Donkey Can't Wine [Song]

Uploaded by Edward Spencer
DONKEY CAN'T WINE
By Mighty Sparrow

Animal beauty competition, you go hear confusion
Jackass and Tiger, Goat, Pig and Lion, listen to confusion
Who tell them to let Monkey judge?
Monkey have an old personal grudge
From since in the days they make him bring water as the ugliest man,
Since then Monkey bitter.

So he throw out Peacock, he say he too vain
And disqualified Lion with his long flowing mane
But he watching at Donkey in one particular spot
"Ladies and Gentlemen," Monkey say, "Look at beauty this fella got!"
He give Donkey first, second and third and the judge tell Lion flat,
"Hmm, if you was the king of the beasts, you would be toting that!"

Silence, the whole place get silent, Hog watching Elephant
Spellbound, everybody spellbound, all man start to look 'round
Tiger say, "You rude and you fast! What beauty you see in Jackass?
You sit down with a wicked grin on your face
How the hell you could give Donkey all three place?""

But he throw 'way Peacock, he say he too vain
And disqualified Lion with his long flowing mane
Hmmn, but he watching at Donkey in one particular spot
"Ladies and Gentlemen," Monkey say, "Look at beauty this fella got!"
He give Donkey first, second and third and then he tell Lion flat,
"Hah, if you was the king of the beasts, you would be toting that!"

"Robbery!" Crapaud say, "You rob me! I've dressed up so lovely."
"Somebody should shoot you, come in here with a corkscrew."
Is now common Dog start to bark, call Monkey a sex maniac
Pig say, "If is sex, I must be in line.
Donkey have the goods but donkey can't wine."

So he throw out Peacock, he say he too vain
And disqualified Lion with his long flowing mane
But he watching at Donkey in one particular spot
"Ladies and Gentlemen," Monkey say, "Look at beauty this fella got!"
He give Donkey first, second and third and then he tell Lion flat,
"If you was the king of the beasts, you would be toting that!"

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! ..............................................................................................................................


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

Monkey and Donkey [Song]

Uploaded by roger ramirez
MONKEY AND DONKEY
By Lord Christo

Some domestic animals got together recently
And they decided was to hold a party
They sent invitations to Horse and Monkey
But they didn't invite poor Donkey
So Donkey sit down and he start to cry
Asking the Monkey the reason why
But the jokify Monkey with a grin on he face
Only gazing below the Donkey waist.

He tell him:
"Don't cry, Donkey, Donkey, don't cry.
I woulda tell you, boy, but I 'fraid a kick in mih eye
Is not the size of yuh ears as male
Is not your belly, is not your tail, is not your shoe...
Too besides, I ent telling you."

Well, the Donkey really wanted to attend this party
So he keep on proguing the Monkey
But Monkey with his tricky intelligence
Have the Donkey hanging in suspense
So Donkey fretting 'cause he want to know
The reason why he couldn't go
He tell him, "Look, Horse is a fella built just like me
So tell me how come they invite he?"

He tell him:
"Don't fret, Donkey, don't fret
I don't want to tell you and then I have to regret
You and Horse resemble, is true 
But he don't hold the same thing like you.
Is just by a khn and he and all woulda be in the same boat too."

Now the Monkey now have this poor Donkey in trouble
By talking in parable
So he checked on his behaviour and different parts of his body
But he forget something completely
So Monkey watch him and he laugh again
Telling him, "Donkey, man, use your brain!"
Same time a lady Donkey pass
Man, he two ears stand up just like para grass.

He tell him:
"Don't gaze, Donkey, Donkey, don't gaze.
Don't get excited and exercise your bad ways
You can't make the party is true, is because of one thing that you does do
I wouldn't call the name but when you do it,
You does make everybody shame."

Well, I had my suspicions why they didn't invite Donkey
To ruin their social party
But Donkey came to his own decision  to invade without invitation
Monkey tell him,"No, don't do that, I goin' tell you true,
But don't tell them I tell you."
The reason that he gave him was a shock to me
I suspected something different entirely.

He tell him:
"Don't go, Donkey, Donkey, don't go
If you go they go make you shame in front ah the door
I know you goin' take it hard but Donkey, partner, don't feel too bad
You know what they say, 
"They don't like the way how Donkey does bray."

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! ..............................................................................................................................


A Note From The Gull

Thank you, Lord Christo.

"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

Dove and Pigeon [Song]

Uploaded by edward spencer

DOVE AND PIGEON
By Lord Nelson

Dove and Pigeon were two good companions
I say, Dove and Pigeon were two good companions
But because of jealousy they both start to disagree
So Pigeon call a contest to prove to Dove that he is best.

I didn't have to figure, I knew Dove was smarter
Pigeon sure he had Dove covered
So he decide they would eat some pepper
He say, "One thing you must remember.
Eat all you want, don't ask for water."
Dove smile and said, "Agree."
And they both flew on the pepper tree.

Dove start to sing:
"Coo coo coo-coo bansimande
Netty yetty bansimande, wayo wayo bansimande
You mustn't say, 'eeshhhha', you mustn't say, 'eeshhhha'
And nobody shouldn't say, 'eeshhhha, eeshhhha, eeshhhha'."

This time Dove eating and singing,
Bouncing, flapping his wing
Pigeon sure how he winning,
Eating like a champ, won't say a thing
Then all the birds gather 'round to see what was going on
Still Pigeon kept up the pace,
Confident he go win the race.

Singing:
"Coo coo coo-coo bansimande
Netty yetty bansimande, wayo wayo bansimande
You mustn't say, 'eeshhhha', you mustn't say, 'eeshhhha'
And nobody shouldn't say, 'eeshhhha, eeshhhha, eeshhhha'."

Friends, I know you won't believe me
But Sparrow was there, if I lie just ask he
When the pepper start to burn Pigeon
He spin round twice, Bip! he fall down
Dove start to jump up with glee up and down the pepper tree
He said, "Now take a tip from me.
Our friendship done because of jealousy."

Still singing;
"Coo coo coo-coo bansimande
Netty yetty bansimande, wayo wayo bansimande
You mustn't say, 'eeshhhha', you mustn't say, 'eeshhhha'
And nobody shouldn't say, 'eeshhhha, eeshhhha, eeshhhha'."

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! ..............................................................................................................................


A Note From The Gull

Thank you, Lord Nelson. Sweet and simple from a time long past, "a tone which is now forever fled."

BOOKENDS

Time it was

And what a time it was, it was

A time of innocence

A time of confidences.

