The Heart Of A Man [Song]

Uploaded by pedroraztercero
THE HEART OF MAN
By Zan featuring Machel Montano

Yeah, woy, woy, woy, woy!

Pumping up, every body
Pumping up, every body
Pumping up, every body
Pumping up, every body

Every creed and race find dey equal place
Every creed and race find dey equal place
Creed and race find dey equal place
Is every creed and race find dey equal place

Hey, hey, hey!

Start pumping by de fence
Start pumping by de gate
Dey pumping in de street
Is every creed and race
Dey pumping like a heart
Dey pumping through they veins
And pumping up dey chest
And maddening up dey brain.

Inside de heart of a mam we pumping
Inside de heart of a man we jumping
And if you understand you are the heart of a man
Put some love inside your heart and pump it, and pump and pump it!

And de head up in India is part of my culture
And de hand down in China building de structure
And de legs of America moving we further
And de spine of South Africa holds us together
And dat leaves de heart of a man
It got be a Trinidadian
Building dis puzzle, making it possible
Fuh you to move yuh
Head, hand, leg, feet
Head, hand, leg, feet
Spine, belly, bambam waist
Every single creed and race
Head, hand, leg, feet
Head, hand, leg, feet
Spine, belly, bambam, waist
Every single creed and race

Inside the heart of a man we pumping
Inside de heart of a man we jumping
And if you understand you are the heart of a man
Put some love inside your heart and pump it, and pump it!

If you see dey pumping out dey stress
And pumping out dey strains
Dey pumping out de pain
And pumping all dat down de drain
We pumping in de fete
And pumping on de stage
We pumping by de truck
And through de streets of Port of Spain

Well if yuh want to meet ah stranger
Calling yuh bredda
And drink from the same glass
Sharing yuh liquour
Jumping up in a band
With one another
When de bacchanal end
Well you make a new friend

Hey!

Dat is de heart of man
It got to be a Trinidadian
Building dis puzzle, making it possible
Fuh yuh to move yuh
Head, hand, leg, feet
Head, hand, leg, feet
Spine, belly, bambam, waist
Every single creed and race
Head, hand, leg, feet
Head, hand, leg, feet
Spine, belly, bambam, waist
Every single creed and race

Inside de heart of a man we pumping
Inside de heart of a man we jumping
And if you understand you are the heart of a man
Put some love inside your heart and pump it, and pump and pump it!

Ah take a jump in St. Lucia, Antigua, Grenada
St. Vincent, Jamaica, Barbados, Guyana
So many nations, so many nations
Every year people coming back here

Yaay!

To feel de heart of a man
It got be a Trinidadian
Building dis puzzle, making it possible
Fuh yuh to move yuh
Head, hand, leg, feet
Head, hand, leg, feet
Spine, belly, bambam, waist
Every single creed and race
Head, hand, leg, feet
Head, hand, leg, feet
Spine, belly, bambam, waist
Every single creed and race find dey equal place
Is every creed and race find dey equal place
Hey!
Creed and race find dey equal place
is every creed and race find dey equal place
Hey!
Inside de heart of a man we pumping
Inside de heart of a man we jumping…….

Source: The lyrics posted on this blog are often transcribed directly from performances. Although it is my intention to faithfully transcribe I do not get all the words and I have a knack for hearing the wrong thing. Please feel free to correct me or to fill in the words that I miss by dropping me a message via e-mail. I'd be forever grateful. Thanks in advance!
..............................................................................................................................


A Note From The Gull

Because I have an aversion to jarring sounds and rhythms which to me seem too mechanical and therefore discordant with my amniotic leanings, I do not usually listen to soca music that has as its goal the whipping of crowds into the bacchanalian frenzy required for total immersion in the Carnival. But sometimes when I separate the lyrics and focus on the reading experience rather than the listening, I am delighted when I find that some care has gone into the crafting.

In this piece, "The Heart of A Man," I find myself responding to the choice of the human heart to represent at once the individual and collective engine driving the catharsis that Carnival brings about for many of its participants. We are very accustomed by now to the exhortations to put our hands in the air, wine and wave rags. This song focuses more on pumping which happily for the prancing crowds is very close to jumping:

Start pumping by de fence
Start pumping by de gate
Dey pumping in de street
Is every creed and race
Dey pumping like a heart
Dey pumping through they veins
And pumping up dey chest
And maddening up dey brain.

It seems more meaningful because we recognise that we are not jumping for the sake of jumping, we are pumping to keep the heart of man primed. And what happens when:

"We pumping in de fete
And pumping on de stage
We pumping by de truck
And through de streets of Port of Spain"?

This collective Tarantella dance allows the participants to purge the toxins from their systems:

"If you see dey pumping out dey stress
And pumping out dey strains
Dey pumping out de pain
And pumping all dat down de drain"

The song also celebrates the Trinidadian creative spirit behind this unique experience:

Dat is de heart of man
It got to be a Trinidadian
Building dis puzzle, making it possible
Fuh yuh to move yuh
Head, hand, leg, feet
Head, hand, leg, feet
Spine, belly, bambam, waist
Every single creed and race

and describes the breaking down of barriers as every creed and race can be found together celebrating on the streets. It also encourages those who recognise that they collectively form the heart of man to put some love inside their hearts and pump it, and pump it! Wonderful! Thank you Zan.

"Patria est communis omnium parens" - Our native land is the common parent of us all. Keep it beautiful, make it even more so.

Blessed is all of creation
Blessed be my beautiful people
Blessed be the day of our awakening
Blessed is my country
Blessed are her patient hills.

Mweh ka allay!
Guanaguanare

Trinidad Is My Country [Song]

TRINIDAD IS MY COUNTRY
By Gen X

Yow, Gen X reach, and I come to deal with your problem
Cause two ah we cyah live on de same island
You want to give trouble, I come to bring a smile
So ride out, nobody eh go miss you
Cause I eh leaving!

Because..

Trinidad is my country and I’m proud
I go climb up a tree like a monkey and shout it loud
Although some people dem just don’t like mih
And dey just want to destroy mih country
I go just make mih lyrics reach here for now.

I go start to bun de fire
Bun dem hypocritical liar
Who go roll over we like tire
Want we country to expire
But it guarded by the Messiah
They’ll run until dey perspire
When dey stop is brimstone and fire
Take yuh rag out, wave it up higher
Print it and put it on a flier
For too long I say we’ve been quiet
Get on bad cause dis is a riot
Everybody jump up in de choir

Say..

Trinidad is my country and I’m proud
I go climb up a tree like a monkey and shout it loud
Although some people dem just don’t like mih
And dey want to destroy mih country
I go just make mih lyrics reach here for now.

