Rain, Rain, Don't Go Away...


When The Rain Falls | By Zetta Bytes | Uploaded bt Gretchyn Gordon

There is a saying, "If bees stay at home, rain will soon come." Bees don't fly in the rain you see. Could that also apply to those who are likely to murder?

Knock on wood, but I haven't seen a murder registered since Friday 14 November! There have been other crimes and other unfortunate deaths but murder has not been one of them. A whole week unblemished by murder!

This is such a welcome change that if is discovered that there is a correlation, I will volunteer to do rain dances for Trinbago until a more feasible solution is found. If I could ensure the safety of all, I'd choose mudflows any day over blood flowing.
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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

Trinbagonian Patriot: A Contradiction In Terms?


...Alive.


Some time ago, I read an interesting post on the blog "Occasional Ramblings". It is titled, "To Die For" and explores what it means to be a patriot. It begins,
"I wonder just how many of us Trinbagonians would be willing to make the ultimate sacrifice and die for our country?"
I didn't comment because I wanted to think about what he had written. It's been at the back of my mind ever since and I realise that I didn't write earlier because I have no well thought out views on patriotism and what it means to be a patriot.

As I read Geoffrey Gonzalves' post, I got a sense of his frustration and it reflected the exasperation that most of us feel when obstacles to progress refuse to budge. Although it is not for us to know or to decide the time of another's exit from this world, the consolation is that eventually there will be no sidestepping Mister Basil, by surgical bypass or otherwise, when he comes for each of us.

Your question about whether there are Trinbagonians who would make the ultimate sacrifice, that is, to die for their country, is an interesting one. Apart from reminding me of that joke where the answer would be a resounding, "NO!! Ours is an undying love!" a question like that also highlights the neglect that has led to this environment where such drastic measures should even need be contemplated.

I'd like to think some more about your question and your thoughts but in the meantime I will ask another question, "Where are the Trinbagonians who, without any fanfare, are sharing the ultimate gift of LIVING for their country?" Among these are the ones who ARE highly competent and extremely civil servants, the ones who, in the face of the pall of pessimism, try to live productive and peaceful lives, the ones who hold on to their families and children, who love them and try to teach them what is right, the ones who do want to and do try to "vote dem out", the ones who (and I am certain that you belong to this group) are in fact keeping this country afloat by doing their parts to hold its corners together? They do not receive the international and national acclaim. They are not regarded as heroes. They are the unsung and steadily plodding draft horses who continue to pull this country along.

So whether the kamikaze patriots plan to join the guerillas plotting revolution up in the hills or resort to praying that an extremely unforgiving Grim Reaper will pay a timely visit to either or both of these leaders, just remember that these puppets are only the front men of the system in which we are all rooted. There is a reason why they remain where they are, and when they are no longer there, the reason will continue to exist unless we recognise its roots. What really will change if those leaders are removed? Who will they leave behind?....the same visionless people who are doing nothing now to take a meaningful stance.

Are we willing to LIVE for Trinbago? That is a less flamboyant and historically thankless calling.

The other thing is that I'm unwilling to cheer anyone's promotion of patriotism until I hear that person's definition of the concept. We can both point to examples of scoundrels in high and low places attempting to bash in the heads of their fellow men with the same poles upon which they wave their flags of patriotism and religious affiliation.

Ron Paul defines a patriot this way:
"The true patriot is motivated by a sense of responsibility and out of self interest for himself, his family and the future of his country, to resist government abuse of power. He rejects the notion that patriotism means obedience to the state."
Perhaps this is the definition which you support. I've embedded some video clips below in which Ron Paul elaborates on his views about patriotism and about how in the name of patriotism, populations can be made to accommodate blatant or surreptitious erosions of their rights and freedoms.

