Cargo Man

A song about John Frum, messiah of one of the religions (often referred to as 'Cargo cults') that sprang up in Pacific Melanesia and New Guinea during and after WWII. John Frum is the messiah of much of the population on the island of Vanuatu (formerly 'Tanna') in the New Hebrides.

Having seen their native cultures eroded by white people and their missionaries, some of the holy men of these islands predicted a messiah would come to save them. And lo and behold, the US Navy came to the islands in WWII, bringing all kinds of wondrous 'cargo' with them.

The islanders noticed that the white people never actually made any of these magical things. If something broke, they just sent away for another one, and miraculously, it arrived. Surely, this must be the work of supernatural forces.

John Frum (possibly a contraction of 'John from America') has become the messiah to many Vanuatu islanders, and they predict he will return one day, save them from the apocalypse, drive out the white man and bring them wonderful cargo. They predict he will return on February 15th, but they do not know what year.

Sir David Attenborough made a film about the 'Cargo cults' in the 1950s, and fascinated by this phenomenon and the people's continuing faith despite John Frum not returning for 19 years, said to one believer:

" 'But Sam, it is 19 years since John say that the cargo will come. He promise and he promise, but still the cargo does not come. Isn't 19 years a long time to wait?'
Sam lifted his eyes from the ground and looked at me. 'If you can wait 2000 years for Jesus Christ to come, an' 'e no come, then I can wait more than 19 years for John'." (quoted in Richard Dawkins' 'The God Delusion', p238.)

Perhaps an odd topic for MyMateGeorge to write a song about. After all, not the English way to bang on about religion, what? But I see this as more about rooting for the underdog. These people believe, and though they are currently outnumbered by the believers in a similar messiah from overseas, they stand their ground. They stubbornly stick to their own ways, and will not be dominated by the outsiders.

Category:

Music

Tags:

• john frum cargo cults
• religion
• david attenborough
• richard dawkins
• vanuatu
• tanna
• new hebrides

[ChowMeinChowdown]

Beautiful!

[MyMateGeorge]

@ChowMeinChowdown @ChowMeinChowdown Cheers! If you like this one, you might like a couple of my others: 'An Ape on the Rise', and maybe 'The Ballad of Joseph Campbell'. Thanks for commenting.

[tymsall]

I think U did a great job.

[MyMateGeorge]

@tymsall Thanks mate! Glad you like it.