I go put dem boy out mih island
Cause dem bad boy, dem get too violent
How de hell you could kill a child and?
Kidnap people in…. ?
And murder people in all kind ah style?
Make dem boys want me get wild and
Start to place fire from a mile
With the father right by mih side and
All mih ghetto youths by mih side and
Soca warriors by mih side and
De Asylum crew by mih side and
All dem bad boy dem have to ride out.

Trinidad is my country and I’m proud
I go climb up a tree like a monkey and shout it loud
Although some people, dem just don’t like mih
And dey just want to destroy mih country
I go just make mih lyrics reach here for now

I go start to bun de fire
Bun dem hypocritical liar
Who go roll over we like tire
Want we county to expire
But it guarded by the Messiah
They’ll run until dey perspire
When dey stop is brimstone and fire
Take yuh rag out, wave it up higher
Print it and put it on a flier
For too long I say we’ve been quiet
Get on bad cause dis is a riot
Everybody jump up in de choir

Say...

Trinidad is my country and I’m proud
I go climB up a tree like a monkey and shout it loud
Although some people dem just don’t like mih
And dey just want to destroy mih country
I go just make mih lyrics reach here for now

Yow, I don tell both a weh cyah live on de same island
How de hell you could kill a child?
Murder people in all kind ah style ?
Kidnap people in ----- ?
Trinidad is we country
And we come to put out dem junky
Beat dem out like dem is a donkey
Clean dem out from county to county

Trinid is we...
Trinidad is we...
Trinidad is we county
Trinidad is we country
Trinidad is we country
We come to put out dem junky
Beat dem out like dem is a donkey
Clean dem out from county to county
Trinidad is we country
Trinidad is we country
We come to put out dem junky
Beat dem out like dem is a donkey
Clean dem out from county to county…

Source: The lyrics posted on this blog are often transcribed directly from performances. Although it is my intention to faithfully transcribe I do not get all the words and I have a knack for hearing the wrong thing. Please feel free to correct me or to fill in the words that I miss by dropping me a message via e-mail. I'd be forever grateful. Thanks in advance!
..............................................................................................................................
"Patria est communis omnium parens" - Our native land is the common parent of us all. Keep it beautiful, make it even more so.

Blessed is all of creation
Blessed be my beautiful people
Blessed be the day of our awakening
Blessed is my country
Blessed are her patient hills.

Mweh ka allay!
Guanaguanare

I Will Always Be There For You [Song]

Uploaded by akeemds

I WILL ALWAYS BE THERE FOR YOU
Performed by Melanie Hudson
Composed by David Rudder

I remember when you children were weak and hungry
I took you to my bosom, fed you my oil
And even when you took and wasted and left me drained
There was always love for you in my soil
Even when my older children, they try to shame me
Setting no rules for the younger ones
Bringing such grief and sadness into my old soul
In the end they still my daughters and sons

Chorus:
I will always be there for you
No matter what you do
Whatever joy or pain that you are going through
I will always be there for you
I will be, I will be, I will be always there for you.

Everybody always call me a blessed mother
"Mama Trini, God must love you." they say
Hell or high water, I would just rise and embrace you
Protecting my children in every way
Even when you fight and and argue 'bout different fathers
Remember, the Middle Passage brought them straight to my door
Mama never worry about no race, I just loved them
And so mih blood does boil when you start to war.

Chorus:
I will always be there for you
No matter what you do
Whatever joy or pain that you are going through
I will always be there for you
I will be, I will be, I will be always there for you.

So if you really want to make your old lady happy
If you really want to fill me with joy
All you got to do is start looking out for each other, I mean
Man and woman check for the girls and boys
To those of you who sow your seeds and then run like crazy
I want to see you turn and commit your hearts
And those of you who choose to leave, all the rest do your duty
Foolishness will only tear us apart.

Chorus:
And I will always be there for you
No matter what you do
Whatever joy or pain that you are going through
I will always be there for you
I will be, I will be, I will be always there for you.
I will always be there for you
No matter what you do
Whatever joy or pain that you are going through
I will always be there for you
I will be, I will be, I will be always there for you.

Source: The lyrics posted on this blog are often transcribed directly from performances. Although it is my intention to faithfully transcribe I do not get all the words and I have a knack for hearing the wrong thing. Please feel free to correct me or to fill in the words that I miss by dropping me a message via e-mail. I'd be forever grateful. Thanks in advance!

..............................................................................................................................


A Note From The Gull

This song moved me to tears when I first heard it being sung by the melodious voice of the youthful Melanie Hudson and it still has the same effect on me today just reading the lyrics. There are some beautiful sentiments expressed in the song. The underlying themes that I find irresistible are nature’s unbiased benevolence and a mother’s unconditional love. In human society, its manifestation is, not restricted to but, most readily witnessed in the self sacrificing love of many mothers. In nature, we find one example in the rain which as Bob Marley sang, when it falls, does not fall only on one man’s housetop.

This is why the use of the motherland/beneficent nature image speaks powerfully to us all. Most of us have experienced this love in the setting of the family and if we didn’t, then for some it is experienced as a palpable absence as in the woundedness of the unparented/unmothered which haunts and is the driving force behind lifelong searches for consolation. Most of us have been exposed to the teachings, found in the world religions that exhort us to treat all men equally, to love one another and especially our enemies, to answer good with good and evil with good, to forgive each other over and over and over and over again.

Mama Trini cannot help but do otherwise. “I will always be there for you.” She represents nature which provides bountifully and manifests the undying love which is characteristic of divinity. We have forgotten that we are part of this divinity. Many of her children are feeling today a sense of being separated from this divinity, this primal connection, as we careen ever further from the path that venerates and preserves connectedness to nature, to our true selves, to each other. She laments the foolishness that tears us apart, the greedy exploitation of natural resources, racism, failing in our duty to our families and country, failing in general to be the keepers of our brothers.

It is my belief that most Trinidadians, if not all, understand quite well what needs to be done. Many are doing their duty and this is why the centre, despite all the bad news, IS still holding.

"Patria est communis omnium parens" - Our native land is the common parent of us all. Keep it beautiful, make it even more so.

Blessed is all of creation
Blessed be my beautiful people
Blessed be the day of our awakening
Blessed is my country
Blessed are her patient hills.

Mweh ka allay!
Guanaguanare

Real Trini [Song]

Uploaded by akeemds
REAL TRINI
By Ozy Majic

Wey mih real Trinidadians, put yuh hands up in the air
Wey mih real Trinidadians, jump around like yuh just don't care
Wey mih real Trinibagonians, put yuh hands up, let me see
When yuh see we wave and we misbehave,
That's just the Trini in we!!

How do you know a true Trini?
He could tell you what’s a congoree
Stew and roti, betty goatie....
After 29 is 30
How yuh know a true Trinidadian?
Give we a dustbin, we making a steelpan
Flags, Stags, Caribs in we hand
A Trini plus a Trini is a ------ band....