IN THE NAME OF PATRIOTISM (WHO ARE THE PATRIOTS?)
Hon. Ron Paul of Texas before the U.S. House of Representatives May 22 , 2007
Part 1/3

Part 2/3

Part 3/3

..............................................................................................................................
"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

Survival Road [Song]


Uploaded by cool4rocknroll

SURVIVAL ROAD
By Shadow

Survival road is a rough, rough road [survival road]
Survival road is a tough, tough road [yay, yay]

It's like a village on a mountain peak
Where the strong control the weak
In a river of tears, on a mountain of fears

Survival business is a crucial business
Survival business is a brutal business

The cat loves the rat
But the rat don't need no love like that
He loves the rat for his face
He loves the way rat face does taste.

Survival business is a crucial business [survival business]
Survival road is a rough, rough road [survival road]
Survival road is a tough, tough road [yay, yay]

A little birdie on a mango tree, watching at the scenery
Suddenly a chicken hawk
Eat him like a piece of pork.

Survival business is a crucial business
Survival business is a brutal business .

The fox loves the ducks
So he watch them from behind the rocks
Oh, what a love
It's a decent meal he thinking of.

Survival business is a crucial business
Survival business is a brutal business 
[Yay, yay, oh yeah Yay, yay, oh yeah]
 Survival road is a rough, rough road [survival road]
Survival road is tough, tough road [yay, yay]

A little piggy in the farmer's pen
The little piggy is the farmer's friend
He feel so happy when the farmer talk
He doesn't know he is the farmer's pork

Survival business is a crucial business
Survival business is a brutal business

The fool rides the mule
But the mule don't like the stupid fool
The mule takes it cool
Because he know a fool could kill a mule.

Survival business is a crucial business
Survival business, yeah, yeah, is a brutal business [Yay, yay, oh yeah]

The rat don't need no love like that
He loves the rat for his face
He loves the way rat face does taste

Survival business is a crucial business, yeah, yeah
Survival business is a brutal business, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah [Survival business Survival business]

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 

Thank you Mighty Shadow. You sing it, we all live it.

"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

Scratch Mih Back




Uploaded by IsDePanInMe

SCRATCH MIH BACK
By Shadow
2000

When you young, you young
When you old, you old
Whey you young, you strong
When you old, you cold
When you young, you frisky, frisky,
Don't depend on anybody
As soon as the old age step in
Is a different song you singing
Is "Scratch mih back fuh mih. Scratch mih back fuh mih.
Rub mih neck fuh meh. Have respect fuh mih.
Ah want some water. Give me some water.
Ah want some water. Give me some water."
And when you done drink the water
Is too much for your bladder
You got to run for the posie
Old age have no remedy.

When you young, you young
When you old, you old
Whey you young, you strong
When you old, you cold
When you young, you look so pretty
Always showing off your beauty
When you old you look so simple
You can't tell wrinkle from dimple
"Scratch mih back fuh mih. Scratch mih back fuh mih.
Rub mih neck fuh mih. Have respect fuh mih.
Ah want mih posie. Gimme mih posie
Ah want mih posie. Gimme mih posie."
And when dey hand you de posie
The whole place smelling nosey
You done do it already
Old age have no remedy.

When you young, you young
When you old, you old
Whey you young, you strong
When you old, you cold
When you young, you pick and choosing
Who you want to call you darling
When you get down old and lonely, you answering anybody
"Scratch mih back fuh mih. Scratch mih back fuh mih.
Rub mih neck fuh meh. Have respect fuh mih.
Ah want mih false teeth. Gimme mih false teeth
Ah want mih false teeth. Gimme mih false teeth."
Your false teeth on a counter, in a big glass of water
And it slip your memory
Old age have no remedy.

When you young, you young
When you old, you old
Whey you young, you strong
When you old, you cold
When you young, you choosy, choosy
Telling ugly ones, "Excuse me?"
When old age start giving trouble
You are much more reasonable
Is "Scratch mih back fuh mih. Scratch mih back fuh mih.
Rub mih neck fuh meh. Have respect fuh mih.
Ah want Viagra. Gimme Viagra
Ah want Viagra. Gimme Viagra."
When you get the Viagra, you sit down in a corner
Looking tired and sleepy
Old age have no remedy.