Long ago it must be

I have a photograph

Preserve your memories

They're all that's left you.

--Simon and Garfunkel

"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

Scorpion [Song]

Uploaded by ICONOSCOPE1850
SCORPION
By Atilla the Hun
Sung in Trinbagonian French Patois

Eskoupyon, i vlé yon déjinen [Eskoupyon, vlé yon déjinen]
Scorpion wants a meal [Scorpion wants a meal]
Piti kon mwen yé, mwen vlé yon déjinen [Eskoupyon, vlé yon déjinen]
As little as I am, I want a meal [Scorpion wants a meal]
Sé mwen mèm doré; mwen ka hélé [Eskoupyon, vlé yon déjinen]
It is I, the gilded one, I am shouting [Scorpion wants a meal]
Tout fami-mwen, mi, yo vlé manjé [Eskoupyon, vlé yon déjinen]
My entire family wants to eat [Scorpion wants a meal].

Eskoupyon, i vlé yon déjinen [Eskoupyon, vlé yon déjinen]
Scorpion wants a meal [Scorpion wants a meal]
Piti kon mwen yé, mwen vlé yon déjinen [Eskoupyon, vlé yon déjinen]
As little as I am, I want a meal [Scorpion wants a meal]
Tout kamawad-mwen, mi, yo ka hélé [Eskoupyon, vlé yon déjinen]
All of my friends are bawling out [Scorpion wants a meal]
Eskoupyon, i vlé yon manje [Eskoupyon, vlé yon déjinen]
Scorpion wants a meal [Scorpion wants a meal]
Sé mwen mèm doré; mwen ka hélé [Eskoupyon, vlé yon déjinen]
It is I, the gilded one, I am shouting [Scorpion wants a meal]

Eskoupyon, i vlé yon déjinen [Eskoupyon, vlé yon déjinen]
Scorpion wants a meal [Scorpion wants a meal]
Piti kon mwen yé, mwen vlé yon déjinen [Eskoupyon, vlé yon déjinen]
As little as I am, I want a meal [Scorpion wants a meal]
Tout fami-mwen, mi, yo vlé manjé; [Eskoupyon, vlé yon déjinen]
My entire family wants to eat [Scorpion wants a meal].
Kamawad-mwen, yo ka hélé [Eskoupyon, vlé yon déjinen]
My friends are bawling out [Scorpion wants a meal]
Sé mwen doré, doré, mi, mwen blésé [Eskoupyon, vlé yon déjinen]
It is I, the gilded one, I am wounded. [Scorpion wants a meal]

Eskoupyon, i vlé yon déjinen [Eskoupyon, vlé yon déjinen]
Scorpion wants a meal [Scorpion wants a meal]
Piti kon mwen yé, mwen vlé yon déjinen [Eskoupyon, vlé yon déjinen]
As little as I am, I want a meal [Scorpion wants a meal]

Eskoupyon, i vlé yon déjinen [Eskoupyon, vlé yon déjinen]
Scorpion wants a meal [Scorpion wants a meal]
Piti kon mwen yé, mwen vlé yon déjinen [Eskoupyon, vlé yon déjinen]
As little as I am, I want a meal [Scorpion wants a meal]

Lyrics source and translation: Patois in Calypso.
..............................................................................................................................


A Note From The Gull

Thank you so much, Atilla.

In my experience, some of the most engaging songs are about the tiny creatures with which we share the earth. For the duration of the song, Atilla helped me to occupy the persona of a scorpion without the use of any psychotropic drugs but by employing a simple rhythm and the trance inducing repetition of the hypnotic, "Eskoupyon, vlé yon déjinen | Scorpion wants a meal."  As you see, I am prone to fall.

This song brought me to a deeper realisation of a spirit world which appears subterranean only because we are so disconnected and adrift. The song breaks through the fog and focuses the mind on the creature which usually we either ignore or fear/hate.  The scorpion is alive like us and tiny as it is, it also needs to find nourishment. "Piti kon mwen yé, mwen vlé yon déjinen | As little as I am, I want a meal."

Here there are worlds within worlds and although the others of his kind are hidden from view, Atilla conjures up an extended community of its family members and friends, a legion from which this tiny creature emerges to command our attention and remind us of our connection. The scorpion too, is part of creation. Atilla, acknowledges its personhood and the artistry which had gone into its design and spirit. "Sé mwen doré, doré | It is I, the gilded one." The pathos of life is never far and the scorpion reveals that it has been hurt.  I prefer to believe that it is hurt only by its hunger because I do not want to entertain the possibility that it has been wounded by some preemptive strike by a human. Scorpions and most humans do not have a pleasant relationship. 

I am grateful to Atilla for arranging this introduction. Sometimes we say that something alters our consciousness as if we are being led away from that which is normal. But what if "normal" is actually the altered state which we now occupy after having strayed from our authentic selves.

"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

Christmas Nice [Song]

Uploaded by IsDePanInMe CHRISTMAS NICE
By Shadow

Parrandero with their guitar and their cuatro and their bass
And them pretty señorita with their laughter on their face
When them cuatro start to rattle, is like angels coming down
When they pass around the bottle, time to take another one.

Christmas nice, Christmas sweet
Christmas nice, Christmas sweet
María, María, María! The old fellah start to pray
María, María, María! I hope they doh come by me
María, María, María! Not a thing in mih house
María, María, María! Is mih neighbour give me some souse
Christmas nice, Christmas sweet
Christmas nice, Christmas sweet.

When they eat they ham and bread and the liquor in their head
And the cuatro sounding sweeter like if sugar in their finger
Then they coming down the sweet and they sounding double sweet
Then they reach down by the pole, the old man peeping through a hole.

Christmas nice, Christmas sweet
Christmas nice, Christmas sweet
María, María, María! The old fellah start to pray
María, María, María! I hope they doh come by me
María, María, María! Not a thing in mih house
María, María, María! Is the neighbour give me some souse
Christmas nice, Christmas sweet
Christmas nice, Christmas sweet.

Merry Christmas everybody! Merry Christmas everybody!
Merry Christmas every mother! Merry Christmas every father!
Merry Christmas little children!
May the good lord bless and keep them
Pass the whiskey and the plate, this is time to celebrate

Christmas nice, Christmas sweet
Christmas nice, Christmas sweet
María, María, María! The old fellah start to pray
María, María, María! I hope they doh drink mauby
María, María, María! Not a thing in mih house
María, María, María! Is the neighbour give me some souse
Christmas nice, Christmas sweet
Christmas nice, Christmas sweet.