Wey mih real Trinidadians, put yuh hands up in the air
Wey mih real Trinidadians, jump around like yuh just don't care
Wey mih real Trinibagonians, put yuh hands up, let me see
When yuh see we wave and we misbehave,
That's just the Trini in we!!

We does turn foreign to local
Anywhere we go we start a Carnival
Make a bacchanal...in any capital...
A Trini fete does make the others look like funeral
I am a Trinidad original
Eating pelau and I eating dahl
If yuh know that a Crix is vital
Two hands up like de dial!!

Wey mih real Trinidadians, put yuh hands up in the air
Wey mih real Trinidadians, jump around like yuh just don't care
Wey mih real Trinibagonians, put yuh hands up, let me see
When yuh see we wave and we misbehave,
That's just the Trini in we!!

From the T to the R to the I-N-I
Let me see de rags dem start to fly
From the B to the A to the go, go, go!
Let me see the rags them to and fro
From the east [east] to the west [west] from the north [north] to the south [south]
All about, all about, all about, all about, all about, all about!

Wey mih real Trinidadians, put yuh hands up in the air
Wey mih real Trinidadians, jump around like yuh just don't care
Wey mih real Trinibagonians, put yuh hands up, let me see
When yuh see we wave and we misbehave,
That's just the Trini in we!!

Some come by boat, some leave by plane
Some call Trinidad name in vain
Some come down once in a while like rain
Some say they never setting foot here again
In we twin island, a combination
I say dey they have no appreciation
This is the land of my creation
Where hurricane does change direction!!

Wey mih real Trinidadians, put yuh hands up in the air
Wey mih real Trinidadians, jump around like yuh just don't care
Wey mih real Trinibagonians, put yuh hands up, let me see
When yuh see we wave and we misbehave,
That's just the Trini in we!!...

Source: The lyrics posted on this blog are often transcribed directly from performances. Although it is my intention to faithfully transcribe I do not get all the words and I have a knack for hearing the wrong thing. Please feel free to correct me or to fill in the words that I miss by dropping me a message via e-mail. I'd be forever grateful. Thanks in advance!

..............................................................................................................................
"Patria est communis omnium parens" - Our native land is the common parent of us all. Keep it beautiful, make it even more so.

Blessed is all of creation
Blessed be my beautiful people
Blessed be the day of our awakening
Blessed is my country
Blessed are her patient hills.

Mweh ka allay!
Guanaguanare

When Religion Replaces Intelligence

“Faud[sic].. Manning does not have to answer to anyone, he is the "Prime Minister of Trinidad and Tobago,"…….. As long as he has God on his side now, we need to understand the changes that need to take place for all this to happen. Stop living in the past and begin to embrace change, or you will prove to the populace that you are one with something to hide? Fight your battles on your knees!!!!!!!!!!!!!”

The quote above is an excerpt from an anonymous reader’s reaction to
"Fuad: Manning must answer" Trinidad & Tobago Express | Monday October 16, 2006.

The article was about Barataria/San Juan MP, Dr Fuad Khan’s call for a Commission of Enquiry into the attempted coup of 1990 in response to Prime Minister Manning’s recent admission that he had advance knowledge of the attempted coup.

Multiply the blind denial of the reader's sentiment by at most four hundred thousand and you have the makings of an eternity of spinning top in mud, the likes of which we have never dreamed ourselves capable. But maybe our bellies are stronger than we imagined or, like hogs, mud is we ting.

God is on the Prime Minister’s side?
I am not at all comfortable with anyone who claims to or is said to have God on his/her side. That always seems very cart-before-the-horse to me. To say that is to imagine that this omnipotent entity is a force that can be co-opted to serve an individual’s or a country’s interests. The last leader to the North to make such a claim has been performing in anything but a godly manner.

A leader does not have to answer to anyone?
Does anyone understand that WE put our leader in power? Do we comprehend that WE hired him, like any employer hires an employee, to do a job? Has it ever dawned on us that just as we have to answer to our bosses, our leader has to answer to us?

Stop living in the past?
To use a very ordinary example, when our children come to us with poor grades on their report cards, don’t we want our children to explain why they find themselves in this situation. Doesn’t this include examining the past so that we can make plans on how to address the problems in the present so that there will be an improvement in the future. Doesn’t everything have a past, present and future? How can we evolve if we don’t examine the past that affects our present and will determine our future?

Embrace change?
What is informing this change? A brand new team? A newly found intelligence, and that along with the acquisition of God as a star player?

Fight your battles on your knees?
Hmm...I think I will bow out here and let other minds take over:

Give a man a fish, and you'll feed him for a day; give him a religion, and he'll starve to death while praying for a fish. ~Unknown

I prayed for twenty years but received no answer until I prayed with my legs. ~ Frederick Douglass, escaped slave

This doctrine of the material efficacy of prayer reduces the Creator to a cosmic bellhop of a not very bright or reliable kind. ~ Herbert J. Muller

Evil is nourished and grows by concealment. ~ Virgil

Science may have found a cure for most evils; but it has found no remedy for the worst of them all -- the apathy of human beings. ~ Helen Keller

Jesus did not die at the hands of muggers, rapists, or thugs. He fell into the well-scrubbed hands of deeply religious people, society's most respected members. ~ Brennan Manning

Men never do evil so completely and cheerfully as when they do it from religious conviction. ~Blaise Pascal

Let's quit fiddling with religion and do something to bring the world to Christ.~ Billy Sunday

Fear not therefore: for there is nothing covered that shall not be revealed; and nothing hid that shall not be made known. What I tell you in darkness, that speak ye in the light and what ye hear in the ear, that preach ye upon the housetops. ~ Matthew 10:26-27

Have nothing to do with the fruitless deeds of darkness, but rather expose them. ~ Ephesians 5:11

and to end on a lighter note:

Religion often gets credit for curing rascals when old age is the real medicine. ~ Austin O'Malley

..............................................................................................................................
"Patria est communis omnium parens" - Our native land is the common parent of us all. Keep it beautiful, make it even more so.

Blessed is all of creation
Blessed be my beautiful people
Blessed be the day of our awakening
Blessed is my country
Blessed are her patient hills.

Mweh ka allay!
Guanaguanare

One Family [Song]

ONE FAMILY

Performed by Nadia Batson

Oh, o, oh, oh...

I could never be you, you could never be me,
But still we are one family
We's ah mix up nation, different coloration
But not that we is enemy
We doh always agree, is what make we Trini
But between you and me that real plenty
'Cause when Carnival come and we drinking we rum
And having plenty fun, the one thing we have in common is:

Chorus:
We rag (wey yuh rag, wey yuh rag dem)
Flags (wey yuh flag, wey yuh flag dem)
Rags (wey yuh rags, wey yuh rags dem)
(repeat)

Red, white and black, please show mih dat,
when we bring rags mean love and unity
Red, white and black, please show mih dat,
leh we bring back we love and harmony

oh, o , oh, oh....

