Cape Town – As Cape Town’s water levels reach dangerous lows, schoolchildren at Reddam House in Sea Point brought new energy to the awareness campaign, by embracing the Cape Argus Shower Song.
Performed by musicians Acoustic Element and AmyTjasink, #DripDrop (The Cape Argus Shower Song) has inspired Capetonians to save water by showering for no longer than two and a half minutes – the length of the song, and the recommended maximum shower time.
The song was launched in February and has been performed all over local radio and is a hit on social media.
Hotel group Tsogo Sun has even adopted #DripDrop (The Cape Argus Shower Song) to preserve water at their properties around South Africa and cut wastage.
“The experience was so cool, we jotted down a few ideas a few days before meeting in the office of the Cape Argus editor, Aziz Hartley, and within a hour came up with the lyrics and chord progressions," said Acoustic Element's Jody Abel. “After that we were ready to go.”
On Wednesday the Reddam House kids were treated to a surprise performance by Abel and Callen Petersen of Acoustic Element and vocalist Amy Tjasink.
While the kids practiced the Shower Song in the school hall, the band snuck in behind the stage curtains.
The Reddam children had even choreographed their own “rain dance” to accompany the song.
Suddenly the band swung into action from behind the curtains, to the delight of the children.
Jody Abel, Amy Tjasink and Callen Petersen perform #DripDrop (The Cape Argus #ShowerSong) for the children of Reddam House
There were smiles and screams and many puzzled faces. The children soon recognised the voices behind the song, and sang along. The musicians were equally delighted by the enthusiasm of the young ones for their song. The admiration was mutual, and the kids had many requests afterwards like: "Where do you play?" and "Sing one more please!"
Cape Town has around 84 days of water left and dam levels are at lower than 20%. Though fun was had, the serious message was not lost on the children: “Drip drop, we need to stop.”