Early, early Christmas morning while a certain cock was crowing
All them hen [men?] down in La Puerta, see them running helter-skelter
Not a chicken in the nest, they know man love chicken breast
So they hiding in the grass, they want to wait 'til Christmas pass.

Christmas nice, Christmas sweet
Christmas nice, Christmas sweet
María, María, María! The old fellah start to pray
María, María, María! I hope they doh come by me
María, María, María! Not a thing in mih house
María, María, María! Is mih neighbour give me some souse
Christmas nice, Christmas sweet
Christmas nice, Christmas sweet.

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.
..............................................................................................................................


A Note From The Gull

Thank you, Shadow!

Is Christmas nice? This song is making me think twice.

I listened a few times with a fascination that only increased as I became convinced that there is a whole lot more that I wanted to find in it.  I love Shadow's music and I have commented elsewhere on its mystical quality which finds its perfect camouflage in the apparent simplicity of the beat and the themes which he employs.

Shadow is singing a song about Christmas and parang and he is making no attempt to dance to the beat of the little drummer boy. This is original Shadow impishness with only the vaguest of Christmas patinas applied. The signature Shadow beat is there, the simplicity of the verses and the almost curt kick-it-down-the-hill-and-let-gravity-or-the-universal-heartbeat-take-it delivery. But why do I get the feeling that this is a complaint? Is he singing a Christmas song because he really wants to share the Christmas spirit or because he is unable to resist the temptation to comment on the dissolution which characterises many of the activities and much of the music associated with this season? Is his "Christmas nice, Christmas sweet!" soaked with bitter irony because Christmas is anything but nice or sweet for the sufferers among us whose cupboards are bare?

There is something discordant about this song and I cannot put my finger on what is causing it. I cannot move beyond Shadow's anything but melodious invocation of "Maria, Maria, Maria!!" Is it the cry of the distressed voice of penury under the duress of the sometimes crippling demands of a season that is out of control?

Finally, the lines which are not at all humourous for those who find unbearable the mass slaughter of animals especially at festivals like Christmas:

"Not a chicken in the nest, they know man love chicken breast

So they hiding in the grass, they want to wait 'til Christmas pass."

Trinbagonian Hindus and others who observe vegetarianism as spiritual practice, should be invited to share their beliefs [and recipes] with their omnivorous countrymen. Three of the ancient religions which originated in India - Hinudism, Jainism and Buddhism, all encourage vegetarianism. Wouldn't it be interesting to find out why?

Not too long ago there was a huge outcry in the homeland about the consumption of canine flesh and very few saw the irony. Now that the moratorium on hunting is over, there have been several reports about the butchery that is going on with the wild creatures. And again, the irony is that butchery on an even larger scale is continually going on to produce the slabs of flesh laid out on counters and freezers in our markets and groceries.

Animals are beautiful. They have intelligence. They take care of their children just like us. They have demonstrated that they also are capable of feeling great devotion towards their own and towards us. Just like us they are tormented to insanity by imprisonment and unnatural living conditions. Just like us they are sickened by bad food and drugs. Just like us they also feel terror and pain. If you have from time to time felt a doubt about this knocking at your heart, let it in and give it attention. Always question.

You cannot be blamed for how you were raised but now that you have been given the baton, you can find new trails. Let us give ourselves and the animals a break.

"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

Dr. Neil Parsan, Ambassador of T&T on Country's Success. [Video]

Published on Jul 14, 2013
Uploaded by FocusWashington

"A strong energy sector and visionary leadership have made Trinidad and Tobago one of the most politically stable and economically successful countries in the Western Hemisphere, Trinidad and Tobago's ambassador to the United States said in an interview on Focus Washington."

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

True Calypsonian [Song]

Uploaded by roger ramirez
TRUE CALYPSONIAN
By Lord Pretender

A lot of people don't understand
Wey you call a true, true calypsonian
Plenty, plenty people don't understand
Wey you call a true, true calypsonian
It have a fella singing "Portrait of Trinidad"
The singer have the whole country going mad
He get all the fame and publicity
And his composer remain in obscurity.

It ent fair, it ent fair
This thing has been going on year after year
You know that it's true but what can I do
But try and explain the facts to you
I admit the fella may be a good singer
But to be a kaisonian you must be a composer
Tackling any topic comes to hand
To call yourself a true, true kaisonian.

Friends, I know the facts you like to hear
So let me make myself abundantly clear
I am not against the kaiso singer
The fella have a right to work for he dollar
But I can't take them in a competition
Boasting and bragging how they's champion
And them judges picking them all the time
But if you check up on them, they can't write a line.

So you see, it ent fair, no, no, no, it ent fair
This thing has been going on year after year
You know that it's true but what can I do
But try and explain the facts to you
I say to be a calypso king
You must be able to compose and sing
Then you could hold up your head as a man
And call yourself a true, true kaisonian.

Friends, I wonder if you really know
How hard it is to present your own kaiso
You have to get an idea, then a good composition
With sweet music and proper rendition
When you finish all that, you still ent at ease
You have a demanding audience to please
You have to always come good by public demand
To be accepted as a true, true kaisonian.

So you see, it ent fair, it ent fair
This thing has been going on year after year
You know that it's true but what can I do
But try and explain the facts to you
These people always have me shedding tears
It's time that they correct this state of affairs
And always give credit to the man
Who you know is a true, true kaisonian.

The Merchant sang about pan in danger
But to me he ent cover the whole picture
For if the truth you would like to know
The same thing applies to we kaiso
They introduce a new innovation
A scarcity of words in their composition
And if this trend continue too long
We sure to end up singing calypsong.

So you see, it ent fair, no, no, no, it ent fair
This thing has been going on year after year
You know that it's true but what can I do
But try and explain the facts to you
They should hold three separate competitions
For singers, calypsonians and comedians
Divide the goats from the sheep, that's the only plan
Then you could know who's a true, true kaisonian.

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! ..............................................................................................................................
 

A Note From The Gull

Thank you, Lord Pretender!  I am in complete agreement with you.

Lord Kitchener and Lord Pretender - Soca vs Calypso

Uploaded by IsDePanInMe
"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

They Don't Make Them Like Me Anymore [Song]

  Uploaded by Glenroy Joseph
THEY DON'T MAKE THEM LIKE ME ANYMORE
By Lord Pretender

People always talking but plenty ah dem don't know
And that is why they always criticising
The true, true giants of kaiso
But like they forgetting the old Preddie
Some of great calypsoes I sang universally
In New York they start the Hall of Fame
But they couldn't leave out the great Pretender's name.