I believing in you, you believing in me,
Rainbow land is sweet TnT
And no big disaster and no kinda barrier,
Even pressure not defeating we
And starting with mihself, difference is on de shelf
Everyone take ah stand Trinbagonian, 'cause is carnival time
And feteing on we mind
Is one big Trini lime and one thing we have in common is we:

Chorus:
We rag (wey yuh rag, wey yuh rag dem)
Flags (wey yuh flag, wey yuh flag dem)
Rags (wey yuh rags, wey yuh rags dem)
(repeat)

He in heaven, he's brother
He in heaven, island brother
(repeat)

Red white and black (show mih), please show meh dat (show mih),
Leh we bring dat, means love and unity
Red, white and black (show meh), please show meh dat (show mih)
Leh we bring back, we love and harmony
Oh, oh (rags)
Oh, oh (flags)

I could never be you, you could never be me,
But still we are one family
We's ah mix up nation different coloration
But not that we is enemy
We doh always agree, is what make we Trini
But between you and me that real plenty
'Cause when Carnival come and we drinking we rum
And having plenty fun de one thing we have in common is:

Chorus:
We rag (wey yuh rag. wey yuh rag dem)
Flags (wey yuh flag. wey yuh flag dem)
Rags (wey yuh rags, wey yuh rags dem)
(repeat)

Red, white and black, please show mih dat,
When we bring rags mean love and unity
Red, white and black, please show mih dat,
Leh we bring back we love and harmony

Oh, o , oh, oh....

..............................................................................................................................
"Patria est communis omnium parens" - Our native land is the common parent of us all. Keep it beautiful, make it even more so.

Blessed is all of creation
Blessed be my beautiful people
Blessed be the day of our awakening
Blessed is my country
Blessed are her patient hills.

Mweh ka allay!
Guanaguanare

Coming Home [Song]

Uploaded by Jason DeBellotte
COMING HOME
By Terra B

Chorus
Oh lord, how ah miss mih country
Ten years now ah living in DC
As soon as ah get some money
Ah coming home, ah coming home!

Cyah wait to walk by the Savannah
Stop and drink some coconut water
With mih wife, mih son and mih daughters
[Ah coming home, ah coming home!]
Pass by Hott Shoppe, pick up ah roti
Go down Charford and check out mih Mammy
Down St James by Smokey and Bunty
[Ah coming home, ah coming home!)

Chorus
Oh lord, how ah miss meh country
Ten years now ah living in DC
As soon as ah get some money
Ah coming home, ah coming home!

Talk 'bout Sunday crab and callaloo
Macaroni pie and cascadou
Chicken in the oven, barbeque
[Ah coming home, ah coming home!]
Go down Maracas and take ah swim
Eating bake and shark in ah timing
Bounce up mih old partner, start liming
[Ah coming home, ah coming home!]

Chorus
Oh lord, how ah miss meh country
Ten years now ah living in DC
As soon as ah get some money
Ah coming home, ah coming home!

Mih bawl, miss mih country bad, miss mih country bad
Bad bad bad bad bad bad bad bad...
Mih bawl, ah miss mih country bad, miss mih country bad
Bad bad bad bad bad bad bad bad...
Because me jump on ah plane in Washington DC
One little stop down in Miami
Over de swamp to the Caribbean Sea
When ah reach we gonna start de winery
That's why me bawl, miss meh country bad, miss mih country bad
Bad bad bad bad bad bad bad bad...
Mih bawl, ah miss mih country bad, miss mih country bad
Bad bad bad bad bad bad bad bad...

Friday evening, walk down Frederick Street
If you see dem gyal dem how dey sweet
Buy Chinee mango on Charlotte Street
[Ah coming home, ah coming home!]
Independence Square, Royal Castle
Ah man selling nuts on bicycle
Ah woman selling papers and mango
(Ah coming home, ah coming home!)

Chorus
Oh lord, how ah miss mih country
Ten years now ah living in DC
As soon as ah get some money
Ah coming home, ah coming home!

Monday playing mas with Burrokeets
Is three days now me ent get sleep
Cyah wait fuh Tuesday to hit de streets
[Ah coming home, ah coming home!)
On Tuesday ah jumping with Minshall
Poison, Wayne Berkeley and Legend
Heading straight tuh las lap after ten
[Ah coming home, ah coming home!]

Mih bawl, miss mih country bad, miss mih country bad
Jump on a plane going straight to Trinidad
Ah say, miss mih country bad, miss mih country bad
Jump on a plane going straight to Trinidad
Because me jump on ah plane in Washington DC
One little stop down in Miami
Over de swamp to the Caribbean Sea
Sweet T&T, land of ----------
Love mih country bad, love mih country bad
Bad bad bad bad bad bad bad bad...
Love mih country bad, love mih country bad
Bad bad bad bad bad bad bad bad...

Chorus
Oh lord, how ah miss mih country
Ten years now ah living in DC
As soon as ah get some money
Ah coming home, ah coming home!

..............................................................................................................................


A Note from the Gull



Thank you, Terra B.

"Patria est communis omnium parens" - Our native land is the common parent of us all. Keep it beautiful, make it even more so.

Blessed is all of creation

Blessed be my beautiful people
Blessed be the day of our awakening
Blessed is my country
Blessed are her patient hills.

Mweh ka allay!
Guanaguanare

A Way To Success (Productivity)

By Mighty Sniper (1968)

Through no fault of our own
We dollar drop down low
And I'm sure it's known
The pressure we might have to undergo
But lucky we have a way
Could make we burden ease up
And if we start from today
Very soon all hardships go stop.

Chorus:
Productivity is We crying need
We must produce heavy if we want to succeed
So pal let we use up we senses and start cutting down all expenses
Because we done see tile score
So let we produce some more

We were once a colony
But Independent now
So - we ain't have nobody
Again to teach us the right way how
No longer can we depend on any Mother Country
And besides - Right now she can't even help she own self
Much more to help we

Chorus:
Productivity is the Nation's call
We must produce heavy otherwise we might fall
Regardless what class you belong to
Produce more that's all we ask of you
Put your shoulders to the wheel
Or all who harden go feel

Right now we should be thinking
Of all the ways we could
So we could stop buying
This big set of Foreign goods
It's no use just complaining
Because it is plain to see
We gotta do something
To keep building up we economy

Chorus:
Productivity is the way to move
We must produce heavy if we wheat to is
This is not a Time for idling
Let we cut out all this skylarking
And every man do his share
To keep we dollars down here

Some folks say they going away
As they hear the dollar drop
But please let me say
This is not the attitude to adopt
I feel whether sink or float
We all should work hand in glove
And do we best to promote
This nation we always boast that we love.

