Track of their tears

Simphiwe Dana is returning to a tried-and-tested strategy and has asked her female fans to help her craft a video for her new single, Killjoy, a track from her latest album, Firebrand.

Five years ago the award-winning singer invited fans to be part of her music video for Ilolo, from her Kulture Noir album.

This time there is a twist. As the lyrics "You're not good for me, though I try to be there for you ... I was there for you", suggest, Dana is torn by a relationship. And the move has prompted a feminist groundswell.

She wants fans sitting on "mortifying memories" of love to share their stories on her Facebook and Twitter pages.

Her favourite story, she promised, will feature "in the creative concept for the Killjoy music video, which will be coming out soon".

Fans have begun sharing their stories. One fan said she's only recently stopped taking sleeping pills after her heartbreak.

"Was with him for four years; engaged to be married. Last year, November 29, he broke off the engagement, cancelled the wedding and, on January 4, told me his girlfriend is having his baby in April ... so all along he was cheating," she wrote.

Another said: "Two years into our relationship he told me that he forgot to tell me he has a child and I forgave him. During the course of our relationship, he had two more kids and I still forgave him, but he stopped talking to me and I still don't know why?"

Dana advised one fan to "draw out the pain, put it in a bubble and blow it away. Laughing at your naïve self can be therapeutic".

Dana's move is not new. In 2013, Donald rallied his fans to help him write his single, Crazy But Amazing, which appeared on his Black & White album.

Grammy-winner Kelly Clarkson asked fans to submit videos of themselves dancing to her 2011 smash hit Stronger, which resulted in a flash mob for the music video.

Jason Mraz asked his fans to tweet what "the woman I love" meant to them.