I've been singing kaiso from a little boy since 1929
Always had proper lyrics and doh talk 'bout sweet music
Good rendition, rhythm and rhyme
And year after year, Predie always there,
The facts you can't ignore, I am very sure
They don't make them like me anymore.

When I jump in the ring,
Boy, ah fus dem fellas coulda really sing
Them was the mouthpiece, the chronicle
Always defending the rights of poor people
Oh yes, we had we breakaway and leggo
But they used to sing things that people should know
We didn't have no records or radio
Is you had to prove yourself singing kaiso.

Men like Douglas, Lion, Atilla, Radio, Growler, Beginner
Caresser and the great Executor
------------, Albany, King Ivory, Normandy,
Mentor and Modern Inventor
Tiger, Unknown, and Invader, Unknown Soldier and Ras Kassa
Destroyer and the great Kitchener
But, as I said before,
They don't make them like me anymore.

This is something you ought to know
Is over six decades I singing kaiso
They change up kaiso in all form and fashion
But I still remain a true, true kaisonian
Oh yes, I love mih soca and uptempo
But me ent letting go true, true kaiso
I want you to keep these names in your head
Some good calypsonians, both living or dead:

Viking, Zebra, Mighty Killer, Melody, Terror, the great Spoiler
Striker, Ziegfield and Conqueror
Superior, Cypher, the great Sparrow
Blakie, Brynner, Bomber, Cristo
Shorty, Duke, Rose and Valentino
Sniper, Relator, Explainer, Brigo
Funny, Francine, Gypsy and Maestro,
Stalin, Chalkdust, Shadow, Swallow
Composer, Penguin and Power I can't ignore... but
They don't make them like me any more.

Now everywhere I go, people want to know
What go really happen to kaiso?
I told them that I may be dead and gone
But sweet soca and kaiso bound to live on
When some ah we big boys get wipe off the map
There are plenty good, young singers to fill the gap
So who ent hear dey name, I hope dey ent bawl
Is too much a good kaisonian to call.

Like Tambu, Baron, David Rudder,
Rootsman, Scrunter, Denyse Plummer
Sugar Aloes, Merchant, Luta, Cro Cro,
Johnny King, Crazy, All Rounder
Poser, Bally, Pink Panther,
Little Natasha, Machel Montano
Ebony, Contender, Delamo, Super Blue, Protector, De Fosto
Watchman, GB, Rio, Alberto
Kenny J, Lady B and Eastlyn Orr... but
They don't make them like me any more.

Extempo Encore #1:
Friends, I was bound to come back because
I heard the tumultuous rounds of applause
It's very gratifying to know
You appreciate Preddie calypso
I love to sing for people with intelligence
And you are such a beautiful audience
Believe me, friends, this ent old talk
I love the calypso fans in New York.

Extempo Encore #2
Friends, I know you love to hear Preddie
Singing extemporaneously
A lot of giant singers coming behind
Me ent want nobody keep me in mind
They have Composer and Terror, Bomber, don't forget Relator
Me don't want dem fellas complain
So if you call me I ent coming back again.

Extempo Encore #3
Friends, as a true, true kaisonian
I must thank you for your acclamation
Your acknowledgment gives me the inspiration
To sing these extempo composition
But my performance I'll have to curtail
I hope that you would let good sense prevail
Make all yuh friends to know
You met the Michael Jordan of kaiso!

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! ..............................................................................................................................
 
  A Note From The Gull

Thank you, Lord Pretender!

"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

Calypso de Trinidad [Song]

Uploaded by VintageMusicFm
CALYPSO DE TRINIDAD
By Trío Montenegro

O calypso, o calypso de Trinidad, de Trinidad, oh-oh, oh-oh.
Te adoro linda tierra del calypso febril
Con tus bailes, con tu ritmo, melodiosos sin fin.
Con tus canciones de amor llenas de encanto de pasion tu me lo quese
----------  perfume te adoro de tantas flores sin igual que te embellece.
Te adoro linda tierra del calypso febril.

O calypso, o calypso de Trinidad, de Trinidad, oh-oh, oh-oh
Te adoro linda tierra del calypso febril
Con tus bailes, con tu ritmo, melodiosos sin fin.
Te adoro linda tierra del calypso febril.

O calypso, o calypso de Trinidad, de Trinidad, oh-oh, oh-oh, oh-oh, oh-oh.

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! ..............................................................................................................................
   

 A Note From The Gull

Thank you, Trío Montenegro! What a sweet tribute to our calypso and what appreciation of our land from which it originated!

Some time ago, I featured the calypso, "Going To Bocas" by the Costa Rican calypsonian, Walter "Gavitt" Ferguson [94 years old] and now I am seeing that there is an International Calypso Festival named in his honour - Festival Internacional de Calipsonian -Walter"Gavitt" Ferguson, that will be taking place this week from July 11 - 13, 2013 in Cahuita, Costa Rica.

Like the Mighty Sparrow, Walter Ferguson was also a transplant - a Panamanian by birth who migrated to Costa Rica and became Costa Rican by "boat". Today, the country which became his own is acknowledging the importance of his contribution to the music of that society. The festival is being facilitated by the following: The Caribbean Cultural Corridor Program (CCC), the Ministry of Culture and Youth (MCJ), the Integral Development Association of Cahuita (ADIC), the Costa Rican Tourism Institute (ICT), the Cantonal Council of the Talamanca Youth and the Municipality of Talamanca. Looking at the programme, I am happy to note that on July 12 and 13, our Chalkdust will also be participating there as an international invited artist.

I cannot help thinking also about our Mighty Sparrow and imagining how wonderful it would be if we could honour him with an International Calypso Festival named in his honour. I usually have to shake my head to disperse thoughts of the day when his voice, his laughter, his smile will only be found in recordings. It is inevitable but I cannot bear to entertain that loss because I have listened to and appreciated his music for too long to accept the thought that such genius is finite. I wonder if he knows how much he is cherished and respected all over the world?

Have we, in his own homeland, told him lately that we love him?

Uploaded by mightysparrowaz
"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 Ark of the Diaspora: Kobo Town - "Jumbie in the Jukebox"

 Uploaded by Cumbanchamusic..............................................................................................................................  

 

A Note From The Gull

 "I want to recover what is beautiful, what is powerful. - Drew Gonzalves"

Thank you, Drew Gonzalves and Kobo Town.

