As the judge read the sentence, a visibly trembling Saddam Hussein defiantly shouted over the unrelenting voice of "Justice". He repeated, among other things, “God is great!” There was something about the spirit behind his dry-eyed tirade that I silently applauded. Apart from that quiet satisfaction, it was no time for jubilation for me. Man has no right to murder and I found no difference between what that judge was handing down in that court and what Saddam Hussein had been accused of doing.
In response to Mr. Hussein’s holding up the Qur’an and acclaiming the greatness of his God, the commentator noted with ill-disguised sarcasm that Saddam Hussein had only found religion AFTER his capture. I wondered at that moment if that commentator had realized the implications of his statement. What a refreshing change, I thought. Saddam Hussein had not been simultaneously` murderous AND religious. We can think of some of these religious, monumental hypocrites who continue to sanction even worse crimes against humanity and are still running around free.
I read somewhere that 90% of the population here in Trinidad and Tobago supports the death penalty, so I assume that our learning of this sentence must not have triggered as much as a spike in our collective mental or cardiac activity. We are more suspicious of the consequences of compassion than we are about the probability that we are very wrong to justify executions. We are satisfied to hang the by-products of our failure rather than the system that perpetuates the cycle of violence. See Mr. Kwabena’s plea for real justice in his A Job For The Hangman
I visited recently the website of the Canadian Coalition Against The Death Penalty to read once again one of the letters written by death row prisoner Stephen Eversley before his death in June 1999. I tried to read between the lines to find the demon who was beyond redemption. All I felt was intense sadness and loneliness – his, because he was alone and a desperate, condemned man and mine because I had separated myself from his ordeal and from those of all the other persons awaiting the same fate or about to commit crimes which will bring them to that place.
...."The rain is falling right now and its cold. I closing off now, and I going to brush my teeth, say my prayers, and try to get some sleep. Haven't slept for the day. Thanks again. Please write soon will you. Sincerely, STEPHEN"
.............................................................................................................................. "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.
Today when I look around in the world what do I see? I see footprints that man has left on the sand While walking through time. I see fruits of our ambition, figments of our imaginations And I ask myself, When will it end? When will it end? It is plain to see, universally, This land is not bountiful as it was Simply because, in his quest for success Nothing stands in man's way. Old rivers run dry, soon the birds won't fly The mountains will be no longer high And when I really think of it I does wonder why, oh why?
I see charity deplored, equal rights totally ignored Wisdom and ingenuity working in accord simply to afford Such inventions as thermonuclear warfare And environmental warfare And I wonder now Where do we go from here? Prophets everywhere gaze upon the horizon And declare that judgment will come As the savage hands of unscrupulous men Defile everything pass by. Time is running out as we eat and drink Species at the brink of being extinct And I think no one can deny That the price of progress is high, real high.
I see consciousness abate, As today we live recklessly Money makes egos inflate And thereby creates a turbulent state. I see a struggle between the sexes New hang-ups and old complexes Now the question is right in context ”What shall be next?” I’ve already seen The world has come divided Between race, colour, creed and class And some of the things the scriptures predict Truthfully come to pass Soil that wouldn't bear, Children making children To be part of this growing mass And I ask, “If this is progress, how long will it last?"
King Austin, this one is right up there with the best of the best. There are songs which have the ability to generate deep silence in the ear and heart and mind of the conscious listener. It is the silence which is required for giving our undivided attention to the messages that they bring. This song always brings another one to my mind. It is "Earth Crisis" by Steel Pulse. The lyrics carry a similar message:
Earth Crisis By Steel Pulse
The Earth is the Lord's and the fullness thereof now Gave man His love and they reward Him with violence And in these last days lend ears to what I say Man in his ignorant state has signed and sealed his own fate Doctrines of the fallen angels, No water to quench eternal flames of hell Doctrines of the fallen angels No water to quench eternal flames of hell.
Chorus: Earth crisis, Earth crisis All this suffering Earth crisis. Earth crisis
Misguided people, they don't seem to care They carry the symbol of the eagle and the bear Across the globe, far east to far west High tax and cutbacks for military defence Doctrines of the fallen angels To quench eternal flames of hell Doctrines of the fallen angels To quench eternal flames of hell
Chorus Earth crisis Earth crisis All this suffering Earth crisis Earth crisis
Super powers have a plan Undermining Third World man Suck their lands of minerals Creating famine and pestilence You hear what I say, hear what I say
The Earth is the Lord's and the fullness thereof now Gave man His love and they reward Him with violence And in these last days lend ears to what I say Man in his ignorant state sas signed and sealed his own fate in this
Chorus: Earth crisis In a Earth, in a Earth, in a dis ya time yah Earth crisis, Earth crisis You life in there hands just waiting to explode Earth crisis A touch of a button fingertip control Earth crisis It hardly surprising Earth crisis JAH kingdom rising Earth crisis All this suffering...
"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.
Last year I discovered Sally DeFord's website where I found beautiful Christian Christmas music. Although you can purchase her CD's, everything on this site is available for free download and non-commercial, Christian use. These songs are Susan DeFord's compositions and a refreshing addition to the old favorites. The story is the same but you find yourself paying close attention to the lyrics because it is obvious that they are the product of the composer's reverence and her loving meditations on the birth of the Christ.
In response to being questioned about why she makes her music available free of charge, Sally says:
"I guess it's just because I can. The Lord has placed me in circumstances that currently don't demand extra income, he has inspired the creators of technology to produce programs that I can use to publish the music without the assistance of typesetters, and he has given me a gift that I did nothing to earn. Sharing seems logical."
And we thought they were no generous people left in the world. Thank you so much Sally. You are a blessing.
The song below is one of my favourites. Click on the title to listen.
Darkness fell o'er Bethlehem at last
And hastened weary travelers to their rest
The empty streets all silent,
All silent was the night
All silent 'neath the star of stars aglow with heaven's light
Then Mary sang her lullaby of love
And cradled in her arms the Holy Child
In that poor and lowly place
Hallowed by His grace
'Twas a lullaby to comfort all the world
Darkness fell o'er shepherds in the fields
Till heaven's joyful tidings were revealed
The angels' song of glory
Re-echoed o'er the plains
While in a stable, soft and low, a sweeter song remained
For Mary sang her lullaby of love
And cradled in her arms the Holy Child
In that poor and lowly place
Hallowed by His grace
'Twas a lullaby to comfort all the world
When darkness falls and night besets my soul
Her gentle song still sings of brighter hope
Above the voice of sorrow
Beyond all bitter tears
Echoes of that lullaby linger through the years
When Mary sang her lullaby of love
And cradled in her arms the Holy Child
In that poor and lowly place
Hallowed by His grace
'Twas a lullaby to comfort all the world.
