Plant A Garden [Song]

Uploaded by cool4rocknroll

PLANT A GARDEN
By Iwer George (1994)
Arranged by Pelham Goddard

Nuff respect to all conscious one
Dis one is pure reality man. Reality on dis one! Come on!
All right man...Yes!

Things bad in the country, it rough in the city
Woy Mama, woy Papa!
Children on the pavement, they cyah see employment
Woy Mama, woy Papa! Eh-eh
Is nothing the Prime Minister could do
Is nothing them Opposition could say... lord, lord
The time you wasting liming in the streets
Man, if you plant a dasheen, you sure to eat, boy
Ah begging you...

Plant a garden, plant a garden
Man, ah warning you
Plant a garden, plant a garden, yes
White rice cook with bhaji is good for your family
Man, plant a garden, plant a garden
Boy, ah warning you
Plant a garden, plant a garden, yes
Cassava and pumpkin is good for the children
Man, plant a garden, plant a garden!
Boy, and you sure to eat, so sweet so sweet
Your family will eat, so sweet, so sweet
Ah begging you...

If yuh plant a lil dasheen bush in yuh backyard,
yuh safe you know.
You could plant a lil ochro, some tomato,
some chadon beni, some celery
and yuh good to go!

Tings brown in the region, it brown in the Caribbean
Woy Mama, woy Papa!
You working and your salary cyah pay bills and feed your family
Woy Mama, woy Papa! Eh-eh
Is nothing the oil industry can do
Is nothing them union leaders could say, lord, lord
Remember the recession time is here
So if you sow some seeds, it have to bear... yeah
Ah begging you...

Plant a garden, plant a garden!
Boy, ah warning you
Plant a garden, plant a garden, yes!
White yam cook with bodi is good for your body
Man, plant a garden, plant a garden!
Man, ah begging you
Plant a garden, plant a garden, yes
Plant some in your front yard
Plant up in the backyard
Yes, plant a garden, plant a garden
Man, and you sure to eat, so sweet, so sweet
Your family will eat, so sweet, so sweet
Ah warning you...

If dey retrench and yuh lost yuh work,
yuh go ha to eat breadfruit you know, so best yuh plant it one time.
Yuh could plant a lil a head ah yam on de boundary,
a lil bodi and yuh good to go! Come on!

Things bleak in New York city, it bleak universally
Woy Mama, woy Papa
They spending billions on fighting
They don't care how we eating
Woy Mama, Woy papa, eh-eh
Is nothing the IMF man could do
Is nothing we president could say
We cyah get no money borrow again
We have to ban we belly and take some strain, yes
Ah begging you...

Plant a garden, plant a garden!
Man, ah warning you
Plant a garden, plant a garden, yes!
Sorrel juice and mauby is good for your family
Man, plant a garden, plant a garden!
Boy ah warning you...
Plant a garden, plant a garden, yes!
If you cyah face the pharmacy
You could drink up some bush tea
Just, plant a garden, plant a garden!
Man, and you sure to eat, so sweet, so sweet
Your family will eat, so sweet, so sweet
Ah begging you...
Plant a garden, plant a garden
Boy, ah warning you
Plant a garden, plant a garden, yes
Promises from party cannot full your belly
Man, plant a garden, plant a garden
Boy, ah warning you
Plant a garden, plant a garden, yes
Plant up some tomato, plant up some sweet potato
Man, plant a garden, plant a garden!
Yes, and you sure to eat, so sweet, so sweet...

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 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

This song came out in 1994 and its message was important then and even more urgent today. Trinbagonians on the ground are so fortunate to live in a country where the earth will produce all year round. As food supplies become unreliable and prices increase and as we also become increasingly and justifiably more concerned about the quality/safety of the food which is available, I think that much, much more attention should be paid to encouraging and supporting each other in "Grow Your Own Food" drives.

So, if you are fortunate enough to have some land around your home, or a space to accommodate some large containers, take Iwer's advice. If your families are like mine, the Mamas will insist on growing ornamentals and the Papas will protest, "But yuh cyah eat flowers!" and you will have to find the happy medium to satisfy the needs of both bellies and souls.

But what of our Trinbagonians who are not fortunate enough to have access to land or even a large outdoor space in which to grow potted plants? We had friends who, having no land of their own, went on land that was vacant (whether crown or private) and established gardens there. We didn't see anything wrong in that, in fact, as far as we were concerned, their labour for their families was heroic and earned only our respect. Here, where I am located today, there are city sponsored community gardens where people who don't have land can apply for access to fenced plots in these gardens. Many people plant vegetables and others fulfill other needs by tending ornamentals. This is an idea, perhaps that could be introduced in Trinbago, in areas where people have no choice but to live in apartment blocks without access to plots of land to grow something.

Thank you, Iwer George.

"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