"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

Calypso In Trouble [Song]

Uploaded by bencultCALYPSO IN TROUBLE
By Brother Valentino

John Public get ---------- in one big charade
With some calypso culprits reigning in this parade
Even the record producers and people who producing
Like is a fast food styling business them doing
If you check the contents of what them people marketing
Is one type of music that they promoting
They feel that calypso is just party for Carnival
Or they feel calypso is fete and plenty bacchanal.

Chorus:
They pushing this music vibration
With a wine down, jam down intention
So you back a woman in a corner
And you jam she in the name of soca
Shame on you, you culture vulture!
Using my sister and raping my culture!
I am appealing to all those who responsible
We crying, "Help help! Calypso in trouble!"
If you don't do something fast, this art form will sure crumble
So we crying, "Help, help! Calypso in trouble!"

John Public get ------ for two much of years
'Cause over and over, same thing ringing in your ears
They only repeating everything they say
Melody and lyrics - is too much djamblay
Calypsonians lost their wit and imagination
Lost their sense of direction and lacking creation
So the whole thing turn into one bid big free for all
With every man in a mad rush heading for the dance hall.

Chorus:
They pushing this music vibration
With a wine down, jam down intention
So you back a woman in a corner...Ey!
And you jam she in the name of soca
Shame on you, you culture vulture!
Using my sister and raping my culture!
I am appealing to all those who responsible
What we saying, "Help help! Calypso in trouble!"
If you don't do something fast, this art form will sure crumble
So we crying, "Help, help! calypso in trouble!"

John Public get -------- with Road March and Panorama
Panmen doing their own thing in the Savannah
The steelband arrangers composing their own tune
And the brass band leaders will be doing the same thing soon
Then the mighty DJ is the one who controls the sway
That's the man who dictate the Road March on Carnival Day
So you see the calamity that calypso in
Everybody jamming and doing their own thing.

Chorus:
They pushing this music vibration
With a wine down, jam down intention
So you back a woman in a corner
And you jam she in the name of soca
Shame on you, you culture vulture!
Using my sister and raping my culture!
I am appealing to all those who responsible
"Help help! Calypso in trouble!"
If you don't do something fast, this art form will sure crumble
So we crying, "Help, help! calypso in trouble!"

John Public get -------- with the way they judge calypso
They do not want class nor quality on that show
So the moral standard of the art drop so low
They say competition is what have it so
You got to be rough and gruff and regular with lyircs
And embarrass people who are active in politics
Or come on the stage and wine down like a ball of twine
So calypsonians wining from now til the end of time.

Chorus:
They pushing this music vibration
With a wine down, jam down intention
So you back a woman in a corner
And you jam she in the name of soca
Shame on you, you culture vulture!
Using my sister, raping my culture!
I am appealing to all those who responsible
Hear me crying, "Help help! Calypso in trouble!"
If you don't do something fast, this art form will sure crumble
"Help, help!" ...Tell dem!

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!

..............................................................................................................................


A Note From The Gull

Brother Valentino, I agree completely with your observations and I thank you for gallantly defending our sisters, although I wonder if they would welcome it. Nadia Batson in "Shiver," is baying for "wine down, jam down" to move beyond intention:

"If you want to make me shiver
Stop the talking and deliver
Put mih bumbum on yuh zipper, darlin'
Boy, make me quiver
If you want to make me shiver
Stop the talking and deliver
Make me run more dan a river, boy
Just mek mih bawl out, "Aye yaye!"
Make me say, "Aye yaye!..."
---From "Shiver" - Nadia Batson

Agreed, this song's music is airy, the beat is infectious and I imagine listeners would find it difficult not to accept its invitation to dance but maybe I am old school - the in-yuh-face rawness shocks.

"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 Five Rules Of Calypso [Song]

Uploaded by IsDePanInMe
THE FIVE RULES OF CALYPSO
By Brother Valentino

Wherever horse reach, jackass could reach
This might sound like a fancy speech
It may just take a longer time
And you know time longer than twine
But for I to gain recognition
In this biased calypso competition
Like all dem judges would have to go
And let calypsonians judge calypso.

'Cause they don't know a damn thing 'bout melody
They don't know about originality
Like politics and partisan is the criteria for the Savannah
But me ent come out here to cause no commesse,
I only quoting the Mighty Fearless
It look as though the judges don't know
The five rules of calypso.

People who perform at the highest level
In any field should be capable
Once you possess the art, the skill and experience
You should be able to judge peoples' performance
So who give them this authority on calypso?
They can't even sing Do-Re-Mi-Fa-So
But armed with paper and pen in hand
To continue their destruction.

Calypsonians like me who paid their dues,
Still singing calypso blues
Every year man bussing their brain
And good songs just going down the drain
But fellahs tiefing people melody
And they singing like Panther and Crazy
It goes to show the judges don't know
The five rules of calypso...Eh-eh?

So to them jokers, I now declare
Let the experts sit down on the expert's chair
Calypsonians complaining from year to year
It is time they start judging their own affair
Because this little black man by the name of Noah
Feel he know more calypso than Kitchener
But we could have a much better show
With judges like Predie, Terror and Sparrow.

Like a few calypsonians sign a pact
Every Dimanche Gras night they have their contract
After they done eliminate, you know they take back Cro Cro
Some time ago on a fiesta show
Apart from all this inconsistency,
They pushing bias ------ dishonesty
They'll have to go 'cause they really don't know
A damn thing about calypso.

Pick the best calypsoes for the Savannah
Hats off to the Mighty Composer
Unlike these people who have their grudge
Why not make this brother a judge?
Because these judges have this thing all wrong
They judging the singer and not the song
And as long as this thing stay so
I could never be a monarch in calypso.

Some of them can't even rhyme dog with cat
They don't know a A minor from a B flat
They can't ever recognise a melody people sing already
But if TUCO still running that show
I just want mih president to know
They better send for the Lord Brigo to judge the calypso.

People who perform at the highest level
In any field should be capable
Once you possess the art, the skill and the experience
You should be able to judge peoples' performance
So who give them this authority on calypso?
They can't even sing Do-Re-Mi-Fa-So
But armed with paper and pen in hand
To continue my destruction.

Calypsonians like me who paid their dues,
Still singing calypso blues
Every year man bussing their brain
And good songs just going down the drain
But fellahs tiefing people melody
And they singing like Panther and Crazy
It goes to show the judges don't know
The five rules of calypso.

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!