The following is the Laughing Gull’s top 25 list of simply must have, shake up yuh bum feathers, bus out yuh stereo speakers, Trinbagonian Christmas dancing songs. Regretfully, I had to arbitrarily restrict myself to 25 but I can think of nearly fifty that I had to exclude and that is not including instrumentals which were also excluded. A further restriction was that the choices were made from my very small personal collection. Final selections were based on the liveliness and quality of the music and the degree to which they tempted me to dance. When I looked at the final list, I realized that many of the songs are contained on the CDs shown below. I wish that Baron would produce a compilation of his soca parang songs. I would have liked to see his CD included. However you will find some of his wonderful Christmas songs in the top 25 list.
Lara Brothers - The Best of the Lara Brothers Scrunter - A decade of Scrunter: De Parang Now Start Strictly Parang: Vol I Los Tocadores -Featuring Jennifer McPherson Los Tocadores -Del Corazón 1. Cristo Adonis (Rebuscar) - Don Alberto 2. Baron – Caminante 3. Baron – Come Go [Who can resist his unmistakable and welcome signature “uhhhhhHueya! Deyng, deyng, deyng...”]Lyrics 4. Baron – It’s ChristmasLyrics 5. Baron – It’s Christmas AgainLyrics 6. Daisy – Hurray, Hurrah! Lyrics 7. Gypsy – Sereno Say Lyrics 8. Lara Brothers - La Gaita 9. Lara Brothers – El Que Toca La Guitarra 10. Machel Montano – Soca SantaLyrics 11. Singing Francine - Hurray Hurrah 12. Scrunter – Drinking Anything 13. Scrunter – Dat Eh Wukking Here Tonight(Cocotte) [Nearest thing in soca parang to “Shame and Scandal”] 14. Scrunter – De Parang Now StartLyrics 15. Scrunter – Eat Something 16. Scrunter – Homemade wine 17. Scrunter – Madam JeffreyLyrics 18. Scrunter – Anita 19. Scrunter – Ah Want Ah Piece Ah Pork 20. Los Tocadores – Anda Parrandero 21. Los Tocadores - Baila La Parranda 22. Los Tocadores - Gente del Caribe 23. Los Tocadores – Sereno 24. Los Tocadores –Ya Es Navidad 25. Los Tocadores – Vamos De Parranda
Los Tocadores These days I am really liking the crispness, fluidity and clarity of Los Tocadores’ lyrics and music and their wonderful control of the rhythm. My favorite Tocadores CD is the one featuring Jennifer McPherson. They have successfully produced festive music that encourages joyful expression in dance. The singers have a natural, spontaneous sound and their comfort with the language leaves you free to relax and really enjoy the entire product. I have included some of their songs which for me capture and ignite that special something required to sincerely welcome the spirits. Special, special mention... Kelwyn Hutcheon's "Christmas Classics" is like delicious, golden, doodoose mango nectar to the ear and heart. A beautiful addition to your Christmas music collection. But be warned: If you are a Trinbagonian who is not in Trinidad for Christmas and you are alone and deeply homesick without anything or anyone to distract you, you should avoid this CD. It’s going to make you cry, no, actually, it’s going to make you curl up against the stereo and bawl! ...and Uncle Kelwyn will not be interrupting his crooning to give you a hug and a KC dinner mint, so you'll be on your own. Don't say I didn't tell you. You haven’t spent Christmas til you’ve spent Christmas here in sweet T and T, No, haven’t spent Christmas till you and yours have seen these isles in the sea Smell the pastelle and ham, hear sweet parang jam…”
and his wonderful rendition of the Pat Castagne composition, Kiss me for Christmas .............................................................................................................................. "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.
Consuming Christmas
I am going through my collection of Trini Christmas music and listening with wonder to the prominence which is given to eating and drinking in many of these songs. I’d be really interested to hear similar songs from any other culture in the world. Thinking about it, the only other group that I have ever known to broadcast with such vocal gusto their unbridled excitement about feasts are the birds. You would have had to stand under a tree laden with ripe fruit, like series or pommerac to appreciate the similarity. Bacchanal! Yes, I have heard some non-native songs about Christmas food like the one that begins with "Chestnuts roasting" but somehow the lines “Everybody knows a turkey and some mistletoe/ Help to make the season bright” seem to be discussing fingerfood when compared with the feast described in Baron’s "It's Christmas":
De parang does start on Christmas day
And we doh stop until Ash Wednesday
So bring out de souse, bring out de pelau
[Oy yoy yoy, ay yay yay]
Bring out de dasheen and de bacalau
[Oy yoy yoy, ay yay yay]
We drinking sorrel, gingerbeer, whiskey
[Oy yoy yoy, ay yay yay]
Anyting yuh bring is all right with we,
[Oy yoy yoy, ay yay yay]
[Oy yoy yoy, ay yay yay]
[Oy yoy yoy, ay yay yay]
[Oy yoy yoy, ay yay yay]
[Oy yoy yoy, ay yay yay]
We eating black cake, apple, grapes or prune
[Oy yoy yoy, ay yay yay]
Bring out something salt before de next tune
[Oy yoy yoy, ay yay yay]
We drinkin puncheon, home made wine and Vat
[Oy yoy yoy, ay yay yay]
But if yuh bring babash, we drinking dat
[Oy yoy yoy, ay yay yay]
Is Christmas! [Oy yoy yoy, ay yay yay]
Merry Christmas! [Oy yoy yoy, ay yay yay]
Many Trinbagonian Christmas songs are literally odes to food and drink. Some preferring to focus on a single delicacy, for example, Camacho’s “Garlic Pork”:
Gimme some garlic pork. All ah want is garlic pork
or, Sugar Aloes with his “Black Cake Lover” and Merc’s “Puncheon:”
She does treat me good [puncheon]
Way a woman should [puncheon]
Ah want to fall down [puncheon]
Rolling on de ground [puncheon]
She does treat me good [puncheon]
Way a woman should [puncheon]
Leon Coldero joins the currying of Christmas trend with his “Curry Christmas”
Ah curry Christmas, ah curry Christmas,
Ah curry Christmas with Indrani family
Ah curry Christmas, ah curry Christmas,
Ah curry Christmas down dey in Caroni
Curry ham, curry pork, curry pastelle,
even had curry duck
Curry black cake and manicou
Dey even put curry in de callaloo
Was curry chicken, curry souse,
curry turkey, dey curry everything
So much food I eh leaving now
Dey even had curry chow chow
Some of these songs sound like menus gone mad. I’m thinking especially about Scrunter’s “Eat Something Before Yuh Go.” Obviously at Christmas time in Trinbago, when it comes to eating, if yuh eating, you are expected to eat like a Viking.
