True Colours [Song]

Uploaded by IsDePanInMe
TRUE COLOURS
Performed by Singing Sandra (2000)
Composed by Christophe Grant

Red is the power of my, my people's passion
[White] White was the dove that had long, long flown
[Black] Black is the oil, the substance that keeps us vibrant
For the bitter harvest we have always sown
[Red] Red is the blood flowing, flowing like a river
[White] White are our faces, blanched and shivering with fear
[Black] Black is the mood of my, my sister's anger
Cut and bruised and dying, I hear my sister sighing

Why oh [why oh] as our eyes they keep on plucking
But nothing really -------- in this Port of Spain
Ah hear dem cry oh [cry oh] through the rain they go a-stumbling
in a drain they must go fumbling, their sight to regain
Everyday they follow [follow] as their blades they keep on flashing
As you menfolk keep on slashing, hacking through the bone
A time to call oh, call oh, call oh, [call oh] oh call on the holy Father
To bind us back together like mortar and stone...Ah tell you

[Brick by brick] Oh brick by brick, we got to build a better future
[Step by step] Step by step, inch by inch, nail by nail
[Block by block] Oh block by block, we must reclaim this land, my brother
[Hand in hand] Hand in hand, and I swear we shall prevail
We dare not fail [We dare not fail, we dare not fail]

[Red] Red are the roses that, that young girls dream of
[White] White are their dresses on their, their wedding day
[Black] But black are the coat tails of the undertaker
As he undertake to cart them so far, far away
[Red] Red are the eyes of a Mama weeping
[In white] In white, the pastor saying, saying a last prayer
[Black] Black is the hood of the, the hangman ------
As the dead men walking while a child keep asking
Aunty, why oh, [why oh] as killers' necks we go on popping
As my children keep on dropping, dropping dead from AIDS
Ah hear dem cry oh [cry oh] in this time of deep affliction
From the crime, the drug addiction while our sunlight fade
I sorry for embryo, oh god [embryo] ------------ weird contortion
To escape the the dread abortions of life first embrace
Ah want to fly, fly, fly [fly oh] as those swallows do at winter
As my people sit and -------- on this coast of rage...Ah tell you.

[Brick by brick] Oh brick by brick, we got to build a better future
[Step by step] Step by step, inch by inch, nail by nail
[Block by block] Oh block by block, we must reclaim this land, my sister
[Hand in hand] Hand in hand, and I swear we shall prevail
We dare not fail [We dare not fail, we dare not fail]

[Red] Red is the light of wanton prostitution
[White] White are the flowers we lay on their graves
[Black] Black is the pit, the pit of desperation
That force my sisters to become so depraved
[Red] Red is the colour of my, my people's anguish
White] White is the marble of their last tombstone
[Black] Black is the fist raised in cheap rebellion
Since 1970 we come up empty
I asking why oh, [why oh] must we face this alienation
From the depths of degradation in this Port of Pain
Ah hear dem cry oh [cry oh] calling skywards to the Father
Hoping that the clouds will gather to send the cleansing rain
Children bawl oh [bawl oh] for the hand of retribution
Or a fairer distribution of ------------------------
Ah hear dem bawl oh [bawl oh] for a new song of redemption
Hoping that they'll get exemption as the Israelites of old...Ah tell you

[Brick by brick] Oh brick by brick, we got to build a better future
[Step by step] Step by step, inch by inch, nail by nail
[Block by block] Oh block by block, we must reclaim this land, my brother
[Hand in hand] Hand in hand, and I swear we shall prevail
We dare not fail [We dare not fail]
----------------------------, you kill your children [we dare not fail] No!

[Red] Red was the rum -------------- consumed
[White] White was the heat in that, that fiery hell
[Black] Black was the soot in that, that burnt out bedroom
The children get sentenced in that locked up cell
[Red] Red is the promise of the, the Ibis flying
[White] White are the egrets as they soar so high
[Black] Black is the corbeaux forever circling
Watchful and anxious as we sink into chaos
Ah asking why oh [why oh] can't we put this all behind us
Hoping that tomorrow will find us united as one
Ah hear them cry oh [cry oh] for mental emancipation
That the youth will get direction away from the gun
Women bawl oh [bawl oh] that you men will be respecting
That we women need protecting in this time of war
Sandra call oh [call oh] for a total transformation
For this blessed rainbow island we call Trinbago...Ah tell you

[Brick by brick] Oh brick by brick, we got to build a better future
[Step by step] Step by step, inch by inch, nail by nail
[Block by block] Oh block by block, we must reclaim this land, my brother
[Hand in hand] Hand in hand, and I swear we shall prevail
[We dare not fail]
We dare not fail
We dare not fail
We dare not fail [we dare not fail]
We dare not fail [we dare not fail]
[We dare not fail, we dare not fail]

I'm your sister, you're my brother
I'm your sister, you're my brother [we dare not fail]
Let's make this place a better place to live
No, no [we dare not fail]
We dare not fail
We dare not fail
We dare not fail [we dare not fail]
We dare not fail peace! [we dare not fail]
Peace [we dare not fail]
Peace for T&T
I'm your sister, you're my brother
Say a prayer, say a prayer, say a prayer, say a prayer, say a prayer my people.....

SOURCE: The lyrics posted on this blog are 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 sometimes 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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A Note From The Gull

Everytime I hear Singing Sandra, I am convinced that it is not just a performance which we are witnessing but a ceremony surrounding her very personal invocation to a higher power and the good in us all. Singing Sandra sings with her heart but the power is from even deeper still. I would be very surprised if Singing Sandra were to admit that she does not love Trinbago because I am convinced that her passion comes from love. If it were possible for any of our calypsonians to chant down Babylon, I'd expect it to be accomplished by Singing Sandra:

"[Brick by brick] Oh brick by brick, we got to build a better future
[Step by step] Step by step, inch by inch, nail by nail
[Block by block] Oh block by block, we must reclaim this land, my brother
[Hand in hand] Hand in hand, and I swear we shall prevail
We dare not fail [We dare not fail, we dare not fail]"

Thanks to Christophe Grant, the composer of this song, and Singing Sandra.

"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