PAY DE DEVIL (PAC PAC)
By Shadow
Long ago in Tobago, the Carnival wasn't so, no
Was plenty jab-jab and devil
They came down to Les Couteaux
They came from Culloden, horns on their head
One name is Vixen, eyes always red
One Abyssinia, a hero of man
Portraying Lucifer with a fork in his hand.
Pac pac-pac pac pac-pac pac pac-pac pac
Pac pac-pac pac pac-pac pac pac-pac pac
Pay de devil, pay de devil
Pay de devil, pay de devil
Pac pac-pac pac pac-pac pac pac-pac pac
Pac pac-pac pac pac-pac pac pac-pac pac
Pay de devil, pay de devil
Pay de devil, pay de devil.
If yuh bad, don't die
Walk about and cry
De devil down dey
You will have to pay
Pay de devil, pay de devil
Pay de devil, pay de devil.
Mama, ah hear a rumble!
Abyssinia coming down! Oh lord, oh!
The children begin to tremble.
Abyssinia coming down!
The crowd start to scatter, place getting warm
Fall in the gutter, they don't care a damn
Man start to free up, spirits are high
The crowd start to jump up like they learning to fly.
Pac pac-pac pac pac-pac pac pac-pac pac
Pac pac-pac pac pac-pac pac pac-pac pac
Pay de devil, pay de devil
Pay de devil, pay de devil
Is pac pac-pac pac pac-pac pac pac-pac pac
Pac pac-pac pac pac-pac pac pac-pac pac
Pay de devil, pay de devil
Pay de devil, pay de devil
If yuh bad, don't die
Walk about and cry
De devil down dey
You will have to pay
Pay de devil, pay de devil
Pay de devil, pay de devil.
I used to love the rhythm
When I hear dem coming down. Oh lord, oh
Oh, what a sweet vibration, I want to play the drums
But I can't find the drummer and I have to go now
To help my grandfather look after the cow
And I can't find a helper, not even a thief
And I can't find a butcher to turn them to beef.
Pac pac-pac pac pac-pac pac pac-pac pac
Pac pac-pac pac pac-pac pac pac-pac pac
Pay de devil, pay de devil
Pay de devil, pay de devil
Pac pac-pac pac pac-pac pac pac-pac pac
Pac pac-pac pac pac-pac pac pac-pac pac
Pay de devil, pay de devil
Pay de devil, pay de devil
If yuh bad, don't die
Walk about and cry
De devil down dey
You will have to pay
Pay de devil, pay de devil
Pay de devil, pay de devil.
Pay de devil, pay de devil
Pay de devil, pay de devil.....
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! .............................................................................................
A Note From The Gull
Love the energy in this song. Brings back vivid memories. I have never been able to convey exactly what I felt as a child when these devils would noisily congregate to bring Carnival to our front gate in the darkness of a J'Ouvert morning. There would always be just enough light to see their painted luminous faces and it didn't help matters to observe the masked ones cock their heads jerkily from side to side as if they were using superhuman senses to detect the presence of our tense little bodies at the windows hidden behind the curtains. They scared the guava cheese out of me and it was our father who would go out to pay the devils by dispensing the coins that would finally unglue their blue and ashy white hands from the gate. After these experiences, I could never encounter a Bermudez biscuit tin without being flooded by the memories of "pac pac-pac pac pac-pac pac pac," ropes knotted around waists, menacing pitchforks, clanking chains and associated childhood terrors.
Why am I including this song? "Pay de devil" has been coming to mind very often as a result of what is happening in T&T and the world today. Debts to many "devils" have to be paid. This crisis is a wake up call. It it entirely up to us to decide if it will become something worse.
Thank you Mighty Shadow! You are gold.
"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
4 comments:
Thank you for posting this. The Mighty Shadow is my favourite Soca artiste.
Josche, You are welcome. Also one of my favourites.
"Mama, ah hear a rumble! Abyssinia coming down! Oh lord, oh!..."
Blessings.
Hi, Firstly, thank you for posting the lyrics. Secondly, what is an Abyssinia? Would that be the red devil?
S.
You are welcome, Unknown,
About Abyssinia, I don't know if he was red, blue or black but this article in Newsday describes him:
"Carnival devils are intimidating characters captured perfectly in Pay de Devil, the late Winston “Shadow” Bailey’s soca about Abyssinia, Tobago’s most famous devil masquerader. Abyssinia demanded money from people to pass him on the road."
Blessings,
Guanaguanare
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