Yuh know today is Christmas Day
Anyting yuh want to eat, jus say
Yuh could eat it right down to be bone
Boy, make yuhself at home
Ah ha black cake, turkey, wild meat,
lappe an 'gouti, grapes, apple
Boy, come an sit round de table
Eat someting before yuh go
Eat someting before yuh go
Eat someting before yuh go
Eat someting before yuh go
Maicoo’s Trini Christmas Is De Best” is more of the same:
Ah give him bread and ham together with a pastelle
Ginger beer, punch a crème and sorrel
A glass of local wine went to his head
He turn to me and said "Oh yes, Trini Christmas is de best!"
Even Santa falls in line in Scrunter’s “Backyard Jam” as he anticipates the eating and drinking to be enjoyed when he arrives in Trinidad to spend the Christmas:
Get all de bush rum ready and de wild meat too
And a room somewhere in Santa Cruz
To relax when a take mih booze
Ah pack mih suitcase already, ah just waitin on a flight
So tell everybody, ah coming in Christmas Eve night
I eh comin on no reindeer, dat take too much time
Ah cyah wait to reach here, to hold somebody and wine
Woy yo wo yo yo yoy, Ah want a pelau,
Woy yo woy yo yoy, With dasheen and bacalau
Woy yo woy yo yoy, Santa want to jam
Woy yoy woy yo yoy, Woy yo woy yo yoy…Baila!
And when it come to drinking….
Sundar Popo's Nani and Nana were among some of the earliest Trinbagionians to have their thirst for alcohol exposed in song and in more recent years there have been a spate of rum ditties hitting the airwaves. Some of these Christmas drinking songs are not on the same level as "Rum Till I Die," but they do come quite close.
They cover the spectrum from the “Drink Ah Rum” and Lara Brothers' "Vamos A Tomar Un Trago" which are innocent enough, to Scrunter’s rabid “Drinking Anything:”
Man, I know you have your mistletoe
And I know you have your snowman
And I know you have chandeliers hanging high
But dat just doh make me feel blue
Because I have mih own share too
Ah have mih belly full of rum
And a big sky full ah sun
And a West Indian Christmas, a West Indian Christmas
Drink yuh rum until yuh belly buss, buss, buss
Den yuh go cross by yuh neighbour
Say, Nabe come cross by me later
With a old cuatro and ah old guitar singing sereno, sera
Sereno, sereno, sereno, sera ha
Sereno, sereno, sereno, say rum
Sereno, sereno, sereno, sereno, say rum
Sereno, sereno, gih yuh neighbour some, ay yay.
Scrunter wakes Madame Jeffrey from her bed to start the drinking:
Ma Jeffrey oye, get up! Is Christmas morning
Like yuh eh hear de cock crowing, oh gyul,
Is Christmas morning
Madam Jeffrey oye, get up! Is Christmas morning
Time to put some smoke in yuh kitchen, oh gyul.
Is Christmas morning
Madam Jeffrey oy, wake up Is Christmas morning
Ah hope yuh know is White Oak ah drinking, oh gyul.
Is Christmas morning
Madame Jeffrey oye, get up! Is Christmas morning…
Even in "El Caiman", a song originally from Colombia about a man who changed into a caiman and who was fed bread and cheese by his mother, the Trinidadian version has him drinking rum instead of the lemon refreshments that the original caiman drank. In "Caminante", Baron states that one of the qualities which his good parang men must have is the ability to hold liquor.
Sprangalang in “Bring Drinks” is gathered with his friends “in a thirsty way” and calls for the booze:
Bring me rum for my Christmas
We could drink a flask, we could drink a nip
If you have a bottle hiding, bring it out today
Or listen to Scrunter's “Homemade Wine” where he visits Miss Gloria, who spreads her vast selection of homemade wines before him and invites him to taste:
Ah eat black cake from Joan already [Aye Miss Gloria]
So right now ah doh want no more [Aye Miss Gloria]
But all dem local wine you present me [Aye Miss Gloria]
Ah got to taste some ah dem for sure [Aye Miss Gloria]
Oh Madam, which one is yuh favourite? [Aye Miss Gloria]
Bring it out quick, leh me taste it [Aye Miss Gloria]
Is you who make it and yuh mus know [Aye Miss Gloria]
Ah want a good head before ah go [Aye Miss Gloria]
She say, hog plum, [pa pa pa]
Pommerac, [pa pa pa]
Cashew [pa pa pa]
Guava [pa pa pa]
Balata, [pa pa pa]
Bandanya, [pa pa pa]
Aloes, [pa pa pa] and cane.
I want some homemade wine, Madam Gloria
Gih me de home de wine. It nice!
Ah want some homemade wine, Madam Gloria
Gih me de home made wine. It sweet!
and perhaps the most graphic scene of dissipation is captured in“Ah Want Ah Piece Ah Pork” where Scrunter describes his Christmas wish:
In “Is Christmas Again” and “Something for Christmas” the singers, according to your point of view, seem to threaten or cajole the host into making his food and drink available to them:
Is Christmas again, is Christmas again
Bring out all de scotch, bring all de gin, yuh better bring everything
Feliz Navidad, dis is Trinindad
Spread de word around all over de town. Is soca parang
Vamos amigos, take one fuh de road… And…
Ah say, yuh must give me something for Christmas
Yuh must gih mih something for Christmas
Yuh better run something fast
Cause ah walk with mih glass
Ah say yuh must gih mih something for Christmas.
Baron’s “It’s Christmas” unashamedly details the revellers’ strategy for denuding their hosts supplies:
Neighbour, neighbour, open de door, neighbour
Is Chistmas morning, you should be waking
Put de drinks on de table
Ah hope yuh bar able
Me and de boys come to give you a parang
We eh leaving till de liquor done
[Oy yoy yoy, ay yay yay]
Come on fellahs leh we take a next one
[Oy yo yoy, ay yay yay]
We have about ten more house to clean
[Oy yoy yoy, ay yay yay]
We drinking from paint to kerosene
[Oy yoy yoy, ay yay yay]
Is Christmas, Merry Christmas!
Is Christmas, Merry Christmas!
Last year we went by Balliram
He play smart and hide de ham
Bring one bottle ah babash
De ting finish wit one lash
Had to leave de man house quick
He say he wife was feeling sick
Dat same night she was liming in de Croisee
Well if he tink dat he get away
[Oy yoy yoy, ay yay yay]
We going by he and spend de whole day
[Oy yoy yoy, ay yay yay]
We eating and drink everything he bring
[Oy yoy yoy, ay yay yay]
When we leave dey, he musn’t have a ting
[Oy yoy yoy, ay yay yay]
It’s Christmas, Merry Christmas.
