This is wedding! Shaadi! Shaadi! Shaadi! Shaadi! Shaadi!
They send out invitation to the whole population of our lil' nation
A wedding celebration beyond imagination down in the stadium
And if you see the crowd come out, come out
From east, west, north and south, from all about.
And then so suddenly King Machel and Iwer
Faye-Ann, Kes and Super appear on the bannister Tassa was best man together with steelband
Everybody happy for the wedding of the century.
Was no dulahin, and no dulaha
It was the wedding of Chutney and Soca
Ay yaye yay, oh yo yoy, the wedding of Chutney and Soca
Ah ha ha, oh yo yoy, the wedding of Chutney and Soca.
For such a big occasion they couldn’t depend on one man,
He couldn’t handle it
So they decide to invite a priest, imam and pundit to preside over it
Women in dey sari, pretty, pretty and men in dashiki, happy, happy.
And then so suddenly Drupati and Bunji
K.I., Blaxx and Destra appear on the bannister Tassa was best man together with steelband
Everybody happy for the wedding of the century.
Was no dulahin, and no dulaha
It was the wedding of Chutney and Soca
Ay yaye yay, oh yo yoy, the wedding of Chutney and Soca
Ah ha ha, oh yo yoy, the wedding of Chutney and Soca
I see Selwyn from Toco liming with Sat and Cro Cro
They couldn’t pull them apart
Khafra was in a dhoti, Devant in a dashiki, that really touch my heart
Is then I start to see, to see, to see what Trinbago could be, could be, could be.
And then so suddenly Ray Holman and Boogsie
Rikki Jai and Karma start jamming some sweet soca
And then the steelband playing chutney on pan
Plus a rhythm section, it was mayhem in the stadium.
Was no dulahin, and no dulaha
It was the wedding of Chutney and Soca
Ay yaye yay, oh yo yoy, the wedding of Chutney and Soca
Ah ha ha, oh yo yoy, the wedding of Chutney and Soca
Ay yaye yay, oh yo yoy, the wedding of Chutney and Soca
Ah ha ha, oh yo yoy, the wedding of Chutney and Soca...
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.
Thank your, Ras Shorty I, for the example of your faith in what is good, for your patience, for your music. "Who God Bless" is like an anthem for me and I am sure, for many others. The work continues, the music lives on.
"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.
"CHUTNEY IN YUH SOCA" (The Birth Of Chutney/Soca Music Documentary) Directed and produced by Karen Martinez A NEORAMA Filmworks Production for the Arts Council of England and Channel Four Television.
This engrossing video provides a concise overview of the origins of chutney music in Trinidad and Tobago and the syncretisation process that produced our chutney/soca music. It features inputs from Ajala, Rawatie Ali, Brother Marvin, Cecil Fonrose, Chris Garcia, Rikki Jai, Satnarayan Maharaj, Sonny Mann, Marcia Miranda, D.J. Shamoon Mohammed, Mungal Patasar, Sundar Popo, Rohini Rampersad, Savitri Rampersad, Drupatee Ramgoonai and Dr. Rhoda Reddock. In addition to the interesting commentaries and performances, the viewer is treated to a distracting procession of visual delights. Our people and our country are just too beautiful for words.
The following are some excerpts:
Mungal Patasar: "The whole concept of men coming out in chutney is an anachronism. Men got involved later, far later on, when the society became more liberal and allowed men to sing chutney songs in public and went more for the beat rather than the meaning of the song. People like Sundar Popo and so ventured into the ladies' arena of singing these songs in public."
Drupatee Ramgoonai: "In '87 we started "Chutney Soca". I did the Hindi in "Chutney Soca" and I did the English in "Chutney Soca" - the English version:
I don't know 'bout kaiso, what I go tell this fella He say he going to teach me a different kind of soca Mix some tassa with some conga, throw in some paratha A little congo pepper, mango, then you have the answer Is chutney soca, yay chutney soca, is dat wey have me wining down so Yay chutney soca, yay chutney soca, is dat wey make me feel to limbo...