Chorus:
Productivity is the solution
If we want to overcome this situation
We should all fight one for the other
And if together we aspire
My dear friends I do believe
Together we would achieve.

Mama Look A Boo Boo! [Song]

Uploaded by ScorpioPetey
MAMA LOOK AH BOO BOO
By Lord Melody (Fitzroy Alexander) 1956
This version performed by Lord Christo

I wonder why nobody doh like me
Is it a fact that I’m ugly?
Tell me why nobody doh like me
Is it a fact that I’m ugly?
I leave mih whole house and go
My children doh want me no more
They cursing black is white and thing
And when I talk dey start to sing.

"Mama look a Boo Boo!" they shout
Dey mother told dem, "Shut up yuh mouth!"
"That is yuh Daddy."
"Oh no, my Daddy can't be ugly so!"
"Shut yuh mouth, go away!"
"Mama, look a Boo Boo dey!"
"Shut yuh mouth, go away!"
"Mama, look a Boo Boo dey!"

I couldn’t even digest my supper
Due to the children's behaviour
"John", "Yes Pa," "Come here a moment,
Bring de strap, you too damn cudgelent."
"Daddy, is Jean who start to curse."
"No Daddy, is Joyce who start off first!"
I drag mih belt from off mih waist
If you see races out de place.

"Mama look a Boo Boo!" they shout
Dey mother told dem, "Shut up yuh mouth!"
"That is yuh Father."
"Oh no, my Father can't be ugly so!"
"Shut yuh mouth, go away!"
"Mama, look a Boo Boo dey!"
"Shut yuh mouth, go away!"
"Mama, look a Boo Boo dey!"

So I took a turn on their mother
"These children ain't got no behaviour
Ah can't rest in peace in mih own place
Tell me what is wrong with mih damn face?"
"They playing with you," mih wife declare
"You should be proud of them, my dear."
"These children were taught too blooming slack
That ain't no kind ah joke to crack."

"Mama look a Boo Boo!" they'll shout
And you will tell dem, "Shut up dey mouth!"
"That is yuh Father."
"Oh no, our Daddy can't be ugly so!"
"Shut yuh mouth, go away!"
"Mama, look a Boo Boo dey!"
"Shut yuh mouth, go away!"
"Mama, look a Boo Boo dey!"

My wife and I had a big disturbance
Due to the constant annoyance
So in order to live peaceful and happy
She send the children in the country
Coming home a dark night after working hard
A woman see me and she faint 'way in mih yard,
The neighbour ran to help her up
She recover but the woman wouldn’t stop.

"Neighbour, I see a Boo Boo, oh lawd!
Walking in de backyard, oh lawd!"
I ran to assist her, she bawl
"Oh lawd, look de Boo Boo man still in the yard!"
"Shut yuh mouth, go away!"
"Neighbour, look a Boo Boo dey!"
"Shut yuh mouth, go away!"
"Neighbour, look a Boo Boo dey!"

Source: The lyrics posted on this blog are often transcribed directly from performances. Although it is my intention to faithfully transcribe I do not get all the words and I have a knack for hearing the wrong thing. Please feel free to correct me or to fill in the words that I miss by dropping me a message via e-mail. I'd be forever grateful. Thanks in advance!

....................................................................................................



A Note From The Gull

Why would a song like “Mama Look Ah Boo Boo” find itself included in a collection of works on the topic of Trinidad and Tobago? I was listening to this song recently, chuckling over Lord Melody’s voice energetically conveying the distress of the father. I was finding uncharitable delight in the ineffectual protests of the wife and the children’s and neighbour’s unrelenting characterization of the poor, hard-working, but ugly man as a terrifying Boo Boo. Thinking afterwards about the song and remembering Ateebo's poem "Look Devil Dey!" a less amusing interpretation came to mind. This is a wonderful song to exemplify our readiness as Trinidadians (by no means peculiar to Trinidadians), to separate ourselves morally from the easy targets around us in our society.

One of the most prominent groups of practicing and ritual “Boo Boos” in our society are to be found among some of our leaders. With our nod, we keep them in power, but then turn our backs and walk away whistling, relieved to know that somebody else will take care of our business. Someone else being in charge, is the excuse to revert to a pre-adult state, where we can reap the benefits of Papa’s hard work or cry neglect and abuse (or Boo Boo!) when the pursuit of interests injurious to our own, robs us of the security that is due to us as the helpless and dependent children we have chosen to be.

So we start to shout, “Mama, look a Boo Boo!” because now the Daddy must be seen in a different light, if we are to preserve our innocence and separateness from the source of all societal ills. Despite the attempts by the more loyal, more forgiving, more indulgent, we refuse to be placated. Something is very wrong and now that we are being forced to feel the pain, someone else has to be held accountable.

Now I really loved the Mama’s, “Shut yuh mouth, go away!” “Dat is yuh father!” and the incredulous, scandalized response of the children, “Oh no! My Daddy cyah be ugly so!!”

My Daddy cyah be ugly so??

Good morning, Trinidad and Tobago!! It’s in the spiritual/societal genes. Our Daddy is every bit as ugly as WE are. Hog plums can fall and roll but dey cyah deny their connection to de tree! Some of us, myself included, look upon our leaders and find them to be flawed and weak and ugly and we are quite happy to derisively shout, along with the other detractors, “Look a Boo Boo dey!” Beside ourselves with righteous indignation, like the children blown away by what they saw as ugliness incarnate, we are not willing to accept for one minute that the unlovely target of our curses and ridicule is our own "creation," our own "father," our own "flesh and blood".

Now, I am not saying that we should ever be willing to look upon any leader as our “father” on any level, even if he is given the title, “Father of the Nation” but I believe that we should be less willing to ignore the fact that in the hidden earth, all our roots are entwined, that we are all related, leaders and followers, the nice and the not so nice, the Boo Boos and their callous, unforgiving children.

We need to take a long hard look in the mirror and find the Boo Boos in ourselves before pointing fingers and engaging in name calling. When we can honestly no longer find traces of Boo Boo there, there will be a new relationship between ourselves and the stewards we employ to co-pilot this society. As the adult ascends, the Boo Boo and his influence will retreat and fade away, quite naturally.

The titillating activity of pointing out the Boo Boo in another is easily accomplished. It is child’s play compared to the sobering realization that we are the source of Boo Boo energy and its continued sustenance, and it is we who have to experience this realization and scourging before standing up and accepting the responsibilities of our passage into adulthood.

"Patria est communis omnium parens" - Our native land is the common parent of us all. Keep it beautiful, make it even more so.