Source:
N.B. 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.

"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

Bush Medicine [Song]




Uploaded by anonjw

BUSH MEDICINE
By Lord Relator

Dedicated to Jumbie, the ever vigilant seeker of truth.

Nowadays if you sick, know is plenty pain
Because it ent have good medicine again
Nowadays if you not well, you in plenty pain
Because it ent have good medicine again
Nowadays people does be sick for a week
Long time, one day you sick, next day you on your feet
I living at mih Granny, so I bound to know
You can't beat a remedy of long ago.

Long ago, if the cold giving you trouble
Bois cano, Black sage tea or some soft candle
Vervine, Christmas bush or Chadon beni
Bound to pass your cold immediately
It is my belief, you could settle yourself with Soursop leaf.

I say we have a right to take example
And try to live like the old people;
Because as a youngster I realise
The old people way of living was really wise.
Is only recently, look, I find it strange
Old people used to live to a hundred and change
'Cause anything gone wrong with they body
They could find a suitable remedy.

A long time purge to clear your bladder
Castor oil, sweet broom tea or a bush senna
Burn bread water was a cooling of class
And children with worms used to drink Worm grass
Well don't find I fast,
Worm grass used to show the worms where to pass.

I done make up mih mind to live like the people of the olden time
I living at mih granny and I cocksure
Anything wrong with me, she could find the cure
Modern day medicine is really disgusting
Just two small tablets cost a dollar and something
I say this kind of thing is too expensive
So is like the old people I gone to live

Remove all the bruise that you get from blows
With a good dose of egg, nutmeg and Aloes
And if you happen to suffer with gas
Hot orange peel tea bound to make it pass
Well don't find I fast
Hot orange peel tea bound to break your gas.

These people, like they make this thing a study
Dey always first class with dey remedy
Any part ah de family that looking sick
They could always fix up a remedy quick
You could have the cold, you could have the flu
--------- you cyah number who?
No need to panic, no need to worry
All you want was an old people remedy.

Now if you had fever from head to feet
Kuzay maho, Grain en bas feuille or Mapiurite
Jump-up-and-kiss-me or Man-Better-Man
Granny backbone, Minny root or Zebafam
And if you had asthma, it was legal to use some marijuana.

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


Thank you, Lord Relator. Feel better, Jumbie!

"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

The Iron Man


Uploaded by IsDePanInMe

THE IRON MAN
By Zandolie

Well the police arrest me for mih own material, that shouldn't be
Two women police arrested Zando way up in Mayaro
I decided to make an invention so I pack up mih house with iron
The news went around that that was the case
You know they come with a warrant searching mih place... look the hour!

Chorus:
Five o' clock in the morning, two women police came searching
And before I could put on mih clothes, all mih iron exposed!

Well is now I in misery, you know they started questioning me
Where you get this amount ah iron, son? Please answer the question
I say, I didn't know it was against the law
So they told me that explanation too poor
Then they hold me and they throw me in the Maria
And carry me to the female Commissioner...Uhumm

Chorus:
It was five o' clock in the morning, two women police came searching
And before I could put on mih clothes, all mih iron exposed!

As soon as they take me out from the Maria, I bounce up the Commissioner
When she see me, she turn she face, but this time, iron all round mih waist
And this was her statement to make, is the most I've seen in this colony
So we go charge him for unlawful possession
Oh mih lord, no bail for the iron man!...I now in trouble!

Chorus:
Five o' clock in the morning, two women police came searching
And before I could put on mih clothes, all mih iron exposed!

Well, this was bacchanal, the following day was mih trial
If you see women inside the place, and is a woman magistrate who try mih case
But after the police give evidence, she call upon me for my defence
But she say before she come to a conclusion
I have to come home in your house to inspect this iron...hear whey happen

She came by me with a jitney to examine the iron personally
But when she left the house, I was happy
She take all the iron and set me free.