I sang Indian tunes all my life and you know I wanted to do this mixture with the English and the Hindi songs, and then I wanted, you know, to go international. You know calypso is going international anyhow, so I just mix the two sounds together and there I....finally, when I sang this monster hit, "Mister Bissessar", it went, as far as I know, it went worldwide and there is where I brought in the tassa which is now being played all over. The tassa is a fast rhythm beat which blends together with the soca beat."
Brother Marvin: "The song Jahaji Bhai in Hindi means brotherhood of the boat. The conception of the song really is that all races you know came here by boat and I decide for us to unite, let us make Trinidad and Tobago our boat and all races would be brotherhood of that boat so we'd be jahaji bhai again. It's a very personal song to me because I am of, you know, different races. I may not look so but I am of different races."
Basdeo Panday: "Chutney/soca, chutney and soca, are two aspects of culture emanating from the two major ethnic groups in our society. This present trend towards cross-culturalisation in our music is therefore a step in the direction of national unity to which we aspire. And this harmony that exists between soca and chutney is a symbol of the type of complete harmonization that must characterise our society in years to come." Rikki Jai: "It's very significant that chutney was played on the road for Carnival this year. As you know, in past years the festival has been a predominantly calypso oriented festival and this year with the advent of Sonny Mann's "Lotala", we found it moving from the chutney market on to mainstream Carnival activities. So it's a big plus for the East Indian people of Trinidad and Tobago. It's very significant for them. It makes them feel a lot more in the Carnival than they probably felt in the past."
.............................................................................................................................. "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.
"Lelawattee Manoo-Rahming was born in Trinidad in 1960. A mechanical/building services engineer and part-time college lecturer, she now lives in Nassau, Bahamas. As well as writing poetry and short stories, she draws and sculpts.
Her poetry and short stories have appeared in From the Shallow Seas; The Caribbean Writer, Womanspeak, Lignum Vitae, Pelican, At Random, Sisters of Caliban, Mango Season, Writes of Passage, SAMAR, Voice, Memory, Ashes: Lest We Forget.
Her work explores issues of gender, sexual orientation, abuse, the place of Indo-Caribbean culture and spirituality within a pan-Caribbean setting." SOURCE
"Immortelle and Bhandaara Poems" by Lelawattee Manoo-Rahming Published by Proverse Hong Kong Distributed by The Chinese University Press, 2011 ISBN 978-988-19321-3-6
Thank you, Lelawattee Manoo-Rahming for sharing yourself with us through this interview and your work. I always find interviews with our artists exhilarating. Lelawattee's beautiful poem "Parang Serenade in Two Parts" was featured on this blog last year.
"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.
Why, oh why, oh why, girl? [Please tell me why?] A big man ent supposed to cry [Please tell me why?] But a bad woman I could classify [Please tell me why?] And a malcontent never satisfy. [Please tell me why?]
Ever since you take your things and leave me All I could do is grieve and grieve I never believe that you will deceive me And that is why I'm so bereaved. I feel so bad to hear people saying You have me like a mook underneath your spell Making me feel like if I'm in heaven But all the time you really giving me hell. But you'll always be my pet 'cause I cannot forget Your gentle, sweet embrace, nobody else could take your place I believe you even when you lie and I know I getting mamaguy Is only you, and you alone, could say why. Please tell me why?
Why, oh why, oh why? [Please tell me why?] A big man ent supposed to cry [Please tell me why?] But a bad woman I could classify [Please tell me why?] And a malcontent never satisfy. [Please tell me why?]
Just because of how you used to be shy, girl When you were hurt, I feel I could cry But now you leaving me high and dry, girl You going without even saying, "Goodbye." You are my one and only desire Your behaviour now have me on my knees With you, my soul was always on fire Without you, I'm really feeling the squeeze Deep down within my heart, I know we should never part There's nothing that I wouldn't do, specially if you want me to When I start, you know that I wouldn't stop 'til you satisfy Any excuse you come with is lie, so don't even try.
Why, oh why, oh why, girl? [Please tell me why?] A big man ent supposed to cry [Please tell me why?] A bad woman I could classify [Please tell me why?] And a malcontent never satisfy. [Please tell me why?]
If there really is a Paradise That's when I'm cuddled in your arms It took a little while for me to realise The power and the magic of your charms.