It’s Christmas, Merry Christmas.
Big mouth Charlie invite we home by he
Boy he must be a madman,
to entertain dis parang band
When de music in we vein
And de liquor hit we brain
Dis band could drink down Carib and Fernandes
When you see we land in yuh house
[Oy yoy yoy, ay yay yay]
De only ting remaining is yuh spouse
[Oy yoy yoy, ay yay yay ]
People does lock dey door, run and hide
[Oy yoy yoy, ay yay yay]
When dey see de size ah dis parang side
[Oy yoy yoy, ay yay yay]
It’s Christmas, Merry Christmas!
It’s Christmas, Merry Christmas!
Marcia Miranda voraciously demands that the ham be brought out to her in “Bring Out De Ham”
Neighbour, oye, yo, yoy, Bring out de ham
Neighbour, aye, yay yay, yay, Bring out de ham
Neighbour oye, yoy, yoy, Bring out de ham
Neighbour aye, yay, yay, yay, Bring out de ham
All ah want to do is eat, Bring out de ham
Ah doh want no other meat, Bring out de ham
When ah taste good salt Rufus, Bring out de ham
Oh yes, ah feel like is Christmas! Bring out de ham
But Melan Garcia in his “Pitbull” strikes back at these guests who under the pretense of being parranderos are in fact barely disguised locusts:
Ah want two pitbills for Christmas
For all who cyah leave mih Rufus
When ah had one pothound alone
By Christmas ah down to ham bone
But dis year ah have a plan
For all wayward parang band
Two pitbulls ah want
One in de back and one in de front [No more hooray, hoorah]
Let dem sing dey parang from far
[No more hooray, hoorah]
Ah could hardly hear dey guitar
If was long time, dey have me peeping
See me creeping through mih kitchen
Now is pitbull in de puef’n
Dey eh comin here fuh nuttin
[No more hooray, hoorah]
Oh let dem sing dey parang from far
[No more hooray, horrah]
Ah could hardly hear dey guitar...
I know that there is connection between the big appetities and the parang tradition, especially the house to house kind, something also to do with heavy drinking and needing something salt, but the most important influence has I think more to do with the generosity shown and expected in the Christmas season, and what says that better than abundant supplies of good food to offer to and share with guests. Then there is the host's pride in knowing that the guests were well fed and on the flip side the fear, as expressed by the hostess in Scrunter's "Eat Something Before Yuh Go", that people will say that she did not feed him if he leaves her home with an empty stomach and is later seen throwing up.
If you haven't yet added Scrunter's CD, "De Parang Now Start" to your collection, you are missing a big slice of RUMbunctious Trini Christmas Music. Alcoholics Anonymous should be advised to put these songs on their members’ "SONGS TO AVOID" list. Coming to think of it, Scrunter’s voice should also be on that list and maybe Ripley’s Believe It Or Not should consider noting it for its fascinating ability to make stereo speakers exhale alcohol while pumping his songs into a room. This makes Scrunter, in my opinion, the chanticleer of carousing.
"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.
CAT BRAIN
By The Mighty Spoiler
Performance by David Bereaux
Lyrics below from the original
Well, my sister was suffering with she brain
And went for operation in Port of Spain
My sister was suffering with she brain
And went for operation in Port of Spain.
Well, the doctor took the brain right out of my sister head
For wickedness, put in the cat own instead
And the brain she had, he put it inside of the kitty
So she turn the cat and the cat turn she.
Well in the night is when the trouble start
She up and down the house
Ransacking the bedroom looking for mouse
And the cat with she brain, he cozy on the bed
Bussing kiss on top of she husband head.
When my mother lay the table with the rice and beef
The tomatoes, the eddoes and salad leaf
The cat would sit down on the chair of course
And in cat language he calling for pepper sauce
That time my sister ain't business with no table at all
She only looking for the few grains of rice that fall
Otherwise she in the kitchen with another ugly cat
Bussing down some cockroach, beetle and rat.
One day I see my sister not looking well
What was wrong with her, friends, I couldn't tell
She only vomiting and sweating out of the bed
The girl getting so fat, I say she go dead
Well I moving I couldn't watch my nieces and nephews
If you see kitten lying down inside my shoe
Well my mother gone down Venezuela
She couldn't afford to be no kitten grandmother.
..........................................................................................................
A Note From The Gull
Thank you, Mighty Spoiler!
"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.
Chorus: Drink a rum and a punch a crema, drink a rum Drink a rum and a punch a crema, drink a rum Drink a rum and a punch a crema, drink a rum Drink a rum and a punch a crema, drink a rum.
Mooma, Mooma would you like to join your sonny? I am over here, happy in the mother country Darling, for the Christmas, your son would be really jumping Listen to the chorus of what we all will be singing...
Chorus: Drink a rum and a punch a crema, drink a rum Is Christmas morning! Drink a rum and a punch a crema, drink a rum Mama, drink if you drinking! Drink a rum and a punch a crema, drink a rum. Let we fete if we feteing! Drink a rum and a punch a crema, drink a rum.
Again Mooma, I have invited Jamaica Lovely Grenada, Barbados also Guyana It's an invitation for a stupendous occasion You can just imagine, we drinking till New Year's morning...
Chorus: Drink a rum and a punch a crema, drink a rum Is Christmas morning! Drink a rum and a punch a crema, drink a rum Doudou, drink if you drinking! Drink a rum and a punch a crema, drink a rum Mama, sing if you singing Drink a rum and a punch a crema, drink a rum.
The fete is grand, bottles of all description You must understand, liquor to supply a nation I have ordered whiskey, punch a crema, gin and brandy Lime and tonic water, lemonheart and Angostura
Chorus: Drink a rum and a punch a crema, drink a rum Is Christmas morning! Drink a rum and a punch a crema, drink a rum Mama, drink if you drinking! Drink a rum and a punch a crema, drink a rum. No time for shivering! Drink a rum and a punch a crema, drink a rum.
On Christmas Day, when Big Ben alarm six thirty We are underway to begin this festivity Later in the evening, we passing through Picadilly Everybody dancing and singing the same melody...
Chorus: Drink a rum and a punch a crema, drink a rum Mama, drink if you drinking! Drink a rum and a punch a crema, drink a rum Is Christmas morning! Drink a rum and a punch a crema, drink a rum. Let we drunk if we drunking! Drink a rum and a punch a crema, drink a rum. Come and see how we jamming! Drink a rum and a punch a crema, drink a rum Come and see how we feteing! Drink a rum and a punch a crema, drink a rum ---- we shivering! Drink a rum and a punch a crema, drink a rum Lord, Christmas morning! Drink a rum and a punch a crema, drink a rum Oh Mama come and see how we feteing!....
