Fortune Muparutsa Passes Away

Last night I read the unfortunate news that Fortune Muparutsa passed away on Saturday 25th October, 2008. This came as a even more of a surprise because just a few weeks ago we went through a period in our household where we searched for and played a number of songs by Zimbabwean artists mainly from the 90s and Fortune’s song “Wangu Ndega” was one of the songs that we played repeatedly not only because of how good it is but because of how it reminded us about the Zimbabwe of times gone by.

Way back when, when that and his other songs were being played over the airwaves or videos his being shown on ZBC TV I can remember the volume being put up and people around me enjoying the music. This was a time in life where CD’s and MP3’s were unheard of and it was all about cassette tapes. My first copy of “Wangu Ndega” was one that I recorded onto tape as it was playing on Radio 3. These were the times where you would use a pen to rewind or fast forward the tape to a particular song or part of a song if your tape player was somehow still able to play music but had lost its fast forward and reverse functionalities. You got to know how many turns in one direction or the other to go to get to a certain point. Life then was relatively simple, hassle free and people in Zimbabwe were much much happier than they are today. That is where listening to Fortune Muparutsa’s song took me. It took me to a point in time when life in Zimbabwe was good. It brought joy then and brought joy now. That is how I will remember him. Rest in Peace.