Joy - Paradise Road (1980)

Paradise Road is a revered South African classic that topped the SA Top 20 for 9 weeks in 1980—matched only by Richard Jon Smith’s Michael Row The Boat Ashore and surpassed by Charisma’s Mammy Blue. Unlike those, Paradise Road was an original local composition and remains deeply embedded in South Africa’s cultural memory, bolstered by its inclusion in the internationally acclaimed musical Umoja.

Performed by Felicia Marian, Thoko Ndlozi, and Anneline Malebo, the song combines lush orchestration with a moving vocal delivery. Its lyrics subtly reflect the unrest of apartheid-era townships while offering a rare message of hope. Lines like “there are better days before us and a burning bridge behind us” foreshadow South Africa’s eventual transition and gave the song a prophetic, unifying quality—making it an unofficial anthem for the end of apartheid.

Tracklist:
1-1 Joy - Paradise Road [4:20]
1-2 Joy - It Should Have Been Me [3:25]
1-3 Joy - The Love You Need [4:35]
1-4 Joy - Khuluma [3:55]
1-5 Joy - Ain't Gonna Stop (Till I Get to the Top) [7:42]
1-6 Joy - Jikel' Emaweni / Qonqgothwane [4:53]
1-7 Joy - Iza Nezembe [5:00]
1-8 Joy - Get Up! Stand Up! [3:34]