Why, oh why, oh why, girl? [Please tell me why?] A big man ent supposed to cry [Please tell me why?] But a bad woman I could classify [Please tell me why?] And a malcontent never satisfy. [Please tell me why?]
The thing for me to rub with, I end up drinking Because my heart couldn't take no more I'm so bewildered, I wasn't thinking You have the thing to cure me, I'm sure I'm on my own, alone and I'm stumbling Like a drunken man who ready to fall The thought of losing you have me fumbling I just can't take tabanca at all The way you does walk and wine is permanently on my mind Pretending I don't give a heck has made me a nervous wreck You never know how hard I try not to believe you have another guy Everything they tell me, I say is contrived. Please tell me why?
Why, oh why, oh why? [Please tell me why?] A big man ent supposed to cry [Please tell me why?] But a bad woman I could classify [Please tell me why?] And a malcontent never satisfy. [Please tell me why?]
I hear you tell your friends and them you using me And you go keep me out of the comfort zone You taking my money but you abusing me You don't know what the heck I doing in your home But is me paying the rent when the month done Plus food and all the utilities Me again for cable and then your cellphone Tell them who bought you that SUV Paid off your credit card and all the other bills you had It wasn't easy but I tried to restore your credit with pride That pie in the sky is expensive, I can't deny I'll always be here for you, I don't know why. Please tell me why?
Why, oh why, oh why? [Please tell me why?] A big man ent supposed to cry [Please tell me why?] But a bad woman I could classify [Please tell me why?] And a malcontent never satisfy. [Please tell me why?]
If there really is a Paradise That's when I'm cuddled in your arms It took a little while for me to realise The power and the magic of your charms.
Why, oh why, oh why? [Please tell me why?] A big man ent supposed to cry [Please tell me why?] But a bad woman I could classify [Please tell me why?] And a malcontent never satisfy. [Please tell me why?]
Why, oh why, oh why? [Please tell me why?] A big man ent supposed to cry [Please tell me why?] But a bad woman I could classify [Please tell me why?] And a malcontent never satisfy. [Please tell me why?]
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
Birdie, this is one sweet song about pain. With this song my heart goes out to all those suffering with tabanca - personal, ideological, political or national. You know who you are. Don't feel that you are all alone in your grief and that the whole world is happy while you are not. Trust me, plenty others are just going through the motions, plenty are throwing themselves into it to hide their sadness behind a brave, if not a drugged face, and plenty are not making the effort at all. These facts are not meant to comfort you or to paralyse you, but they are a reminder that suffering is a part of living and while you work your way through it, don't lose your hold on the people and the values that are truest. This is a new year and you can use this present discomfort as a springboard to take back control as you consciously launch yourself towards a better place.
"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.
Trinidad and Tobago, how we love you so The land of sweet chutney-soca and calypso Trinidad and Tobago, how we love you so The land of sweet chutney-soca and calypso.
In this land they have so many races Which is not common in many places Here we have a unique culture We couldn't find a place that was better In this land they have so many races Which is not common in many places Here we have a unique culture We couldn't find a place that was better Everybody, they singing so happily And that is why Trinidad is such a beauty.
Trinidad and Tobago, how we love you so The land of sweet chutney-soca and calypso Trinidad and Tobago, kitna pyar Kuche kitna hum tesh besumar.
Trinidad is such a wonderful country We produce some of the biggest names in history Sundar Popo and Machel Montano Brian Lara, Hasely Crawford and Sparrow Trinidad is such a wonderful country We produce some of the biggest names in history Sundar Popo and Machel Montano Brian Lara, Hasely Crawford and Sparrow Trinidad has done so much good things for we And that is why we all love sweet T&T.
Trinidad and Tobago, how we love you so The land of sweet chutney-soca and calypso Trinidad and Tobago, kitna pyar Kuche kitna hum tesh besumar.
When people come to this country they feel welcome By the beats of the tassa and the steel drum T&T could be called a melting pot Because a lot of fusion we surely got When people come to this country they feel welcome By the beats of the tassa and the steel drum T&T could be called a melting pot Because a lot of fusion we surely got T&T is a place where you will want to stay From this sweet country you wouldn't go away.
Trinidad and Tobago, how we love you so The land of sweet chutney-soca and calypso Trinidad and Tobago, kitna pyar Kuche kitna hum tesh besumar.
