Old Time Cat o' Nine [Song]

Lord Invader's snapshot from the past, tells of a time when "Robust" men and maybe women were also wreaking havoc in their communities [T&T and Britain].  In his calypso, he proposed the liberal and energetic use of the cat o' nine whip as a punishment and deterrent just as some today are again falling back on the death penalty. I do not agree with the death penalty or the cat o' nine being used as a deterrent against crime but I am all for swift and decisive interdiction as the obvious and completely defensible action at this point.

It was with relief then, that I read about the raids in Port of Spain this morning here, here and here.  Well done! to all the peace keepers involved in this authorisation and execution of this exercise. It sends the message to the miscreants that lawlessness will not be tolerated and to the victims, that their lives and property are not garbage.

I say this bearing in mind that we still have to get to the root problems and ask questions about why direct violence and structural violence continue to plague our society but I understand that these problems are generational and systemic and will not be solved in the short-term. In the short-term however, fiddling can mean the difference between life and death, between peace and war for victims and criminals alike. This situation is also an indictment against the law keepers that such criminal activity should have been allowed to escalate to the point where raids are required. 

A while back I had posted some information about the Brazilian Pacifying Police Units (UPP) which move into troubled communities and stay there to establish a relationship with their members and to ensure peace for the beleaguered residents.

Good also to see the government and the opposition coming together to work towards solutions.

 Uploaded by etheangel2220
OLD TIME CAT O' NINE
By Lord Invader

The only thing to stop these hooligans from causing panic in the island
The only thing to stop these hooligans from causing panic in the island
Well, I know that the government see they need another kind of punishment
I say one thing to cool down this crime is to bring back the old time cat o' nine.

So the old time cat o' nine, bring it back, and they bound to change their mind
Is to send them Carrera with licks like fire and they bound to surrender.

And in the days of Judge Gilchrist, as you know, nothing never happen so
Any man pass under his hand can tell you of the rod of correction
He use to treat them meek and mild, well, he never spare the rod to spoil the child
I say one thing to cool down this crime is to lash them with the old time cat o' nine.

So the old time cat o' nine, beat them bad, and they bound to change their mind
Is to send them Carrera with licks like fire and they bound to surrender.

The police is working harder and harder to see this thing go no further
Every night they on duty to safeguard us from violence and robbery
But they wouldn't stop at all, Peter is going to pay for Paul.
I say one thing to cool down this crime is to bring back the old time cat o' nine.

So the old time cat o' nine, lash them hard, and they bound to change their mind
Is to send them Carrera with licks like fire and they bound to surrender.

And every night they walking about in a band singing the song called, "Robust Man"
Have you heard it? - "I'm a robust man. Don't ask how ah ----- danger.*
The judge and jury can settle this thing easily
So the cat is the only time bomb to drop and this robustness will stop.

So the old time cat o' nine, beat them bad, and they bound to change their mind
Is to send them Carrera with licks like fire and they bound to surrender.

* "In the middle of 1943 an anonymously penned letter to the Trinidad Guardian reported on the conduct of a male defendant. This young man, according to the correspondence, broke out into song in the course of being sentenced. The lyrics were nothing short of the celebration of the "saga life."

 

Number one, ah en' working no way

Number two, ah en' drawing no pay  

Number three, ah en' got no wife  

Number four, is a saga life

So I'm a robust man
Don't talk 'bout no brave dange. [83]  

True or false, this allegation trenchantly testifies to the subversive significance of saga. Both lyrics and setting confirm saga as a subculture of deliberate and dangerous indifference, indeed, of boastful challenges to decent manhood. The demands of neither work, woman nor law could compromise the saga boy's worldview that life was a game meant to be played fully, richly and fearlessly. The saga boy styled himself irremediably and unrepentantly against the conventional wisdom  (otherwise) of colonial society. In the end, no image better conveys the arrogance, insouciance and defiance of the saga life than that of a convicted man lyrically paying tribute to his deviance in the face of judicial power." Source: Caliban and the Yankees: Trinidad and the United States Occupation. By Harvey R. Neptune. ReadHowYouWant.com, 2009, pp. 98-100  

"Just before Invader left Trinidad for New York to challenge Morey Amsterdam and his coterie, there was a heading in the Sunday Guardian letters page: "The 'Cat' Urged As Remedy To Stamp Out Hooliganism" (11 February 1945: 4) The "cat" in question was the slave whip or "cat o' nine tails", and the "hooliganism," territorial activity associated with different steel bands.

These groups defended their patch against rival units and, as shown by numerous contemporary court reports, acted in bravado as "Robust Men," terrorizing innocent bystanders as well as those they saw as direct opponents. Such anti-social behaviour increased as the Second World War progressed, the root cause of which was not addressed by the proposal of corporal punishment as sole deterrent. Invader looked to these issues in his ironic "Old Time Cat-O'-Nine" recorded for Decca in 1945 (34009). Soon after his arrival in Britain, in 1956, he told the Melody Maker that this was one of his favourite compositions. (5 May: 8) 

On returning to England from continental Europe in 1958, Invader encountered a similar phenomenon, gangs of "Teddy Boys," white youths who fought one another and carried out random acts of violence against passers by. Sometimes these assaults were racially motivated. Invader immediately revised his Old Time Cat-O'-Nine, altering locations and personalities to suit the new environment and recorded it as Teddy Boy Calypso (Bring Back The Old Cat-O'-Nine) (Nixa 15162). Residing in New York City in 1959, he recycled this version with minor variations for Moses Asch.

The only thing to stop those Teddy Boys,
From causing panic in Great Britain,
The only thing to stop those hooligans,
From causing panic in England,
Well I hope that the Government,
See they need another kind of punishment,
I say one thing to cool down this crime,
Is to bring back the old time cat-o-nine.

CHORUS:
So the old time cat-o-nine beat them bad,
And they bound to change their mind,
Is to send them to Dartmoor with licks like fire,
And they bound to surrender.

In the days of Judge Hitchins, as you know,
Nothing never happen so,
Any man pass under his hand,
Can tell you of the rod of correction,
He used to treat them meek and mild,
He never spare the rod to spoil the child,
I say one thing to cool down this crime,
Is to bring back the old time cat-o-nine.

CHORUS:
So the old time cat-o-nine, bring it back,
And they bound to change their mind,
is to send them Dartmoor with licks like fire,
And they bound to surrender.

The police is working harder and harder,
To see this thing go no further,
Every night they on duty,
To safeguard us from violence and robbery,
But they would not stop at all,
Peter is going to pay for Paul,
I say the cat is the only time bomb to drop,
And this "Robustness" must stop

CHORUS:
So the old time cat-o-nine, lash them hard,
And they bound change their mind,
send them Dartmoor with licks like fire,
And they bound to surrender.

You see that 'though these Teddy Boys haven't got no reason,
Attacking innocent people,
Every night they walking about in a band,
With a razor in their hand,
But the judge and the juries, can settle this thing easily,
I say one thing to cool down this crime,
Just beat them with the old time cat-o-nine.

CHORUS:
So the old time cat-o-nine, beat them bad,
And they bound change their mind,
is to send them to Dartmoor with licks like fire,
And they bound to surrender.

SOURCE: Calypso in New York - Lord Invader: The Asch Recordings 1946 - 1961. Smithsonian Folkways Liner Notes, pp. 22-23.

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