Thank you Lord Melody.

Blessed is all of creation
Blessed be my beautiful people
Blessed be the day of our awakening
Blessed is my country
Blessed are her patient hills.

Mweh ka allay!
Guanaguanare

We Like It [Song]

Uploaded by kaiso22
WE LIKE IT
By Lord Nelson

We like it, we like it
We like it, we like it

We like it! it’s West Indian pleasure
We like it! Lets get together
Dey say its no crime to shake we behind
We still in we prime
So leh we have a good time
We like it! Is West Indian culture
We like it! We like it with plenty mixture
A little wine, little grind, little jump, little hump,
little roll up yuh bumbum
Ah little prance, little dance, little ram, little jam,
little roll up yuh bambam
Little wine, little grind, little jump, little hump,
little roll up yuh bumbum
Little prance, little dance, little ram, little jam,
little roll up yuh bambam

We like it! We like we weekend commesse
We like it! We like we jammin hardest
To see man beating woman is not uncommon
Or wife horning husband to mind she sweet man
We like it! We like we drinking right up
We like it! We like we feting non stop
A little butt, little foot, little rough, little cuff,
little rough up she nuffnuff
A little jail, little bail, little dis, little dat,
little lock up yuh batbat
A little butt, little foot, little rough, little cuff,
little rough up she nuffnuff,
Little bail, little jail, little dis, little dat,
little lock up yuh batbat.

We like it! Dig up yuh roots and shake it
We like it! You know de truth, doh fake it
It’s West Indian flavour, it’s like roasting fever
Man, its hot like pepper and its sweet like sugar

We like it! We like the sun, we so hot
We like it! We like to bun in one spot
Den we act like big shot, we have it or not,
we walk like a robot
A little skin, little grin, little rum, little gin,
den jump in we ---
We act like big shot, we have it or not,
we walk like a robot
Little skin, little grin, little rum, little gin,
little jump in we ---

Source: The lyrics posted on this blog are often transcribed directly from performances. Although it is my intention to faithfully transcribe I do not get all the words and I have a knack for hearing the wrong thing. Please feel free to correct me or to fill in the words that I miss by dropping me a message via e-mail. I'd be forever grateful. Thanks in advance!
..............................................................................................................................

"Patria est communis omnium parens" - Our native land is the common parent of us all. Keep it beautiful, make it even more so.

Blessed is all of creation
Blessed be my beautiful people
Blessed be the day of our awakening
Blessed is my country
Blessed are her patient hills.

Mweh ka allay!
Guanaguanare

Poverty Is Hell [Song]

Uploaded by charsukaifan
POVERTY IS HELL
By Shadow

Poverty is hell and the angels are in Paradise
Driving in their limousine where everything is nice and clean
A poor man living in a teeny-weeny hut
The children hungry, nothing in the pot
He gone by the neighbour to beg for some rice
The neighbour under pressure, "Boy, things ent nice."
He gone in the big shot area to beg
A police put a bullet in his peeny-weeny leg
He gone in the courts and he lost the case
The prosecutor say he have a bandit face.

Poverty is hell. Poverty is hell.

Wake up in the morning and the baby cry
The sugar pan empty, the milk bottle dry
The little boy climb on the mango tree
The mango green, hurting up his belly
The young girl bawling, she wouldnt’ settle
She wipe she bumsee with stinging nettle
Toilet paper they never had
They used to tootoo in the gully by the old backyard
They rub she down and they put she to sleep
The rain come down and the house start leak.

Poverty is hell! Poverty is hell!

A poor man always dream a lot of dream
He happy like a puppy when he dream another dream
He dream that he have a new roof on the hut
He dream that he have some good food in the pot
He dream that he have a rich friend name Frank
He dream that he have a lot of cash in the bank
He dream that he pay all his bills for the month
He dream that he have a new car in the front
He dream that he have to go to a fete
He dream that his pocket have a big, fat wallet
He wake up in the night and he rush for his pants
All he found in the pocket was a whole lot of ants.

Poverty is hell! Poverty is hell!

Ten little children, four dumpling
Mummy got to slice them thin, thin, thin
A piece for a boy and a piece for a girl
A piece for the neighbour daughter, Merle
The cat in the corner looking to beg
Little Jack Horner , kick him in he leg
Go in the room and look for a rat
The rat in the roof, he know ‘bout cat
Now the cat see a chickychong, yeah, yeah
He rush for the chickychong
But the poor little chickychong
Flew away like a chickychong
Then cockroach gone in the condensed milk
Mama get vex for she condensed milk
Who leave the condensed milk open?
Come here you picky head, good for nothing
Mama get vex and she blood get hot
She buss some lash in they you-know-what.

Poverty is hell! Poverty is hell!

Source: The lyrics posted on this blog are often transcribed directly from performances. Although it is my intention to faithfully transcribe I do not get all the words and I have a knack for hearing the wrong thing. Please feel free to correct me or to fill in the words that I miss by dropping me a message via e-mail. I'd be forever grateful. Thanks in advance!
..............................................................................................................................


A Note From The Gull

Thank you, Shadow! This is the reality for many people who are born into poverty or who, because of circumstances, sometimes beyond their control, can find themselves struggling to survive. I think about this often and it is at the back of mind always that I should be ready to make adjustments if I should find myself in that situation. Anything could happen in this world.

"Patria est communis omnium parens" - Our native land is the common parent of us all. Keep it beautiful, make it even more so.

Blessed is all of creation
Blessed be my beautiful people
Blessed be the day of our awakening
Blessed is my country
Blessed are her patient hills.

Mweh ka allay!
Guanaguanare

What Sweet In Goat Mouth [Song]

Uploaded by ScorpioPetey
WHAT SWEET IN GOAT MOUTH
Performed by Penguin (1983)

Dey send me down, like prophets of old
To cool dis town, keep it more control
Me eh get no vision and ting
Neither no big message to bring
All dey tell me in hand, as a kaisonian
Go and sing dese songs through the land.

Chorus:
Keep singing everyday, remember Mammy say
What sweet in goat mouth does sour in he bambam
What keep you flying high, same ting does make you cry
What sweet in goat mouth does sour in he bambam
Little bit of treasure, little bit of pleasure
So you take, and you take, and you take, and you take
Please say, What sweet in goat mouth does sour in he bambam.

Forget who vex, and dem school girls tell
That books and sex doesn’t mix too well
Tell the youth who gone off on dope
That they are the future and hope
Tell them if dey too tight
Nothing wouldn’t go right
Is dem and the whole country blight.