Trinidad and Tobago, how we love you so The land of sweet chutney-soca and calypso Trinidad and Tobago, kitna pyar Kuche kitna hum tesh besumar.
Trinidad and Tobago get ready to wave Trinidad and Tobago get ready to wave....
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, Avinash Maharaj for bringing your youth and energy and talent to this celebration of your homeland. I am not sure that I got the Hindi right so please let me know if there are errors.
It is refreshing to see the chutney giving T&T love. While I say this, I do not neglect to recognise the fact that chutney in itself is a product of T&T love. What I am welcoming is the love being put into words. We have come to expect that most nationalistic songs will be composed in English and in the calypso or soca genres so it is wonderful to hear T&T being loved in a different rhythm and language.
Regretfully, I do not have an encyclopaedic knowledge of all the music being created in T&T, so if readers are aware of homeland loving songs being composed in Arabic, French, French Patois, Hindi, Chinese, Spanish, Nigerian, Filipino or any of the languages of the many immigrants who are continuing to make T&T their home, please let me know.
If you have any ideas to add to this discussion, feel free to comment. In the meantime, I continue to celebrate the increase in comfort and the appearance of more varied cultural inputs into celebrations through song and music of the treasure that is our national community.
"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.
"Indrani"[1973] By Shorty from the original 7" recording. Uploaded by canchozl
Today I came across an article on soca music at NPR Music written by Baz Dreisinger. His refreshingly accurate description of soca reminded me of Mungal Patasar's recollections in the book "Mobilizing India" by Tejaswini Niranjana, which I have provided below and before the NPR article. I thought that others might find his thoughts interesting, especially since many do not know much about the East Indian influence in the genesis of this music genre and so do not always acknowledge it.
p. 88 -- In the 1980's a new form called soul-calypso, or soca, emerged, claimed by its inventor Lord Shorty (later Ras Shorty I) to have its inspiration in East
p. 89 -- Indian music. Shorty's songs "Indrani" (1973) and "Kelogee Bulbul" (1974) provided the genesis of the soca, marking clearly the Indian influence on calypso. In "Kelogee Bulbul," East Indian instruments like mandolin and dholak are used. The Trinidadian sitarist Mungal Patasar, an important experimenter with fusion music, provided this background:
Soca really originated from chutney. Ras Shorty I, who is the father of the soca, was singing calypso, and he went to practice in the bandroom, and the music arranger was playing reggae, and when he asked him how come you playing reggae, because there is a little thing about reggae and calypso, reggae taking over in Trinidad, although reggae originated in Trinidad. That much I can tell you, if you study the beat. Anyway, the guy say "Calypso is dead now, man, let's go for reggae." And that hurt him[Shorty] in a way, so he went back home. But he grew up amongst Indians, and he had a neighbor who used to play dholak and dhantal and ting. And he called me - that time I had a band called Sangam Sangeet in La Romain - and there's a drummer named Robin Ramjitsingh who used to play dholak, and he called me asked for a dholak player, and I sent Robin, and he did his first recording with Robin Ramjitsingh. The bass guitarist was trying to imitate the dhol, the left side of the dholak, and in trying to do that they created the beat with the bass guitar out of the dholak, and that's what they call "soca." The word was "so-k-a-h," the soul of calypso and an Indian beat, They used the word "kah" because it was the first letter of the Indian alphabet...The Africans try to say it is "soul" and "calypso." But it is not that. It is soul of calypso and Indian chutney. That would be the definition of soca.
Shorty, too, spelled the name "s-o-k-a-h" to indicate the East Indian influence, but the spelling did not stick, and other singers and those who wrote about music - disinclined to mark the East Indian input and suggesting instead a derivation from the African American musical genre soul and from calypso - assigned the new form the name "soca." Soca is different from calypso in that it is usually seen as music to dance to and for the most part, and unlike one of the key strands of calypso, does not talk about the political situation.
SOURCE: Mobilizing India: women, music, and migration between India and Trinidad. By Tejaswini Niranjana. Durham : Duke University Press, 2006
Machel Montano performing in Port of Spain, Trinidad, in February. Sean Drakes/CON/LatinContent/Getty Images
Carnival season on the Caribbean island of Trinidad boils down to one thing: fresh soca music. Consider it Red Bull for your ears, or music with a purpose.