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


Thank you, Zandolie!

"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

The Stick Man: How Can We Keep From Singing?


Uploaded by IsDePanInMe


DE STICKMAN
By Mighty Zandolee

Well a female stick-player named Winnie living Sangre Grande
She put an ad on the Guardian, she say “Open competition”
She is the best stick-player in Grande and she playing anybody
And so I walk on she Carnival day to see if she could really play
Well we carré down in the back of the alley, only me and she
I fall on mih knees and I charge she the first bois under she belly
She breaks the bois and she back back, watch me fix in mih eye and laugh
I get delirious and I charge she three in succession…
Mih wood break in half.

You could imagine how I feeling shame to see Zando loss he flame
Now mih wood break in the centre and she laughing “Kyah, kyah, kyah!
Now if you see how Zandolee crawling on mih knees and perspiring
But I pick up a piece a string in a drain so I tie up mih wood and carré again
Now I jam she on a bois cano fencing, she started to bawl
But in the excitement she raise the bois so I back ’til I stumble and fall
Then she stand up over me and she charging, this time, poor Zando in the drain
So I charge she a bois to dig out she liver…
Mih wood break again!

It was getting late in the evening and people start gathering
So an old stick man name Joe Pringay lend me a stick to play
Now I charging like if I crazy and she only backing from me
She say, “I didn’t know you coulda play stick so?
Oh mih lord oh, beg pardon, Zando!
Now she scramble onto the bois with she two hand, playing tug of war
I say, “Leggo, leggo, leggo woman, what you doing that for?
Well it slip out she hand and she fall in agony, begging me to stop
I say, “Wood make you bawl, wood make you fall, is wood to make you get up!

Now that was the end of the competition and people voicing their opinion
Now they declare me the winner of the stick fight games
So Winnie bow down she head in shame
They say the only solution is to tender your resignation
She say she know she get bois but she ent mind
She break mih wood twice so she could resign
Now a Chinee doctor from Barbados named Doctor Kimlan
Was the chairman of the competition so he genuflect and shake mih hand
And when I think is a trophy I go get fuh mih prize, you will be surprised to hear
Is a ring he put put on mih wood with a medal mark “Wood Man of the Year.”

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

The subtitle for this post "How Can We Keep From Singing" was inspired by the hymn "How Can I Keep From Singing?" which was composed by American Baptist minister, Robert Wadsworth Lowry, in 1860.

"My life goes on in endless song
Above earth's lamentations
I hear the real, though far-off hymn
That hails a new creation
Through all the tumult and the strife
I hear the truth, it liveth
It sounds an echo in my soul
How can I keep from singing?"

Music and singing come so easily to us and despite everything, in the absence of even a reason for doing so, a song is given, a song is received, something is communicated, spirits are lifted. I love this music that springs eternal. I love the songs about our lives and experiences, especially the songs that sweep aside the gloom more effectively than any medication or words of wisdom and consolation.

The original intention of this blog was to include only songs which have as their subject "Trinidad and Tobago" but I want now to include the Trinbagonian songs that, for whatever reason, make me grin, chuckle, laugh out loud. These are the songs that make me feel that it is good to be alive, that leave me in awe over the true calypsonian's genius in being able to spin gold from the straw of our everyday lives.

Thanks to many persons including IsDePanInMe, who share our music with the world via YouTube, I have been enjoying the videos of live performances. I cannot understand why it is that before I met them on the Internet, I did not know anything about calypsonians like Black Prince and Zandolee. How many other Trinbagonians are like me and how many other calypsonians still await discovery by me.

How can they keep from singing? How can I keep from listening and singing their praises?

Thank you to all true calypsonians in the here and now and in the hereafter.