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

Backlash [Song]

Listen to Brother Valentino singing "Backlash" courtesy Skellion.com.
[Link will open in new window.]
BACKLASH
By Brother Valentino

Of all the low down dirtiness I have experienced in calypso
The nastiest was these eight judges, one fiesta show
They victimise me openly, the damn thing worse than a shame
For the whole calypso world to see their filthy political game
Sean de Freitas, Verbim Connelley, Gillian Henry
Lennox London, Milton Bassaw who did this to me
Ezra Joseph, Melvin Charles and Ezekiel Benjamin
In the name of calypso, you have committed the greatest sin.

Chorus:
Seven judges to officiate, the rule state
When I check them jokers, I counting eight
Fus they want to fight me down
They decide they go bring in one more clown
But we done know they cannot fool the masses
These eight educated jackasses
Is to put all of them in one barrel
And look for the steepest hill.

They talk 'bout equal rights and justice here in Trinidad
But in calypso, the justice system moving very sad
It seems as though their policy is not based on any fair play
Because when the truth confront them, they always look the other way
These people got their own mind set and they blight just like cocobay
But one day, one day, congotay, for this deed they'll have to pay
Through all my years of competition, this is what I observe
They never ever gave to me what I really deserve.

Chorus:
They will never judge me on my merits
Them set of bad minded hypocrites
They so vindictive and so damn wicked
In the eyes of the people they look so stupid
I don't know if is blood they want from me
With their blinking vampire mentality
I would like to push ah umbrella where the sun don't shine
And open it up in their behind.

The whole of Trinbago, London, New York and Toronto
Everybody want to know why these judges treat me so
With their cut throat attitude, they spite the People's Calypsonian
Through their biased ways these eight bimbos upset the whole nation
Them criminals put some children in front this legend in calypso
I don't know if is the cash they do not want me earning on that show
But is time they give me what is mine when it is due to me
And do not try to put me down for no mediocracy.

Chorus:
Until I get my justice, I will never stop
Chanting down them judges, they too damn corrupt
Is genocide they committing in the art
These killers and dictators, they have no heart
So my historic research they just reject
I tell you people like them so have no respect
They should be put away without no bail in Carrera or the Royal Jail.

I wonder if these eight stooges committed this crime on their own,
And why this evil act, the people in authority condone?
And when they do their wickedness, they feel they accomplish something
But the sins of these wicked people would fall on their offspring
Some of the greatest songs that I have sung never made it to the Savannah
Including "Life is a Stage" - the immortal, the ever popular
If them judges ent pushing hatred and vendetta, what could it be?
Then the ones who control the calypso are the ones plotting against me.

Chorus:
My people, no matter what I sing
Every year with these judges is the same damn thing
What the hell they want me to sing again?
Jah Jah, how long shall the wicked reign?
But my wife, Peggy, told me jokingly
If you want to vie for this Monarchy
You got to stand up on your head and sing upside down
If you want to win this crown.

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!

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

Where Calypso Went? [Song]

Uploaded by IsDePanInMe
WHERE CALYPSO WENT?
By Brother Valentino

In 1912 in New York City, they record the first calypso
By Lovey's Orchestra, a band from Trinidad, the record could show
This orchestra was led by George Bailey, the musician, not the mas' man
The tune was entitled "Mango Vert", so Calypso recordings began
In 1914, two years later, Julien Whiterose and one Jules Sims
Gave to Calypso its first vocal recordings
In 1921, Railway Douglas opened the first Calypso tent
And from then to now I keep asking where the hell the Calypso went.

'Cause since in the early 20's, Sa Gomes sponsored Lion and Tiger
Our Calypso music was attracted by a recording company they called Decca
It was recorded before all that jazz and so much other music
But somewhere along the way, Calypso has lost its magic
Just when they feel the Calypso would skyrocket all over the continent
It took a nosedive in the Savannah and then back to the frigging tent.

In the early thirties Calypso reach Harlem's black community
Pioneered by Sir Lancelot, the Duke of Iron and Houdini
Sam Manning, Bill Rogers, the Duke of Marlborough
Not forgetting Gerald Clarke and Lionel Belasco
Look how long the Calypso was on the international scene
Until a man name Morley Amsterdam brought it where the pasture was green
"Rum and Coca Cola" the Andrew Sisters said it all
The tune sold seven million copies and Lord Invader, he had a ball.

A hundred and fifty US thousand dollars, he got for this calypso
And for composing the melody, Belasco, he got something also
Through Amsterdam and the Andrew Sisters, Calypso made the hit parade
Now today the same Calypso ketching its arse to make the grade.
'Cause everyday now the people keep complaining, Calypso is dying slow
But is all them Calypso judges and promoters that have it so.

Calypso reach in Greenwich Village, Calypso reach all over Broadway
Calypso sold its first million albums through Harry Belafonte
Nat King Cole recorded "Calypso Blues" in 1948
Chuck Berry recorded "Havana Moon", that calypso was really great
Robert Mitchum, Rosemary Clooney, the Kingston Trio, Louis Farrakhan
All these people sang the Calypso, Lionel Richie and Bob Dylan
Calypso, it was acknowledged, had an influence on the Motown Sound
Jamaicans could say, thanks to Calypso, Reggae music is still around.

A calypsonian told me a story about Bob, Peter and Bunny
Recording his calypso, "Where Sammy Gone", they sang background vocals for he
Our first Independence Calypso King, Lord Brynner, who they send loco
Told me that Bob Marley and the Wailers pick up some vibes from we Calypso
After all these people and places, "Where the hell did Calypso go?"
End up in some cheating competition on some blasted Dimanche Gras Show.

The first woman to enter a tent to sing Calypso
Lady Trinidad was her sobriquet, the first to cut a record also
Thelma Lane was her name. I want them female calypsonians know
About a feminist in the art, a trail blazer and fighter of long ago
And then enter Harold Phillips, a man who would create history
A calypsonian and a pannist, a concert promoter from Laventille
In his Colony Club in England where he promote his calypso show
These white boys would walk with their guitar and together they jam the tempo.

And then Woody told me a true story, them white boys used to gig with he
About a historic concert they pull off in Hamburg, Germany
John, Paul, George and Ringo is Lord Woodbine made me to know
The famous Beatles from in Liverpool pick up some vibes from we Calypso
After all these explorations, how much further did Calypso went?
End up in all kinds of competitions and then back to the frigging tent.

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!
..............................................................................................................................


