Biko Lyrics

"Biko" is a protest song by British rock musician Peter Gabriel. The song was included on Gabriel's third album, Peter Gabriel (1980). It is about Steve "Biko", a noted black South African anti-apartheid activist. Biko had been arrested by the South African police in late August 1977. After being held in custody for several days, he was interrogated in room 619 of the Walmer Street prison in Port Elizabeth, Eastern Cape. Following the interrogation, during which he sustained serious head injuries, Biko was transferred to a prison in Pretoria, where he died shortly afterwards, on 12 September 1977. The album version of the song is bookended by a recording of the South African song “Senzeni Na?” as sung at Biko’s funeral. "Biko" was first released as a single in 1980, when it reached #38 on the British charts. A live version, recorded in July 1987 at the Blossom Music Center in Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio, was released later that year, reaching #49 in the UK. A newly recorded version of the song (again by Gabriel) was used to promote the Richard Attenborough Biko biopic "Cry Freedom".