"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

The Whip [Song]

 
Uploaded by IsDePanInMe
THE WHIP
By Zandolee

Well they bring a racehorse from England, Mooma, last February
So I send in my application as a professional jockey
But the stable master Ignatius Galt, watch me and finding fault
He say, “Son, I betting you ten to one, you too light to make this horse run.
I say, “I light but I strong, Mister don't judge me wrong,  
Don't bet me at all, I playing jockey from since I small  
Because I used to ride goat, [goat] dog, [dog] mule, [mule] hog, dem fat police horse  
And with the length and size of mih whip, you lost."

He say the length of the whip is not all Son, you must ride the horse and doh fall
You whip could be fat like a macajuel and you can’t use it well, you in hell
But anyway if you want this ---------- gimme a demonstration
So he bring a Ginny donkey for me and he tell me to work it out, let he see
But I tell him, “Look here Ignatius, you too blasted advantageous  
Them animal I call, I didn’t mention donkey at all.  
What I tell you was goat, [goat] dog, [dog] mule, [mule], hog  
Don't do me that, no, boss. Lord, if I tackle donkey I lost!"

He say, “Look how you back out from donkey and Iron Man is your name?  
You call yourself a jockey but you make everybody shame.”
So then I unpile the whip from ’round mih waist and I shake it in front he face
He fell in love with it then and there, so he kiss the whip and declare
Then he say, “Listen Zandolee, demonstrate on me  
I am the boss and if you satisfy me I give you the horse.
So I mount up mih saddle like if I evil
If you see people how they assemble
All round the track to see me climb on Ignatius back.

Now me and Ignatius was on the track and mih whip ‘noint with Chinee oil
Instead he run forward, he backing back when he see mih long whip uncoil
So I drive the first lash underneath the tail
He started groaning with pain
He tried to get away but he jam the rail
So I whet him with the whip again
And then he started to beg me, “Have mercy! Mister Zandolee, you go kill me.”
I say, “Shut yuh mouth, is you whey beg me to work you out.  
Because I used to ride goat, [goat] dog, [dog] mule, [mule] hog, anything you call  
And whey I vex now, I tackling donkey and all.”

Well me and Ignatius was on the track and mih whip ‘noint with Chinee oil
Instead he run forward, he backing back when he see mih long whip uncoil
I drive the first lash underneath the tail,
He started groaning with pain
He tried to get away but he jam the rail
So I whet him with the whip again
And then he started to beg me, “Have mercy! Mister Zandolee, you go kill me.”
I say, “Shut yuh mouth! Is you whey beg me to work you out.  
Because I used to ride goat, [goat] dog, [dog] mule, [mule] hog, anything you call  
And whey I vex now, I even tackling Gypsy and all. 

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

What strikes me while listening to this song is the innocence of it. My choice of the word "innocence" might raise some eyebrows because according to your point of view you might have come to the conclusion that the "undertone" is a bit much for the delicate or tightly wound moral palate. 

Well, thankfully, the scandalized can rest easy. This song was not intended for you, nor does it include you or even dare to assume that you could relate to it. This song is for hearts that are open: 

to surprise, to tall tales told brilliantly, to songs crafted and sung expertly, 
to the devilry of a wicked analogy or double entendre
to delighting in the teller's daring, 
to the luxury of enjoying a communal joke with your own community, 
to allowing our insecurities about having less to be wiped away by impossible fantasies of ridiculous excess, 
to releasing ourselves in a safe zone, with the permission of the singer, and if only for the length of the performance, from the weight of societal taboos, 
to laughing till we cry over ourselves, over the performer's devilish je ne sais quois, over the fact that we are blessed to be in an environment where we are totally free to laugh till we cry. 

 I say that this is all innocent in the sense of it being a sort of absolution. Although some of its tickle effect depends to a great extent on the existing social mores and their contravention, for me the song functions as a broom that sweeps the internal overseer unto the sidelines where it stays until we have been allowed to celebrate ourselves without self-reproach. 

