Did Mavado inspire Saint’s Delilah?

When the wind of Delilah, a famous song by Saint swept, Malawi swayed to its rhythm in the company of salutes for the artisan behind the work.

The question is, who laid motivation for Delilah?

Saint is among Malawian artists who jump on an Afro pop beat today, a dancehall beat tomorrow. It is proven that he seldom disappoints in either genre, a sign that he listens to works by other musicians done in such styles.

A few days ago, I listened to a song done by Jamaican dancehall icon Mavado under the same Delilah label.

I thought it is a latest track until I consulted the internet where I found that the song came to life in 2011.

Having conducted a comparative analysis of Mavado`s Delilah and our own Saint`s Delilah, I observed some similarities between the two songs.

Let the spotlight shine on Mavado`s Delilah first. In this song, a man expresses disappointment with his lover, a woman, for her love of wealth. This woman has allowed the love of wealth and superstars to take precedence over love for her man.

Basically, Mavado`s work revolves around the theme of betrayal with an illusion to a biblical story of the infamous female character Delilah who betrayed her lover in the name of Samson for money.

“Love you to my heart, love you to my soul Delilah! I thought you were for real, but you’re playing a role Delilah! Lying to me, that is all you do, fancy cars and superstars, that’s the things you chose, you give up on me, I give up on you, love is just a game for two,” sounds the first verse

Getting to Saint`s Delilah, it revolves around the theme of uncertainty from the same biblical story`s point of view. A man expresses uncertainty of the marriage’s future through asking the woman some questions.

“Suzandibera chuma changa? Suzawazunza abale anga? sudzandipereka kwa adani? Ngati Delilah (Will you not steal my wealth? Will you not mistreat my relatives? Will you not hand me over to my enemies? Like Delilah.

Both songs are pinned to the biblical story, only that Mavado`s track talks about the past while Saint`s work focuses on the possibility of something bad happening while married.

What has caught my attention is the style in which both songs were delivered. Despite the fact that Mavado`s Delilah is in Dancehall style while Saint`s Delilah is in Afro pop, there is a certain level of resemblance. The way the two songs begin with regard to the said artists` voices, adlibs and frequent mentioning of the word Delilah, there is similarity.

The way the voices sound on high note, also show strong resemblance. I do not want to talk about the tittle because many songs by different musicians can come out of one tag.

Is it just a coincidence that the two songs happen to resemble each other in some light? Considering that Saint is also married to dancehall hence he follows music under the style, should it be concluded that he reworked on the internationally recognized Mavado`s song? If it was so, then why did he not acknowledge?