physical format as the studio version was only made available as a digital download.

Liner Notes

46664 (Long Walk to Freedom):
Written by Strummer, Hewson, Stewart. Performed by Bono, The Edge, David A. Stewart, Abdel Wright, Youssou N’Dour. Recorded by Justin Shirley-Smith and Toby Alington. Mixed by David Richards and Josh Macrae at Moutain Studios (Montreux Switzerland) and The Priory (Surrey, UK).

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