I was listening to my beloved Asa today (Up Nigerian soul!) "Fire on the Mountain", an incredible monument of a song:
So you say you have a lover and you love her like no other
So you buy her a diamond that someone has died on
Don't you think there's something wrong with this?
Diamonds are contemptible bits of mediocre mineral that serve testimony to the gullibility and pliability of the public. I can't wait for the advent of perfect, carats-for-pennies diamonds from the laboratory, and it won't be long (would probably have been by now if not for the invidiousness of the diamond cartels). Soon, I hope, we can finally ditch the foetid illusion that diamonds have any value.
Hey Mr. soldier man, tomorrow is the day you go to war
Boy you are fighting for another man's cause and you don't even know him Ooooh! What did they say to make you so blind to your conscience and reason?
Could it be love for your country or for the gun you use in killing?
Or for the diamonds that corrupt your country and purchase those very guns?
You've heard it before, but Asa tells it with a fierce trueness. It's time to stop giving money to the diamond cartels. You might as well spend two months' salary funding coca and poppy production.