A Note From The Gull

Thank you, Brother Valentino! I have been thinking about this. I have to say that this year's Dimanche Gras calypso competition left me cold. I waited for Singing Sandra to sing her second song and then hurriedly left the house [Internet]. I am probably biased but Singing Sandra was my choice for Monarch...even though as I watched her perform, I was bothered by a feeling that something was bringing her spirit down. Singing Sandra, I hope that you do not allow anything to discourage you and that you are blessed with health and strength to continue singing. Stay strong, stay true!

I think that there should be a people's choice for People's Calypso Monarch, a decision that is not reached by appointed judges but just a mechanised system for tallying phoned in votes.

"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

On Reaching Fifty [Song]

Uploaded by Trinnilicious4life
ON REACHING FIFTY
By Singing Sandra (2012)
Written by Christophe Grant

When a grown man turning fifty, he should be fully independent
With his own money, moving thrifty, lord, and king of his tenement
So Trinidad and Tobago, you set sail in '62
But when I check out your ship and cargo, I feeling like deja vu
We boast we have we own anthem, we even boast we have we own flag
Some say money is not the problem but something making mih country drag.

Answer mih question, please [Why you still in your Mammy house?]
Oy, you don't have your own damn keys! [You still in your mother house]
You ent have no blinking shame! [You still in your Mammy house]
Mampoule man must be your name! [You still in your mother house]

'Cause your police chief is Canadian, your national dish is KFC
And look how dem judge in London making final decisions for we
The youth taste of art and culture shaped by hip hop and BET
But you boasting to all and sundry, this year you turn fifty.

No! I can't respect that no how! [You still in your Mammy house]
Oh, to foreign masters you bow [You still in your mother house]
You down on your hands and knees [You still in your Mammy house]
To hang a man, you begging, "Permission, please." [You still in your mother house]

Shame! Shame, shame!
Shame, shame! Shame, shame!

Like some love the breeze up in London while they scorn we own CCJ
And when you ask them what's their position, "That's not a priority," they say
We who gave the world Sir Hugh Wooding, Telford Georges, De la Bastide
To their judgement we must keep bowing, most insulting indeed!
They don't believe in the death penalty, Constitution, ent give a fig
So why to their counsel we must be privy,
Just to breathe their cold air and wear a wig?

Answer mih question, please [Why you still in your Mammy house?]
Oy, your death penalty, they freeze [You still in your mother house]
You ent have no blooming shame! [You still in your Mammy house]
Manicou man must be your name! [You still in your mother house]

'Cause your youths love all things Jamaican, the road march king is Movado
Ask ------------ distribution who making all the dough?
The youth's sense of high adventure is Flugtag by Red Bull
And they turn their back on their culture and no kaiso tent can't full.

I can't respect that no how [You still in your Mammy house]
Fifty years old, yet to others you bow [You still in your mother house]
You down on your hands and knees [You still in your Mammy house]
To pull a cow, look you begging Red Bull, "Please, please." [You still in you mother house]

Shame! Shame, shame!
Shame! Shame, shame!

Don't tell me 'bout golden anniversary 'cause this looking more like brass
The liberty is a forgery, somebody change the anthem fast
And our twin nation supposed to stand side by side
But the THA jurisdiction, up to now they cannot decide
According to Orville London, somebody yanking the chain
Granted power by the legislation, must still answer to Port of Spain.

Answer the question, please! [Why you still in your Mammy house?]
You don't have your own damn keys! [You still in your mother house]
You ent have no blinking shame! [You still in your Mammy house]
Mampoule man really your name! [You still in your mother house]

'Cause we chase 'way the Scarlet Ibis, when last you see a cocrico?
The manatee, that hardly exist, Chaconia also
We plunder the environment in our greedy haste for money
But we boasting to all and sundry, this year we turn fifty.

I can't respect that no how! [You still in your Mammy house]
Your natural beauty you rape and plough! [You still in your mother house]
Keep cutting the mangrove down! [You still in your Mammy house]
To build your Hyatt and your MovieTowne. [You still in your mother house]

'Cause the pirates out of control [Shame!]
The murders out of control [Shame!]
The children out of control [Shame!]
The drug trade out of control [Shame!]
Corruption out of control [Shame!]
------- out of control [Shame!]
The economy out of control [Shame!]
The country out of control [Shame]
Don't colour me orange, color me GOLD!

Trinidad, I shame! Shame, shame!
Lord, I shame!

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!
..............................................................................................................................


A Note From The Gull

Kaiso, Kaiso, Kaiso! Thank you, Singing Sandra and Christophe Grant. Although I do not support capital punishment, I get the broader point that is being made and I will be thinking about this song for weeks...the music, the lyrics, the delivery, the ideas. Well crafted songs like these that make you think, that make you bow down before calypso, are too few these days.

Singing Sandra, I will never stop singing your praises. Stay true to this sacred vocation because whenever you sing, even if as a voice in the wilderness, I feel all that is strong and righteous in our nation encircling you to dance.

"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

Unwritten Law [Song]

Uploaded by IsDePanInMe

UNWRITTEN LAW
By Chalkdust

Well, Mister Politician, with your right hand you swore honestly
With Bible in hand or with the Qu'ran, you pledged to serve we
A committed man with religion, you once used to be
But when the Treasury band pass by your station, man, you get greedy
So you -------- and you feel as man you get 'way scotch free
No Integrity Commission can't touch your stolen money
But you still must face something higher than any Commission
And that's the punishment ------ the calypsonian.

When you see Pink Panther and Cro Cro
Name you a thief in their calypso
As they pass that sentence on your head
You'll be called a big thief until you dead
And when you dead, there's still no relief
People will call all your generation thief
So before you join politics, you must know
In Trinbago, you must bow down to calypso!

Well, Mister Politician, you join the band to rape the Treasury
Kickbacks and grease hand from them businessman have you now wealthy
Up in Switzerland a big million you stash 'way tax free
But the calypsonian -----------------------------
Mister Politician, what you have done calls for harsh treatment
--------- granting you no bail is soft punishment
Charging you a fine mix with cat o' nine is like mashing your toe
But you will feel the blow when we jail you in calypso!

When you see Duke and Valentino
Find you guilty in their calypso
All in India where them CD's go
They'll call you a thief and a scamp also
People will dance to their tunes in Toronto
And call your name as a pappyshow
No future can't save you from that spirit blow
This ent chutney, you know, you must bow down to calypso!

