Mozambique (song)
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| "Mozambique" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Single by Bob Dylan | ||||
| from the album Desire | ||||
| B-side | "Oh, Sister" | |||
| Released | February 17, 1976 | |||
| Recorded | July 30, 1975 | |||
| Studio | Columbia Studios, New York City | |||
| Genre | Folk rock | |||
| Length | 3:00 | |||
| Label | Columbia | |||
| Songwriter(s) | ||||
| Producer(s) | Don DeVito | |||
| Bob Dylan singles chronology | ||||
| ||||
| Desire track listing | ||||
9 tracks
| ||||
| Official audio | ||||
| "Mozambique" on YouTube | ||||
"Mozambique" is a song written by Bob Dylan and Jacques Levy that was originally released on Dylan's 1976 album Desire. It was also released as a single and reached number 54 on the Billboard Hot 100.
At the time of the song's release, the titular country of Mozambique had just emerged from a ten-year insurgency war against Portugal which led to Mozambique's independence.[1][2] Mozambique had gained independence on June 25, 1975, only about a month before the song was recorded.[3] As a result, some supporters wanted to see the song as lending support to the newly independent country.[1] However, the lyrics of the song don't support such an interpretation, being slight and treating the country as merely a place for a romantic getaway in the sun, apart from a fleeting reference to "people living free".[1] This amused some of Dylan's fans, who did understand the satire.[2]
Analysis
The melody received more praise than the lyrics. Robert Shelton describes the tune as "playful."[4] Oliver Trager and John Nogowski both describe the melody as "great" and particularly praise the violin playing of Scarlet Rivera.[1][5]
Record World said that "The sound is different with Emmylou Harris singing along over a twisting beat, but the story is pure Dylan and that's enough to make it worth a listen."[6] Trager describes "Mozambique" as "a light love song with lighter political overtones."[1] Allmusic critic Stephen Thomas Erlewine calls it "effervescent" and "Dylan at his breeziest."[7] Paul Williams considers "Mozambique" to be one of several songs on Desire with "wonderful, inventive, pleasure-giving" music which nonetheless fails to reach the intensity and unity of the other songs because the lyrics are "a little too vague, too clever" and "too distanced."[8] Dylan biographer Clinton Heylin considers the song to be a "ditty dredged up from the bottom of the barrel," "ghastly" and "the weakest song on Desire."[2][9]
"Mozambique" was also released as a single as a follow-up to the Top 40 hit "Hurricane" and it reached #54 on the Billboard Hot 100.[10] Heylin suggests that Dylan may have released it as a single over songs fans might have preferred—particularly "Sara"—to spite fans who criticized the song for its slight lyrics trivializing the conflict in Mozambique.[2] Cash Box said of it that it is "an exotic, lush and exciting tune to hear" and that "Dylan is in fine form, spinning out his tale of 'magic in a magical land,' and playing superb rhythm guitar."[11]
The song also appeared on the compilation album Masterpieces.[12] A live performance was included in the television special Hard Rain but not on the associated album.[1][8]
