Our chief music correspondent, Chad Saaiman, will be bringing us his Hot Song Of The Week every week along with a critical analysis of the song. This week he's chosen something a little closer to his heart in honor of Nelson Mandela's birthday.

We have 365 days in a year, and some of them are a little bit more special than others. Today is one of them, the birthday of one of the world’s greatest living legends, Nelson Mandela. We celebrate the father of our nation, the icon, the symbol of the greater South Africa and the quintessential leader of our time, as we do our bit and give a little more good for just 67 minutes on Mandela Day.

This week’s hot song of the week, belongs to singer and songwriter Chad Saaiman…sound familiar? (And who said artists are self-indulgent?)

The song is called Soldier, and I wrote it in 2008 with Madiba as the inspiration behind the piece. With him being my ultimate hero, I simply asked the listener to be the change that they want to see, and to take responsibility and make the difference. It is a song that has always been very dear to my heart and it has always been my dream for Tata Madiba to hear it. Even if he never does, Soldier will always represent the legacy and teaching I, as an artist and writer, adopted from Nelson Mandela.

The lyric in the chorus simply says, “and if we don’t do it, then who will do it? To just get through it, will you be a soldier today?”

I spent my 67 Minutes today with the Zalebs team, assisting the ‘Stop Hunger Now’ organization, and I thought I’d add another 5 minutes with this week’s Hot Song of the Week, Soldier. 

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