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.
Man, I know you have your mistletoe And I know you have your snowman And I know you have chandeliers hanging high But dat just doh make me feel blue Because I have mih own share too Ah have mih belly full of rum And a big sky full ah sun And a West Indian Christmas, a West Indian Christmas Drink yuh rum until yuh belly bus, bus, bus Den yuh go cross by yuh neighbour Say, Nabe come cross by me later With a old cuatro an ah old guitar singing sereno, sereno, sera
Sereno, sereno, sereno, sera ha Sereno, sereno, sereno, say rum Sereno, sereno, sereno, sereno, say rum Sereno, sereno, gih yuh neighbour some, ay yay.
And you go dashing through the snow And that’s the way you have fun To have mine, I go dashing through the sun You listen as sleighbell ring I hear calyspsonian sing I love the songs when parang fill de air An dat’s a West Indian Christmas, a West Indian Christmas Drink yuh rum until yuh belly bus, bus, bus Den yuh go cross by yuh niehgbour Yuh say, Nabe come cross by me later With a old cuatro an ah old guitar and is sereno, sera.
Sereno, sereno, sereno, say ham Sereno, sereno, I don’t give a dam Sereno, sereno, sereno, say black cake Sereno, sereno, I makin no mistake. Ah want some!
Have you ever heard a bamboo buss As we simulate a cannon? Smell the smell of ham boiling in a pitchoil pan? The aroma of sweet bread being baked? Lick de batter stick that beats de cake? And if you do, then you know it’s no mistake, ay And dat's a West Indian Christmas, a West Indian Christmas Drink yuh rum, drink yuh rum until yuh belly bus, bus, bus Den yuh go cross by yuh neighbour You say, Nabe come cross by me later With a old cuatro an ah old guitar and is sereno, sera
Sereno, sereno, say pastelle Sereno, sereno, I love dat very well Sereno, sereno, sereno, sereno, say whiskey Sereno, sereno, please save some for me, I like dat.
Sereno, sereno, sereno, say gingerbeer Sereno, sereno, you leave de children share Sereno, sereno, sereno, say sorrel Sereno sereno, dat gives me such a thrill.
Sereno, sereno, sereno, say rum Sereno, sereno, gih yuh neigbour some Sereno, sereno, sereno, say wine Sereno, sereno, doh let dat blow yuh mine.
Sereno, sereno, sereno Sereno, say guitar, say cuatro Sereno, sereno, say chac chac Sereno, sereno, haya!
Sereno, sereno, sereno, say rum Sereno, sereno, gih yuh neigbour some Sereno, sereno, sereno, say wine Sereno, sereno, doh let it blow yuh mind.
Sereno, sereno...
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.
I don't give ah...I don't give ah... I don't give ah... I don't give ah dam I don't give ah... I don't give ah... I don't give ah dam. I don't give ah dam What dey go do, what dey go say? What dey go do, what dey go say? What dey go, what dey go, what dey go, what dey go?
What dey go do, what dey go say When dey realise that dey can’t push you across the line? Don’t you go over! Don’t you go over!
I don't really give ah dam what people say 'Cause you know they going to say it anyway Oye, just between me and you I’m more concerned with what they do. And when I say I don't care what people say I talking about de ole talk and lacouray Oye, bangarang and ratiray Every day is another taylaylay.
What dey go do, what dey go say When dey realise that dey can’t push you across the line? Don’t you go over! Don’t you go over! What dey go say when dey realise That dey can’t push you across the line? Man Don’t you go over! Don’t you go over!
Say, Mister Short Fuse and ready to trip Take a deep breath, relax it You got to centre yuhself boy, focus yuhself boy Organize yuhself to redeem yuhself Talk to yuhself then talk to the Lord Talk to yuhself again trust in the Lord With Jah as yuh counsel, who could provoke yuh? Jah as yuh guider, who could frustrate yuh?
What dey go do, what dey go say When dey realise that dey can’t push you across the line? Boy, don’t you go over! Don’t you go over! What dey say when dey realise That dey can’t push you across the line? Boy, don’t you go over! Don’t you go over!
I don't give ah... I don't give ah... I don't give ah…. What dey go do, what dey go say? What dey go do, what dey go say? What dey go, what dey go, what dey go, what dey go?
Although some times there are some people in this life Who want to fill your heart with strife But don’t you go over!… Hmm And yes, I know the situation in this world Could make you want to lose control But don’t you go over! Don’t you go over!
What you go do, what you go say When you realise that dey done push you across the line? Boy, don’t you go over! Don’t you go over! What you go say when you realise That dey done push you across the line? Boy, don’t you go over! Don’t you go over!
I don't really give ah dam what people say Cause you know they going to say it anyway Oye, just between me and you I’m more concerned with what they do. And when I say I don't care what people say I talking ‘bout de ole talk and lacouray Oye, bangarang and ratiray Every day is another taylaylay.
What dey go do, what dey go say When dey realise that dey can’t push you across the line? Man, don’t you go over! Don’t you go over! What dey say when dey realise that dey can’t push you across the line? Man, don’t you go over! No, don’t you go over!
I don't give ah... I don't give ah... I don't give ah... I don't give ah dam… What dey go do, what dey go say? What dey go do, what dey go say? What dey go, what dey go, what dey go, what dey go? I don't give ah…
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
Feeling stressed by society’s demands, expectations, provocations, whether real or imagined? This song is about the traps into which we allow ourselves to walk. Perhaps influenced heavily by the backdrop of violent crime among other things, the scene that immediately came to mind when I first listened to the lyrics was one where one party was provoking another to physical violence. The song’s repeated message (and you can almost hear the incoming flurry of Guardian Angel’s wings) “Boy/Man, don’t you go over! No, don’t you go over!” is not just a call to avert disaster but also a challenge to reclaim control over one’s destiny.
This song leads me to think about so much more.
Most of us have never crossed that line to physically hurt another human being but we might have hurt each other in other ways. Even more inexplicable when you consider a human being’s natural instinct for self preservation, is the frequency with which we cross the line to harm ourselves because we feel that we are being pressured by others into conforming. We think we have no choice, or we know that there is a choice but the path of least resistance is so much easier.
It is easier to suppress by whatever means, or to ignore the nagging unease that tells us that someone or something else is living our lives. We are not our own men and women. All around us our peers are being refashioned in the image of whatever god is in season and some of us fall in line so that we will fit in.
And so, how do we go about arriving at the point where we can, like the singer, also not give a dam about things that in the end are really not worth a damn? And even more importantly, how do we arrive at this state on our own two legs and without the assistance of alcohol, drugs, hidebound institutions and other stupefying excesses?