Chorus:
And keep singing everyday, remember Mammy say
What sweet in goat mouth does sour in he bambam
What keep you flying high, same ting does make you cry
What sweet in goat mouth does sour in he bambam
Little bit of treasure, little bit of pleasure,
So you take, and you take, and you take, and you take
Please say, What sweet in goat mouth does sour in he bambam

Dey tell me watch at the new bourgeois
Drinking scotch, travelling afar
Video and stereo like peas
Air-conditioned car, dey ‘fraid breeze
But not a plantation, so next generation
Could truly say this is my land.

Chorus:
So keep singing everyday, remember Mammy say,
What sweet in goat mouth does sour in he bambam
What keep you flying high, same ting does make you cry
What sweet in goat mouth does sour in he bambam
Little bit of treasure, little bit of pleasure
So you take, and you take, and you take, and you take
Please say, What sweet in goat mouth does sour in he bambam.

And if you check, you will see is true
The ill effects of the wrongs men do
All who make women catch dey tail
All who lie and send men to jail
All who rob dey neighbour
All who rape dey daughter
Sing de chorus loud, let dem hear!

Chorus:
Keep singing everyday, remember Mammy say
What sweet in goat mouth does sour in he bambam
What keep you flying high, same ting does make you cry
What sweet in goat mouth does sour in he bambam
Little bit of treasure, little bit of pleasure
So you take, and you take, and you take, and you take
Please say, What sweet in goat mouth does sour in he bambam.
What sweet in goat mouth does sour in he bambam.
What sweet in goat mouth does sour in he bambam.

Source: The lyrics posted on this blog are often transcribed directly from performances. Although it is my intention to faithfully transcribe I do not get all the words and I have a knack for hearing the wrong thing. Please feel free to correct me or to fill in the words that I miss by dropping me a message via e-mail. I'd be forever grateful. Thanks in advance!
..............................................................................................................................
"Patria est communis omnium parens" - Our native land is the common parent of us all. Keep it beautiful, make it even more so.

Blessed is all of creation
Blessed be my beautiful people
Blessed be the day of our awakening
Blessed is my country
Blessed are her patient hills.

Mweh ka allay!
Guanaguanare

Look Devil Dey!

By Ateebo

Take de dam tin foil from out yuh kitchen
Before yuh start pointing at smelters an bitching
“Look de devil dey!”
Take de fiery babash from out yuh mout
Before yuh start looking at drug pushers to shout
”Devil dey!”
Take de diesel fuel from out de tank
Before yuh complain how de air so rank
Like devil dey
Take de lil’ gyul breasts from out yuh mind
Before yuh start glaring at rapists to find
Another devil dey
Take yuh two vehicle from off de road
Before yuh demandin more highways to take de load
Of devils going no wey
Take an interest in yuh children school
Before yuh blame de system fuh producing fool
And devil dey
Take home de garbage yuh bring on yuh lime
Before yuh pitch it right dey to add to de slime
Of devils dey
Take yuh neighbour children from off de street
Before yuh go tellin everyone yuh meet
“Dem is devil dey”
Take de crocodile tears from out yuh eye
Before yuh shooshooing while yuh sister cry
”Is de devil to pay”
Take some time an yuh own conscience search
Before yuh tearing up priests and whatever church
To find more devils dey
Take some responsibility and change yuh behaviour
Before complaining dat dey eh have no saviour
To chase devil 'way
Take some time an read yuh history
Before yuh wrap Satan in more mystery
With he devils dey
Take yuh country in hand and yuh leaders to task
Before sayin' dey pulling the tail and wearing de mask
Of de devil dey
Take back yuh faith and de promise of Zion
Before yuh get trap in Babylon and more wrought iron
Like devils dey.

An take yuh big foot from out yuh throat
Keep quiet and doh make another note
Until yuh REALLY do all dat yuh could,
Until yuh ALWAYS do what yuh should,
Until you could finally and truly say,
“Devil? Devil wey??”

© 2006 – Ateebo
Posted with the kind permission of the author.

Trinity

Performed by Kobo Town
Lead singer/songwriter Drew Gonsalves

Twelve years ago and I can still clearly remember
That bright day in the middle of December
A world away, couldn’t take my mind off her
But now I wait high in the sky right above her

From this glorious height
I gazed with delight
As the clouds that covered her like a shroud
Parted to reveal the sight

Chorus:
And then I saw her standing there
Bright in the morning sun
I could only stare
In silent admiration
Allyuh I don’t know
Why dis land does have me so
Oh, how I long to be
Back home by my Trinity.

I can still recall the moment I descended
I thought that the years of my exile had ended
Face wet with tears, I ran to embrace her
But she just stared past me as if I was a stranger

Closer to the ground
Wheels now touchin’ down
And the land I had known, claimed as my own
Had moved along

Chorus:
And then I saw her standing there
Bright in the morning sun
I could only stare
In silent admiration
Allyuh I don’t know
Why dis land does have me so
Oh, how I long to be
In de arms of my Trinity.

Her clothes were torn, and her shirt was all tattered
Her eyes downcast, every hope and joy scattered
Dream of my past, bright memory shattered
But I adore her still ‘cause I know that all that don’t matter

Thunder in the sky
Water in she eye
The rain soon fell as if to tell
That the tears weren’t only mine

Chorus:
And then I saw her standing there
Bright in the morning sun
I could only stare
In silent admiration
Allyuh I don’t know
Why dis land does have me so
Oh, how I long to be
Back home by my Trinity.

© Copyright – Kobo Town.
Posted with the kind permission of Kobo Town.

Visit Kobo Town to listen to this song.

At The Edge Of The City

Performed by Kobo Town
Lead singer/songwriter Drew Gonsalves

At the edge of the city
The roofs of broken iron
Blaze like a diamond crown
Blessed by the morning sun
And these shattered pavements
Baked in the noonday heat
Are made a mighty drum
By the rhythms of falling feet

Hiding in unexpected places
Resting on the neglected faces
The beauty that we seek
Lies unseen among the meek

Chorus:
Remove the mists that cover me
So I can see, so I can see
Shatter the glass that bottles me
So I can be, so I can be
Remove the mists that cover me
So I can see, so I can see
Shatter the glass that bottles me
So I can be.

At the edge of the evening
Tattered ribbons of lights
Offer electric garlands up
To the fast approaching night
And enveloped in darkness
The light of a dim neon cross
Shines brighter than any star
Against the backdrop of our loss

Hiding in unexpected places
Resting on the neglected faces
The beauty that we seek
Lies unseen among the meek

Chorus:
Remove the mists that cover me
So I can see, so I can see
Shatter the glass that bottles me
So I can be, so I can be
Remove the mists that cover me
So I can see, so I can see
Shatter the glass that bottles me
So I can be.

© Copyright – Kobo Town.
Posted with the kind permission of Kobo Town.

Visit Kobo Town to listen to this song.
....................................................................................................