In the biography supplied by John Bush at All Music, he states that "the Mighty Zandolie, born Sylvester Anthony, was one of the dominant "rude bwoys" of calypso during the 1960s and '70s, and the prime innovator of what were later called "smuts," the sly double entendre songs which crop up in early American blues as well. Zandolie recorded many classic songs, including "Man Family" and "Stickman," and spent much time in the States as well. Though Trinidad's calypso market had in large part moved on by the late '90s, Rounder released a live album featuring Mighty Zandolie plus two old partners in crime, Lord Blakie and Black Prince.

"Smuts" may well be a convenient categorization but as with everything else that we categorise, there is so much more to an entity that upon closer examination betrays the shallowness of the label. I really love Zandolie's work and I wish that I could shake his hand and thank him over and over again for the sheer brilliance of his wickedness. Ironman, stay strong! 

"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

Survival


Uploaded by IsDePanInMe
By The Mighty Sparrow

From the beginning of time, reaching out to the sublime
In a cold and hostile world
We have struggled to exist in this earthly wilderness
Seeking an elusive goal
Many times it seemed that we are fighting a hopeless cause
Implying extinction is our lot
Because we were constantly ravaged by scourges and wars
We gripe, we quarrel and complain but
In the ending up, believe it or not

We will survive, no matter what the odds
Man will survive, inspired by our gods
There's a hard road we travel
But to triumph, we shall
We go toil, we go struggle
'Cause at the end of it all
Whether you big or small, Peter helping Paul
'Til the Master call, we fight for survival.

In pursuit of happiness, searching for material bliss
We have toiled unceasingly
Giving of our very best, in this never-ending quest
We have sought increasingly
Disappointed by our friends and betrayed by conjugal mates
Surrounded by crime of every sort
Cruelty never ends and for us is a test of faith
Emphasized by condemnation
Penalized with retribution

But, we will survive, don't care what people say
I'm telling you, man will survive to see yet a brighter day
Is a mountain we climbing, some will rise, some will fall
There'll be slipping and sliding
'Cause at the back of it all
Metaphysical, deep and spiritual
'Til the Master call, we fight for survival.

Modern day societies, melting pot communities
There are several rules and laws
Where the poor become subservient to the rich and affluent
Or they show their fangs and claws
Divided by creed and race, it ent easy to be free
No one knows for sure if we really can
Can ever find an equal pace and live as one family
Sometimes it hard to find solution
But nothing conquers the will of man

We will survive though times may be rough
Man will survive, we know how to be tough
So let nothing divide we, all for one, one for all
Feel the power and the glory 'cause at the back of it all
Though we wine and bawl, breaking down dance hall
'Til the Master call, we fight for survival.

Coming through the dark ages, looked upon as savages
Haunted by unrighteousness, time and place and circumstance
And some people's ignorance
We had to face all kind of prejudice
Subjected to slavery, bound by economic chains
Quick to hold but slow to develop
Daunted by redundancy, plagued by emotional pains
Still for all we wouldn't stop, cry surrender or give it up

No, we willl survive as we have throughout the years
Man will survive through pain, sorrow and tears
To ensure our existence, to walk proud, to stand tall
Yet to humble in His presence
'Cause at the back of it all
Though we wine and bawl, breaking down dance hall
'Til the Master call, we fight for survival.

Source:
N.B. 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

Thank you Mighty Sparrow.

"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 Lifetime Ent Nuff


Uploaded by IsDePanInMe
By Black Prince

Yes, it is nice to get in conversation with women
For you will hear some things that you wouldn't hear from men
Like if them was man whey they woulda do
And who man they know more stupid than who
How they woulda live bachelor their whole life long
Woman couldn't have them drinking and falling down
But, this jamette ah bounce up in La Romain
She tune was the same, that same old refrain
But lyrics of a different vein
She tell me, One lifetime ent nuff, one lifetime ent nuff
Ah have to have time for mih husband, time for mih children
Time for mih sweet man, time for me
Time for I to reminisce, time enough to done with this
To be alive is nice but tough
One lifetime ent nuff