Well I think we should meditate upon a dizzying conundrum which we know to be the reality:
The same society that impacts on us, is the one that we create by our actions (or inaction).
Or you could say it this way:
There is an inverse proportion between the positive activism that you undertake in your own life and the negative pressure that society can impose on your real self.
Borderline is telling us that there is a point at which we all arrive in our lives where we are challenged to take a stand. The consequences of going along to get along are often not as obvious as in the case of Mister Short Fuse with the smoking gun running away from the scene of a murder. It is something that can come to you at any minute of the day, the realization that you have betrayed yourself. The song asks:
What you go do, what you go say When you realise that dey done push you across the line?
Be honest with yourself, and if you can accept the responsibility for whatever you did or didn't do, you will more readily admit that in the end “dey” were just the ones who dangled the hook. You, however, took the bite.
Thank you, 3CANAL!
"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.
Between Canada and de North Pole
Ah wonder which more cold?
Canada and de North Pole,
Ah wonder which more cold?
Ah nearly dead in Canada
The intention was to hold it further
But after freezing from head to toe
I write mih mother and she told me, No
Oh lawd!
Chorus:
Canada had me so cold, I need some sunshine
I’m going back to the land I left behind
Ah regret the day ah pay mih dollar
And say ah was going to Canada
Is cold, cold, cold, oh mih lawd!
So ah walk back to Trinidad.
Oh ya
Ten o’ clock in de morning
The Lord still trembling
Man, I frighten to go for coffee
Ah fraid de cold kill me
Montreal is just like Paradise
But Papa de cold ent eating nice
De boys at de hotel give me a line
In only in summer de sun does shine.
Oh ya!
Chorus:
Canada had me so cold, I need some sunshine
I’m going back to the land I left behind
Ah regret the day ah pay mih dollar
And say ah was going to Canada
Is cold, cold, cold, oh mih lawd!
So ah walk back to Trinidad.
O lawd!
Speaking in term of menu
No crab, no calalloo
---------- pork chop and chilli
Dat crap isn’t for me
De Canadian woman a little shy
But the French Canadian will let yuh try
Believe me boys, I am proud and glad
To be back here in Trinidad.
Oh lawd!
Chorus:
Canada had me so cold, I need some sunshine
I am going back to the land I left behind
Ah regret the day ah pay mih dollar
And say ah was going to Canada
Is cold, cold, cold, oh mih lawd!
So ah walk back to Trinidad.
Source: The lyrics posted on this blog are often transcribed directly from performances. Although it is my intention to faithfully transcribe I do not get all the words and I have a knack for hearing the wrong thing. Please feel free to correct me or to fill in the words that I miss by dropping me a message via e-mail. I'd be forever grateful. Thanks in advance!
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A Note From The Gull
On so many levels, Lord Melody, you have hit the nail on the head. I will write more on this at a later time.
"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.
If reading the lyrics of these songs has sparked your interest in hearing the audio, you can listen to many of these and more on the Internet at the sources listed below. Have a listen and you might just decide that they are worth a visit to your music store around the corner or online, to add to your collection.
If you want to listen to samples and perhaps buy some of our older music, Smithsonian Folkways Recordings is a great place to start. Smithsonian Folkways is the nonprofit record label of the Smithsonian Institution, the national museum of the United States. The revenue received from sales and institutional subscriptions supports the creation of new educational content and is shared with archival partners, who in turn pass on a portion of those revenues for the benefit of artists and their communities.
YouTube is always my first stop when I am looking for songs to transcribe. You will find that many lovers and sharers of our music - too numerous to mention here - have been introducing the world to Trinbagonian treasures which they might not have encountered otherwise. I acknowledge them below every song that is embedded on this blog. Apart from YouTube, the following sites are also repositories:
Back to the stomach of my land[Please take me back Caribbean] Back to the bosom of my soul [Please take me back Caribbean] Back to the place where I was born [Please take me back Caribbean] Where my navel string will carry on [Please take me back Caribbean]
Back to the place where I call home Back to where we are free to roam Where you could be with family Uncle, Aunty, Granny and Pappy Any hour you could lime Kick back and have a real good time Hear de rooster in yuh head In de oven Gramma makin’ bread.
Running around de Savannah Drinking coconut water Snow cone in any flavour Cyah ask for nothing better On de beach where fresh breeze blow Crystal waters down below Please don’t think that this is all Come -------
My land, my land, my land, my land….
Back to the stomach of my land [Please take me back Caribbean] Back to the bosom of my soul [Please take me back Caribbean] Back to the place where I was born [Please take me back Caribbean] Where my navel string will carry on [Please take me back Caribbean]
Back to the home of my steelband Back to the birth of the oil drum Back to where pan is royalty The symbol of my country Where we salute calypsonian For sharing the news of the nation And doh talk 'bout comedy Like mangoes, down here we have plenty.
Songs of David Rudder Remembering Lord Kitchener The spirit of Andre Tanker Will be with us forever Steelband, mas, calypso Is down here in Trinbago Please don’t think that these are lies My island is paradise.
My land, my land, my land, my land…
Back to the stomach of my land [Please take me back Caribbean] Back to the bosom of my soul [Please take me back Caribbean] Back to the place where I was born [Please take me back Caribbean] Where my navel string will carry on [Please take me back Caribbean] Back to the stomach of my land [Please take me back Caribbean] Back to the bosom of my soul [Please take me back Caribbean] Back to the place where I was born [Please take me back Caribbean] Where my navel string will carry on [Please take me back Caribbean]
My land…sweet home…my land
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.
REINCARNATION
Composed by Spoiler [Theophilus Phillip] (1953)
Performed by Lord Invader
Yes, I heard when you die after burial
You got to come back as some insect or animal
Yes, I heard when you die after burial
You got to come back as some insect or animal
Well if is so, I don’t want to be a monkey
Neither a sheep, a goat or donkey
My brother said he want to come back a hog
But not Invader, I want to be a bedbug.
Just because I want to bite them young ladies, partner
Like a hot dog or a hamburger
If you know you’re thin, don’t be in a fright
Is only big, fat women I want to bite.
"Now, what you want to be?" I ask Mr. Ross
He say he’ll ask the Devil to turn him a horse
I ask another fella they call Lawrence
He say he want to be a big black wood ant.
They too foolish. When you turn a horse
You got to carry people load, get licks from your boss
And like a wood ant, is old wood you have to eat
But as a bedbug, I'll be biting the human meat.
And that is why I want to bite them young ladies, partner
Like a hot dog or a hamburger
And if you know you’re thin, don’t be in a fright
Is only big, fat women I want to bite.