A Note From The Gull

These are the lyrics from yet another gem on Kobo Town's soon to be released debut CD - INDEPENDENCE. Part of this comment was posted as a response to the post - St. Lucia is a smiling island, on one of my favourite blogs "Now Is Wow." Elspeth Duncan is visiting St. Lucia and in that gentler society is encountering Trinidad as it was before our country started, as my mother would say, to "smell itself".

To affirm the underlying goodness and beauty of many people right here in Trinidad, it has to be recognised that there are still pockets of hope in Trinidad, where you will find people like the ones being encountered in St. Lucia, and it is not yet so grim that we are not every now and again surprised and renewed by a random gift of gentility and a humane touch from a total stranger. If we can describe what Trinidad is experiencing as a "darkness of the soul" or soul drought then it is to be expected that in such a hostile environment, the lushest, the best that we have to offer, will die back a bit, retreating to pockets where they can draw upon their own deep store of spiritual resources to weather the situation. I believe in these people as the real Trinidadians and in fact, I am counting on them to keep that torch smouldering until conditions are right again for new growth.

It is this faith and optimism that I take away from the song, "At The Edge Of The City"

"Hiding in unexpected places
Resting on the neglected faces,
the beauty that we seek
lies unseen among the meek"

The people who are carrying the beauty that we seek ARE the meek. They are not the ones conceited enough to believe that they can do anything better than the Creator. They are not the ones envisioning the unsustainable future. They are not the ones who are arming themselves to shove and punch their way to the troughs. And very often it is upon their backs and over their heads that others clamber and slither to whatever prize is in vogue.

In my earlier days I used to squirm with discomfort at what I thought of as another counter revolutionary admonition, that is, Jesus' conclusion that the meek would inherit the earth. Who wants to be meek when everyone is out to get you or get ahead of you? Drew's words brought the message through. The meek won't have to wait though. I believe that this earth is already theirs because they are not at war with it.

What is meekness anyway? Isn't it strength of the soul. It takes strength of the soul for human beings to meet the needs of others without fearing that such kindness will be seen as weakness or will allow others to gain some advantage. It takes strength of soul for a leader to accept that he or she is in fact, nothing more than a servant of his or her people. It takes strength of soul for us, without expecting to be rewarded in some way, to show kindness and understanding, to smile spontaneously to be grateful, to put others ahead, to be patient....

The writer finds beauty in the ordinary and the imperfect:

"At the edge of the city
The roofs of broken iron
Blaze like a diamond crown
Blessed by the morning sun"

and

"At the edge of the evening
Tattered ribbons of lights
Offer electric garlands up
To the fast approaching night"

He hears the rhythm of life ringing from the unlikely/unsightly drum of shattered pavements:

"And these shattered pavements
Baked in the noonday heat
Are made a mighty drum
By the rhythms of falling feet"

"Against the backdrop of our loss" the writer sees the dim neon cross shining brighter than any star, perhaps a symbol of enduring faith, or the optimism of people who can still believe.

Drew goes on in the song to ask for "sight" and liberation to see clearly and to simply be. It is a beautiful prayer and I feel that I am not wrong in believing that he is also praying on our behalf:

"Remove the mists that cover me
so I can see, so I can see
Shatter the glass that bottles me
So I can be, so I can be.
Remove the mists that cover me
So I can see, so I can see
Shatter the glass that bottles me
So I can be."

Thank you Kobo Town.

"Patria est communis omnium parens" - Our native land is the common parent of us all. Keep it beautiful, make it even more so.

Blessed is all of creation
Blessed be my beautiful people
Blessed be the day of our awakening
Blessed is my country
Blessed are her patient hills.

Mweh ka allay!
Guanaguanare

Sing Out, Shout Out [Song]

Uploaded by PepeCris15
SING OUT, SHOUT OUT
Performed by Kobo Town
Lead singer/songwriter Drew Gonsalves

40 years ago today
Independence came our way
Welcomed by our struggling songs
It came but would not stay, ey
And we, wanting to believe,
Let ourselves be deceived
By the well-groomed speech of ambitious men
Who time proved to be thieves
But the years went by and nothing changed
New flag, new name, same old game
Where the lucky laugh and the poor endure
Having lost the will to fight again.

Chorus:
Well I remember when we were young
And hope was strong
And we had waited long
To hear the midnight bell
That would dispel
The age that kept us down
I recall when we would bleed
‘cause we believed
Freedom was in reach
Of those who seized the day
But freedom came and faded like a dream.

Sing out, shout out, saw the new day dawning
But it faded like a dream in the morning
Sing out, shout out, saw the new day dawning
But it faded like a dream
Sing out, shout out, saw the new day dawning
But it faded like a dream in the morning
Sing out, shout out, I saw the new day dawning
But it faded like a dream.

Children of a passing age
Remnants of a dying rage
Whose anthems swept across this land
Proclaiming a new day, ey
And we waited patiently
For the elusive decree
That would rub away the scars we bore
And set our voices free
But the years wore on and nothing came
Tyrants just bore different names
While the official line promised brighter times
We knew all things remained the same.

Chorus:
I remember when we were young
And hope was strong
And we had waited long
To hear the midnight bell
That would dispel
The age that kept us down
I recall when we would bleed
‘cause we believed
Freedom was in reach
Of those who seized the day
But freedom came and faded like a dream.

Sing out, shout out, saw the new day dawning
But it faded like a dream in the morning
Sing out, shout out, saw the new day dawning
But it faded like a dream
Sing out, shout out, saw the new day dawning
But it faded like a dream in the morning
Sing out, shout out, I saw the new day dawning
But it faded like a dream.

Independence, what an elusive dream
Things are never ever what they seem
Marching hand in hand awaiting the command
Of the liberator, now the henchman
People’s vanguard, propaganda ministry
Freedom fighters filling the ranks of the secret police
While the tale of the times told in obituary lines
We offer our resistance with these humble rhymes.

Sing out, shout out, the dream never dies
A people united, nobody can brutalize
Sing out, shout out, the dream never dies
A mind on fire, no army can occupy
Sing out, shout out, the dream never dies, forward ever!
Sing out , shout out, the dream never dies, backward never!

© Copyright – Kobo Town.
Posted with the kind permission of Kobo Town.

Source: The lyrics posted on this blog are often transcribed directly from performances. Although it is my intention to faithfully transcribe I do not get all the words and I have a knack for hearing the wrong thing. Please feel free to correct me or to fill in the words that I miss by dropping me a message via e-mail. I'd be forever grateful. Thanks in advance!

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"Patria est communis omnium parens" - Our native land is the common parent of us all. Keep it beautiful, make it even more so.

Blessed is all of creation
Blessed be my beautiful people
Blessed be the day of our awakening
Blessed is my country
Blessed are her patient hills.

Mweh ka allay!
Guanaguanare