Yes, we commented on the nation's late recession
Some of the things that leads women into deep frustration
When you children ent have no shoe for their feet
To maintain them, their father playing hide and seek
"Life is what you make it", she say, seems out of place
Very few could make it today in this rat race
And praise to those who on a spiritual height
It's like hell for those who insist they got to exist on bacchanal and immoral flight
She tell me, One lifetime ent nuff, one lifetime ent nuff
You have to have time to save money, time when you sickly
Time for recovery, time to spree
Time to see a dream come true, time to provide for your offsprings too
To be alive is nice but tough
One lifetime ent nuff

I must admit I thought that prostitutes had forget
The true virtues of life, the up and downs and the assets
But this jamette woman, she put me right
She made me see things in a different light
After all we are nothing more that human beings
To each his own, striving to survive on different scenes
And there are things that you would like to do
But then it's up to Mother Nature and Father Time to decide if you could pursue
She tell me, One lifetime ent nuff, one lifetime ent nuff
You have to have time for growing up, time for freeing up
Time for checking up, time for so
Time to control one's ego, time to know when to say no
To be alive is nice but rough
One lifetime ent nuff.

I realise just then the angle she coming from
Boy, it is always said a woman's work never done
Although whey she say make Black Prince tremble
It woulda be nice if was possible
For all of them times that I wasted having fun
Ah sure ah need another lifetime to right the wrongs
And I believe that you woulda admit also
That we would hardly ever have to accept the fact of regret and "If ah did know"
She tell me, One lifetime ent nuff, one lifetime ent nuff
You have to have time for soul seeking, time for self finding
Time, time for so
Time for true maturity, time to ------
For man does ----- for time ------
One lifetime ent nuff.

Source:
N.B. 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

Beautiful!

"Time for I to reminisce, time enough to done with this
To be alive is nice but tough
One lifetime ent nuff."

Thank you Black Prince.

"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

Hoosay




Uploaded by cool4rocknroll

HOOSAY
By David Rudder

"Wear something red," was the popular cry
And like the pavements and streets, they were filled with envy
Because by morning light, they were covered with our blood
I tell you not one soul there escaped the frenzy
You know, sometimes you gamble in king and wild is the joker
And sometimes the sight of the moon just riles up the lost, the hungry, the mad
These are the troubled times that we have down in Trinidad.

Because under the crescent moon and above the bloody asphalt
Strange dogs were barking deep in the night
Under the crescent moon, I say the drums were silent
But somehow the rhythm continued, oh what a sight!
On the night of the day, it was the night of the day,
Oh, the night when they say that the martyrs died.

Fame, yes, we're famous as hell
Why don't you know we're a star
At long last we have made it
A star, like that star in the moon shining over the tomb
Dance the moon ---------------
Come on dance, brother, dance but death is your drummer, oh
Dance, sister, prance, the future's at stake
And jump high, jump low, but this Hosay will take the cake.

Because under the crescent moon and above the bloody asphalt
Strange dogs were barking deep in the night
Under the crescent moon, I say the drums were silent
But somehow the rhythm continued, oh what a sight!
On the night of the day, it was the night of the day,
Oh, the night when they say that the martyrs died.

The power and the glory is so close at hand
But the beast he was lurking
For he too sits in the wings, in the wings
So when we searched for the moon all we saw were the vultures
But then a chosen people never worry 'bout these things
So the roll of the tassa began to sound like the rhythm of bullets
And the thundering boom bass well, that was a bomb, was a bomb
In ah this Muslim time when the Hosay is number one.

Ah say, under the crescent moon and above the bloody asphalt
Brother man, strange dogs were barking deep in the night
Under the crescent moon, I say the drums were silent
But somehow the rhythm continued, oh what a sight!
On the night of the day, it was the night of the day,
Oh, the night when they say that the martyrs died.

Not in this house, not in this garden of Eden
Oh, how we danced to the beat of this lovely lie, lovely lie
Until a man opened a door and showed us our other side
And our Mecca-ed illusions walked right on by
Now Trini know what is Oozy diplomacy
Now Trini know what is SLR love
In ah these troubled times under the stars above.