Well, Mister Politician, the calypsonian throughout history
Has fought corruption from parliamentarians and skulduggery
British governors, prime ministers have all felt its weight
Albert Gomes, ----------, Eric Williams, they were laid out straight
Sparrow punish Patrick Solomon for freeing his stepson
And the whole world still 'fraid Karl for his laws on sedition
And in history all children will learn that Chambers duncey
And Gabby destroy Tom Adams in Bridgetown city.

When you see Brigo and King Sparrow
Name you a scamp in their calypso
Is best ten cobo pee on your head
You'll wish the hangman hang you instead
For when King Sparrow say so, is so
If Sparrow lie, is still true you know.
Look, Black Stalin make Dhanraj Singh know
You can't play macho, you must bow down to calypso!

Well, Mister Politician, the queen of England respects kaiso
She and Prince Charles know what they'll undergo if they tackle Crusoe
Colin Powell know that kaiso is the unwritten law
So he let Bush know he does sing kaiso before he fight war
Mister Politician, the great Imam, Reverend Farrakhan
Got his strength and determination from being a kaisonian
Kaiso make Eric Williams bawl out, "Let the jackass bray!"
So who the hell is Jack Warner, he's a small fish, I say.

If kaiso was born in America
George Bush would be humble as ever
Whenever he open his mouth in Congress
Aloes woulda hit him and give him bless
You might get 'way with bank accounts in Scotland
Bank under wife name up in London
But once you live here in Trinbago
We come like the Pharaoh, you must bow down to calypso!

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!
..............................................................................................................................
"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

Christmas Chant [Song]

Uploaded by edward spencerCHRISTMAS CHANT
By Poser

Quite in September we does start to prepare
For the month of December each and every year
The 25th day of December, they say is the Lord's birthday
So we come out to play
Carol does be singing, parang bands competing
Everybody feting 'cause that day is coming.

And wey dey singing?...

Christmas comes only once a year
And everybody must have a share
Drink up your rum, Mama yo, and have your fun
You don't know if you going to live
To see another one...Tell dem, tell dem!

Ayee! Baila muchahca!

Some renovating, new furniture coming in
Some does be painting while others cobwebbing
As it draws much closer to the month of December
Everyone gets excited 'cause that day is coming
Some does be scrubbing, some varnishing
Some cleaning glass all because of Christmas.

And wey dey singing?...

Christmas comes only once a year
And everybody must have a share
Drink up your rum,Mama yo, and have your fun
You don't know if you going to live
To see another one...Tell dem, tell dem!

Yee! Baila!

Christmas Eve night everybody tight
Some hanging curtain while others baking
Some boiling sorrel, -------- ginger beer
While others making homemade rum and beer
Some boiling ham others -----------------
And all this because just because of Christmas

And wey dey singing?...

Christmas comes only once a year
And everybody must have a share
Drink up your rum, Mama yo, and have your fun.
You don't know if you going to live
To see another one...Tell dem, tell dem!

Christmas comes only once a year
And everybody must have a share
Drink up your rum and have your fun... Mama yo!
You don't know if you going to live
To see another one...Tell dem, tell dem!

Christmas comes only once a year
And everybody must have a share
Drink up your rum and have your fun... Mama yo!
You don't know if you going to live
To see another one...Tell dem, tell dem!...

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!
..............................................................................................................................


A Note From The Gull

Thank you, Poser.

It is this song's chorus that stands out and captures my attention. In the verses, Poser describes a catalog of activities associated with Christmas and the reason why we celebrate it but it is in the chorus that he slips the centipede into the rum:

"Drink up your rum and have your fun
You don't know if you going to live
To see another one..."

If you don't mind centipede-laced rum or the thorns that accompany the rose, you will take it in stride but for me, hearing those lines and realising that they are the truth introduces a shadow and a sense of urgency. If you are a lover of rum, you won't need any excuse to drink up, not even the reminder that the sword of death is hanging over your head, but for some of us that reminder is a warning and a goad. Enjoy what you have today because tomorrow may never come. Liane Spicer's post "Carpe Diem - again" brought this message home to me recently.

"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

Ah 'Fraid Karl [Song]

Uploaded by seukeran
Ah 'FRAID KARL
By Mighty Chalkdust

Like my friends and them don't like me, they want police hold Chalkie
For the things they want me sing 'bout, this government go jail my snout
They want me to sing and say, "Move the La Bas from the highway
And have the whole stench installed right inside the heart of Whitehall."
But not me, ah 'fraid Karl, ah 'fraid Karl,
I 'fraid he jail me like he jail Rex Lasalle...uhmm
They want me sing 'bout when Badase died
Kamal Mohammed break down and cry
But ah 'fraid, not me, [ah 'fraid]
They say a young minister was found in a hotel with a call girl in town
But I ent singing 'bout that, ah 'fraid the Sedition Act.

Like my friends, them ent consider what happen to Weekes and Granger
Is when they jail my backside that they go be satisfied
But I smarter than all of them, the government I won't offend
I really can't make a jail, the cocoa and split peas will kill my tail
You see why ah 'fraid Karl, ah 'fraid Karl
I talking 'bout the new baron of Maraval... uhmm
They say PNM was nearly wrecked by the secretary and his rubber cheque
But ah 'fraid, I don't know, [ah 'fraid]
They say by Salvatori building,
Karl tell George Weekes how he mother make him
But I know nothing 'bout that, ah 'fraid the Sedition Act.

Like my friends, them don't understand why I really 'fraid that man
You see Bernard and Ernest Pierre, when Karl talk they have to hear
Government have no money, they say, for last year's public servants' backpay
No big thing, Karl got on the phone and ordered Kamal to give them a loan
That's why ah 'fraid Karl, ah 'fraid Karl
'Cause he eating like curry barb wire and dahl...uhmm
In the trial Bruce Procope did so well
That he leave he home and living Hilton Hotel
But I 'fraid, [ah 'fraid]
They say Danjuma, who tried our soldiers here
Still owe Hilton two thousand dollars for beer
But I keeping out of that, ah 'fraid the Sedition Act.

Like my friends, dem want to retreat but pushing me in the heat
They say them big boys was small, now they walking ten feet tall
Two used to live just like rats, now all over more Belmont they building flats
Another used to sell coconut, now he buy out the whole Queen Street lot
Doh ask me, ah 'fraid Karl, ah 'fraid Karl
The Better Village dress designer from Maraval...uhmm
They say Burroughs is an ace crime fighter but also a damn good weed pusher
But ah 'fraid, [ah 'fraid]
They say government pass the Divorce Bill so that Eric could get his own at will
But I keeping out of that, ah 'fraid the Sedition Act.

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!
..............................................................................................................................
"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