Now, I want you believe me, so help me bless
I’ll be a different kind of bedbug from all the rest
I ent biting no ordinary people
They got to be quite social and respectable
Such as female doctors and barristers
Duchesses, princesses with nice figures
And when ah bite them, I'm going 'bout and boast
And ah calling myself King Bedbug the First.
That's why I want to bite them young ladies, partner
Like a hot dog or a hamburger
If you know you’re thin, don’t be in a fright
Is only big fat women I want to bite.
I know how some husbands are fast and fresh
They will be waiting for this bedbug to bite their flesh
But I wouldn’t bite a man if they kill me dead
As long as the opposite sex on the bed
Biting a man, I might break my teeth
To a bedbug, men skin harder than concrete
And when a bug bite a man, the result is bad
Men foot have too much hairs and dey legs too hard.
That's why I want to bite them young ladies, partner
Like a hot dog or a hamburger
If you know you’re thin, don’t be in a fright
Is only big, fat women that I going to bite.
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, Spoiler and Lord Invader,
"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.
Everyday is gossip, how de country hard
But I know what causing the hardship in Tobago and Trinidad
Everyday is gossip, how de country hard
But I know what causing the hardship in Tobago and Trinidad
They don’t even have a clue, they blind, they can’t see
The amount of revenue they lose annually
After considering, the grandmaster go let them know
One of the reasons why the country suffering so.
This is why the country suffering [Too much holidays]
We believe in too much skylarking [Too much holidays]
Holidays are really crippling [Too much holidays]
Plenty going out, nothing coming in [Too much holidays]
Too much holidays in a country [Too much holidays]
Signifies a poor economy [Too much holidays]
The economy must be falling [Too much holidays]
You paying people for not working [Too much holidays]
Take for instance England and the USA
Every man and woman have to work on a Whit Monday
All them other country looking for means and ways
The possibility to minimize on their holidays
A country that likes to laze, it poses a threat
The more public holidays, the poorer you get.
So when you really think of it, it may well be
Excessive holidays that destroying we economy.
McLeod say he want all he money [Too much holidays]
Holidays is no excuse for he [Too much holidays]
And if he eh get all he money [Too much holidays]
He intend to shut down the country [Too much holidays]
Garcia like a parrot making row [Too much holidays]
Say he want he money now for now [Too much holidays]
And if he eh get all he money [Too much holidays]
School children go pay the penalty [Too much holidays]
You can’t blame the PM or the President
For a foolish system which they cannot prevent
It is just a pity we must pay the cake
For those who previously made a sad mistake
Anyone can see it clear, to fete is we craze
Just imagine in one year, sixteen holidays
You can’t have your cake and eat it, the old people phrase
Is either your economy or your holidays.
When them other countries labouring [Too much holidays]
Trini by the sea holidaying [Too much holidays]
Fete in the morning, fete in the evening [Too much holidays]
Who cares how the country running [Too much holidays]
Ministers and all in the party [Too much holidays]
Forgetting 'bout the economy [Too much holidays]
But take a tip from the grandmaster [Too much holidays]
Holidays go bring we a pauper [Too much holidays]
Source:The lyrics posted on this blog are often transcribed directly from performances. Although it is my intention to faithfully transcribe I do not get all the words and I have a knack for hearing the wrong thing. Please feel free to correct me or to fill in the words that I miss by dropping me a message via e-mail. I'd be forever grateful. Thanks in advance!
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A Note From The Gull
Grandmaster, I don’t know. I think that Trinis are on to a good thing. I am surprised that we haven’t experimented yet with a four-day work week for instance. And I am not talking about compressed work schedules where 40 hours are crammed into four days. I am saying that we should be working less hours. The truth is that if you add up all the time we spend making preparations for ourselves and others to accommodate our work schedules, the time we spend travelling to and from work, the times we are required to work overtime, the times when we take our work home, we realise that we actually surrender a great deal more than forty hours every week.
Who knows how or when they came up with the arbitary 40-hour week but if we stop and really think about it we might come to the conclusion that this is yet another unnecessary constraint that we’ve allowed others to place on us. As it is now, we’re harrassed, it is taking a toll on our physical and emotional health, we don’t have enough time to spend with our families and other people, to take up leisure and creative activities like hobbies, community activities or just to have down time to think and assess things. We are constantly on the run like rats in our wheels...but that is how the system likes us, too busy to think or too busy to notice that we are not thinking and too busy to do anything about it even when we do notice.
It's been so long that we have been lamenting the poor work ethic in Trinidad and Tobago. I'd be more interested in questioning how and why we work and what it is we are working at? Could it be that there is a mismatch between the natural and best inclinations of our people and the unyielding round holes into which our protesting square-peg selves are being hammered?
"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.
SONG OF PEACE
By Roaring Lion Performed by NYU Steel Directed by Josh Quillen
Mankind has become so mean and depraved
Whose sole aim is killing but never to save
Day after day he is declaring war
Without even knowing what he’s fighting for.
Where is the peace, freedom and peace?
We conquered facism but still have no peace
Where is the peace, freedom and peace?
We all fought for victory but still have no peace.
We were told that for freedom, peace and liberty
We must fight to the death to gain victory
So we fought like the Trojans who defended Troy
Believing thereafter true peace we‘ll enjoy
Where is the peace, freedom and peace?
We all fought for victory but still have no peace
Where is the peace, freedom and peace?
We all fought for victory but still have no peace
Signs and wonders were predicted before
The nations ‘gainst nations, rumours of war
Starvation, diseases and heinous crimes
Murdering babies, all signs of the time
Where is the peace, freedom and peace?
We all fought for victory but still have no peace
Where is the peace, freedom and peace?
We all fought for victory but still have no peace
Mankind had lost all contact with the Lord
The rulers of this earth do things they abhorred
But now is the time to sheathe thy sword
Repent, confess, and make peace with the Lord
Where is the peace, freedom and peace?
We all fought for victory but still have no peace
Where is the peace, freedom and peace?
We all fought for victory but still have no peace.
Source: The lyrics posted on this blog are often transcribed directly from performances. Although it is my intention to faithfully transcribe I do not get all the words and I have a knack for hearing the wrong thing. Please feel free to correct me or to fill in the words that I miss by dropping me a message via e-mail. I'd be forever grateful. Thanks in advance!
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"Patria est communis omnium parens" - Our native land is the common parent of us all. Keep it beautiful, make it even more so.
Blessed is all of creation
Blessed be my beautiful people
Blessed be the day of our awakening
Blessed is my country
Blessed are her patient hills.
Doctor, please take this warning Am giving you, and you better do something I tired put this thing in your brain But all I try is the bloody same Me and you sit down and draft a plan How easy we go trap these hooligans But since the riot start back in the place From that day I can't see the Doctor face.
