A Flower for Dandara
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A Flower for Dandara is a single from the Age of Reason Album by Bronski Beat and features the vocals of Stephen Granville and Rose McDowall. It was released in 2017 as part of the promoting of the album and as a tribute to Dandara Dos Santos.[1] It was written and produced by Steve Bronski and Ian Donaldson. It is on the Age of Reason Album, which is a remake of the earlier "Age of Consent" album which was made by Bronski Beat and features covers of their songs, Why, Smalltown Boy and Ain't Necessarily So (with No More War) and Need A Man Blues. All these were sung by Stephen Granville with Ian Donaldson and Steve Bronski as backing vocals or playing synthesisers.
Background[edit]
According to Ian Donaldson, he had read about the brutal murder of Dandara Dos Santos in a news article and he emailed it to Steve Bronski.[2] This event and the story around it influenced Donaldson and Bronski to create the song and they had Stephen Granville perform the main vocals for the song and the harmonies.[3] While asking Rose McDowell to provide backing vocals and because she was a longtime associate of the band, she agreed to perform the song with Granville. The song was made in tribute to Dandara Dos Santos and to critics the hate towards the LGBTQ+ community.
The song also has lyrics that both ask the listener and narrate the killing of Dandara such as "Do you decide if she should not live?, That she should not breathe?, A mother's heartbreaks and You killed a somebody's sister.". The song also ends with the lyrics, "An angel cries for Dandara".
Music video[edit]
The music video features Bronski, Donaldson, Granville and McDowell in a black background and Granville with McDowell singing while Donaldson and Bronski mostly stare with different emotions in their facial expressions. The song also uses mirror effects at certain points and has a computer-generated image of a red rose flower present at certain points in the video. McDowell is wearing a nun outfit and has dark makeup on, while Granville wears a dark blue shirt and Bronski and Donaldson wear all black clothes making only their heads and hands visible.[4]
Reception[edit]
Without covering the full album, hiapop.com gave the album a score of 6/10 and said about A Flower for Dandara.
"Flower For Dandara closes disc one on a high note - a tribute to the Brazilian transsexual Dandara dos Santos who was callously murdered outside her Brazilian home earlier this year. The track is tastefully performed and with the addition of vocals from Rose McDowall is a fitting mark of respect.".[5]
Additionally, classicpopmag.com gave the album a 2/5 and said about A Flower for Dandara:
"A Flower For Dandara, whose intent is far more transparent: featuring Strawberry Switchblade’s Rose McDowall, it’s a spartan, shimmering eulogy to the transgender Brazilian woman brutally murdered earlier this year.".[6]
Sound of the Crowd gave the album a 7/10 and said about A Flower for Dandara:
"while new single A Flower For Dandara also closes disc one. A tribute to a murdered Brazilian transsexual, it features guest vocals by Rose McDowall of Strawberry Switchblade and proves that today’s Bronski Beat has lost none of its lyrical edge. The Age of Reason is an unusual way to introduce the new line-up, but it works."[7]
References[edit]
- ↑ Jackman, Josh (6 April 2018). "Five sentenced for murder of trans woman which shocked the world". PinkNews | Latest lesbian, gay, bi and trans news | LGBTQ+ news. Retrieved 7 April 2023.
- ↑ Schnee, Steve. "BRONSKI BEAT: An EXCLUSIVE Q&A with Steve Bronski!". AMPED™ Music Distribution. Retrieved 7 April 2023.
- ↑ "Bronski Beat / The Age Of Reason – SuperDeluxeEdition". Retrieved 7 April 2023.
- ↑ "Bronski Beat ft Rose McDowall - A Flower For Dandara". Retrieved 7 April 2023.
- ↑ Blog, Hiapop (30 August 2017). "hiapop.com: Review - Bronski Beat – The Age Of Reason". hiapop.com. Retrieved 7 April 2023.
- ↑ "Bronski Beat - The Age of Reason album review - Classic Pop Magazine". www.classicpopmag.com. Retrieved 7 April 2023.
- ↑ "Bronski Beat: "The Age of Reason"". Sound Of The Crowd. 22 July 2017. Retrieved 7 April 2023.
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