"The intention of the energy of soca music is to really uplift people; really make them smile; keep them happy; make them celebrate even in the toughest times," says Machel Montano, soca's biggest star. "The economy is down — you hear some soca music, you're gonna want to go out and party, even if you have to borrow the money."
Soca stands for "soul of calypso," and it was pretty much invented in the 1970s by Trinidadian artist Lord Shorty, who claimed that the soul of calypso was as multicultural as his island's African and East Indian descendants. To set this post-colonial hybrid to music, Shorty sped up calypso and gave it an Indian twist.
In the 30 or so years since its invention, soca has evolved into the club-friendly, studio-produced music of a younger generation. Soca artist Kees Dieffenthaler explains it this way: "It's kind of like calypso's young, teenaged bad son," he says, "it's really a younger sound, more vibrant than calypso."
Soca artists record, release and perform music at a frenzied pace during carnival season, when the whole country is partying to the same soundtrack. Every year, performers campaign in a kind of musical election — competing for two titles. "The Road March song" is a people's choice award—it's the most-played song during the grand parade held the day before Ash Wednesday. "The Soca Monarch," on the other hand, is crowned at a massive concert held just before carnival. One contender for this year's crown is Fay-Ann Lyons.
"Soca Monarch is something like American Idol but on a different scale. It's grand; it's extravagant; it's flamboyant; it's bold — it's like everybody does a piece of Las Vegas, with all the costumes. Imagine seeing that from 10 different competitors, all expressing and presenting their songs to the judges, trying to win first prize."
Lyons calls her own sound "aggressive and tomboyish." She has a strong track record, having won more titles than any other female soca star. In 2009, she won both Soca Monarch and Road March—while 8 months pregnant.
Lyons is soca royalty: her father is calypsonian Superblue and her husband is soca star Bunji Garlin — call them soca's Beyonce and Jay-Z. Garlin says he tries to set his music apart by looking back to soca's roots in calypso. "One of the other names of an ancient calypsonian was a poor man newspaper," he says. "They would be the person to bring the news of what happens today or what happens tomorrow. The calypsonian is the person who have the information and will bring it to the people."
He's recorded songs about rape and politics, and once won Soca Monarch with the rare soca song that isn't about dancing or drinking — "In the Ghetto," a song about poverty and government failure.
Every year, though, the favored candidate is Machel Montano, a soca icon, known for being obscenely good at what Trinidadians call wining: gyrating to the music.
"Basically I think my talent is really reaching out to people and talking to them," says Montano, "getting them in a good mood; make them laugh; make them wine; and still make them jump."
Montano is 36 years old, and has released 35 albums. He's been a star since he was nine, when he won a local competition with the song "Too Young to Soca."
The song quickly landed him on the stage of Madison Square Garden and on Star Search. He's since collaborated with Janet Jackson and Doug E. Fresh, but he says he still hasn't achieved his ultimate goal: to carry the energy of soca beyond his island.
"I love a lot of pop dance, electro music because I can even see the spirit in the beat," he says. "I can see people in the club singing about love, singing about limits, singing about world peace, singing about coming together, singing about lettin' go troubles. And somewhere in there I see where soca music could find a space, could find its place."
Right now, its place is Trinidad, where a local election is underway. The candidates are stumping; the voters are jumping; and the new campaign slogans — hot new soca tunes — just keep on coming.
..............................................................................................................................
"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.
Lord, Please walk beside me through this day. Clear the heavy air with the lightness of Your Presence. Guide my hands and steady my heart that I may give comfort when I cannot give hope, that I may give relief when I do not have a cure, and that I may radiate Your healing peace when the limits of science, time, and the human body overwhelm us all. Amen
Source
Sáncte Míchael Archángele, defénde nos in proélio, cóntra nequítiam et insídias diáboli ésto præsídium. Ímperet ílli Déus, súpplices deprecámur: tuque, prínceps milítiæ cæléstis, Sátanam aliósque spíritus malígnos, qui ad perditiónem animárum pervagántur in múndo, divína virtúte, in inférnum detrúde. Ámen