Chorus: Every day I ring where he living The Doctor ent dey I ring Governor House in the evening The Doctor ent dey Then I ring the White House His secretary come to explain, "I'm sorry, Blakie, the Doctor left this morning by plane."
Doctor, I find you getting on funny I talking mih mind, believe the Lord Blakie I believe is 'fraid you 'fraid Of San Juan All Stars and Renegades But remember, you is the leader All you got to do is to pass an order Before you see about your territory You chartering plane and flying from country to country.
Dr Williams, take Lord Blakie advice If you want Trinidad to be really nice To stifle my conscience, that I can't do Trinidad and Tobago depend on you I doh want when I watch the daily paper You talking and smiling with Nkrumah Nk smiling... Why? He have cause He seeing 'bout he country, you see 'bout yours.
After conspicuously evading public debate on the issue of the proposed smelter plants the Government finally noticed that things were "getting out of hand" and decided to respond. Better late than never, that's what I say, and with guarded optimism, I welcome the announcement made yesterday that there will be a public symposium on the issue.
Chatham residents believe that they have good reason for continued caution and will stay on alert.
Putting all grains of salt and cynicism aside, I want to believe that our Government will now seriously consider the concerns of the people.
On the matter of things getting out of hand, that has got to be the understatement of the century. Wasn't it the disregard for the citizenry that was getting out of hand and what of all the other runaway ills. We'd be lucky if proposed smelters were the only problems requiring urgent attention. Turn the spotlight also on all the existing manufacturing plants and business places pumping poison into the air and flushing untreated waste into our waterways. Turn the spotlight also on all the farmers who are quietly continuing to douse our food with chemicals. Turn the spotlight also on all the brutalized people who don’t have a clue about how to rescue themselves, and are transferring it all to the children. Things are certainly getting out of hand, but most Trinidadians still care. We still fighting here.
So... Doh out de flambeau Doh leggo de bois Fight on for prevention Doh settle for cure. ---Guanaguanare
"Patria est communis omnium parens" - Our native land is the common parent of us all. Keep it beautiful, make it even more so.
Thank you Blakie.
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.
ONE DAY Performed by Natasha Wilson Arranged by Leston Paul Introducing Miss Natasha Wilson T&T 1987
This love affair we had for the summer Things ent the same way like when we start Because of your neglectful behaviour The time has come now for we to part...ah-ah You shoulda never let the ways of evil Dominate your soul and rule your mind You must always remember when people treat you gentle You don't treat them unkind, boy...
One day, ah tell you, one day, One day you’re going to call[Not certain about this word] One day, ah tell you, one day, One day you’re going to fall One day you’re going to cry "My God, the well run dry!" You took me for granted, now we are parted Like the old people say, "You go pay for it one day."
You haunted now like a fish out of water Broken to tief, you ent have a dime The dollar only work out to a Yankee quarter Because you never learn to be thrifty at no time...ay-ay There was a time when money was no problem You had no reason to neglect me so You listen to your crooked partners and them Spend, spend, spend, spend Easy come, easy go, boy...
One day, ah tell you, one day, One day you going to fall One day, ah tell you, one day, One day you going to fall One day when all is lost through no fault of yours, of course You will remember I tried to warn you But like the old people say, "You go pay for it one day."
I give you my undivided attention Anytime you call, I never say Nay...ay-ay On top of that I give you so much affection I stood beside you every step of the way...ah-ah If anyone at all had told me that you Would ever be so mean as now I see I woulda tell them straight and plain, "That ent true. No, not my dou-dou." but now they laughing at me.
Boy, one day, ah tell you, one day, One day you going to call One day, ah tell you, one day, One day you going to fall One day when love is gone and you're left there all alone The evil that you do comes back to haunt you Like the old people say, "You have to pay for it one day."
In the beginning you were a treasure I couldn't find no fault with you at all Now you jealous, wicked and spiteful as ever Ah hope you see the writing on the wall...ah-ah You better learn to practice what you preaching If you want to be held in high esteem Honesty and truth --------- teaching Put more interest in and forget your evil scheme.
So, one day, ah tell you, one day...oy-oy-oy One day you going to call Boy, one day, ah tell you, one day, One day you going to fall One day you're going to find you can't get me off your mind That's when you'll wake up, too late to make up Like the old people say, "You have to pay for it one day."
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.
To say that I have aboriginal ancestry is to proclaim that I belong to the human race. Every single one of us is descended from an aboriginal. On the physical level, DNA markers are obsessive recorders and guardians of our genetic roots and meanderings. If, for my survival, due to the introduction of competition or threat, I must lay claim to a particular geographic location or cultural identity, I must also admit to myself that this aboriginality as location is also temporary, not written in stone, not bequeathed for eternity.
Most of us originally came from elsewhere. If the centre of human genesis as we know it thus far, was located in Africa, then according to our logic, African peoples who still occupy their lands are the only genuine aboriginals. Even so, the connection to land, although a source of real comfort and rootedness, does not lock us into infinitely attaching ourselves to one location. There are many original peoples who have over time made voluntary and epic migrations from their “aboriginal” lands. We tend to think of diaspora in terms of specific ethnicities and geographic points. More interesting to me is the psychic diaspora which is part of man's experience over time and for many is remembered only as a bridge irreparably burnt.
I speak of this in order to delink and liberate the concept of aboriginality from physical location. I myself, own no land and feel no desire to reclaim the specific lands that were “taken” from my ancestors. It does not mean that I do not feel the loss but this comes NOT from my not having access to the land of my ancestors. It comes simply from not having access to any land which I feel is the right of every human being who is a citizen of this earth. I do not believe that land should be owned privately and in perpetuity by anyone and that includes myself. I will return to the topic of rights to land at a later point but I mention it here only because that is often the starting point for discussions about aboriginality.
I instead want to put aboriginality before land. I want to put it before everything else by which we allow ourselves to be distracted. Long after religion and philosophy had been trying to convince us of the brotherhood of man, science confirmed that we did in fact all come from the same place, that we had the same parents. That this discovery was not met with greater universal rejoicing is an indication of our amnesia. I want to go back to the Guacara, to remember the place where there was no doubt that we were ONE.
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
As the judge read the sentence, a visibly trembling Saddam Hussein defiantly shouted over the unrelenting voice of "Justice". He repeated, among other things, “God is great!” There was something about the spirit behind his dry-eyed tirade that I silently applauded. Apart from that quiet satisfaction, it was no time for jubilation for me. Man has no right to murder and I found no difference between what that judge was handing down in that court and what Saddam Hussein had been accused of doing.