Ah say, under the crescent moon and above the bloody asphalt
Brother man, strange dogs were barking deep in the night
Under the crescent moon, I say the drums were silent
But somehow the drumming continued, oh what a sight!
On the night of the day, it was the night of the day,
Oh, the night when they say that the martyrs died.
Under the crescent moon and above the bloody asphalt
Strange dogs were barking deep in the night
Under the crescent moon, I say the drums were silent
But somehow the rhythm continued, oh what a sight!
On the night of the day, it was the night of the day,
Oh, the night when they say that the magic died.

So "Wear something red," was the popular cry
And like the pavements and streets, they were filled, were filled with envy
Because by morning light they were covered with our blood
I tell you not one soul there escaped the frenzy
You know, sometimes you gamble in king but you pull the court jester
And sometimes the sight of the moon...

Source:
N.B. 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, David Rudder.

"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

Stand Up and Fight [Song]


Uploaded by cool4rocknroll
STAND UP AND FIGHT By Iwer George

Well well... yeah, oh yes

Hail everybody, once again bacchanal in we country
I like to see people having fun
This rounds keep all yuh heads on
We have some leaders in this place, taking advantage on the human race
Man, they did it to we once, they did it to we twice
Before they squeeze we in a bind
We must stand up and fight
Ah say to get up and fight
We must stand up and fight to survive
Well, we must stand up and fight
Ah say to get up and fight
We must stand up and fight for we life.
Brethren [Don't give up the fight]
Sistren [Don't give up the fight]
Well, we must stand up and fight for survival
Garvey say, [Don't give up the fight]
Ah say, ah say, ah so ah say [Don't give up the fight]
Well, we must stand up and fight to survive...Well

They taking advantage, they feel poor people stupid
They making all the money
They have the children hungry, hungry
These people too damn greedy
That's why we must ban them in the 90
Man, the purpose of this fight is to make the living right against IMF pressure
We must stand up and fight
Ah say to get up and fight
We must stand up and fight to survive
Well, we must stand up and fight
Ah say to get up and fight
We must stand up and fight for we life.
Brethren [Don't give up the fight]
Hail sistren [Don't give up the fight]
Well, we must stand up and fight for survival
Garvey say [Don't give up the fight]
What Marley say [Don't give up the fight]
Well, we must stand up and fight to survive... Well

We must take a stand, come together to rescue this nation
The value-added tax system erase hopes now for poor men
But my friends I do believe, once we fight together we must achieve
Man we going down today, moving anything above we way
Any stupidness they say
We must stand up and fight
We got to get up and fight
We must stand up and fight to survive
Yes, we must stand up and fight
We got to to get up and fight
We must stand up and fight to survive
Brethren [Don't give up the fight]
Sistren [Don't give up the fight]
We must stand up and fight for survival...well well
[Don't give up the fight] Ah so ah so ah say
[Don't give up the fight] Stand up and fight to survive... Well

We must have a plan to give to the young generation
Let them know their life would be filled with hope, love and glory
Is our duty to make sure their life will be worth living for
Man, to do that ent easy, we have to clean up the city
Before we enemies done we.

We must stand up and fight
We got to get up and fight
We must stand up and fight to survive
------ get up and fight stand up and fight
We must stand up and fight to survive.
Brethren [Don't give up the fight]
Sistren [Don't give up the fight]
Well, we must stand up and fight for survival
Garvey say [Don't give up the fight]
What Marley say [Don't give up the fight]
Well, we must stand up and fight to survive... Well

Garvey say [Don't give up the fight]
What Marley say [Don't give up the fight]
Mandela say [Don't give up the fight]
I say [Don't give up the fight]
Yeah, you must never, never, never, never
You must never, never, never, never, never.....

Source:
N.B. 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

"We must take a stand, come together to rescue this nation"
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