What You willing to die for? [Song]

Uploaded by KMP MUSICLAB
WHAT YOU WILLING TO DIE FOR?
Sung by Joanna "Tigress" Rowley
Written by Andre Jeffers & Kenny Phillips
Produced by Kenny Phillips of KMP Music Lab

Trinidad and Tobago, are we truly a patriotic people? Do you love your country?

They say he crazy, a delusional fool
They say he selfish and want things my way
I say they lazy, they too nonchalant and cool
His cause is bigger than just a highway
They calling him fraud, say he cannot be of God
And whether he die or not, it don't matter
But what they don't see is a man who'll die for country
I'll call him a patriot and martyr.

Dr. Kublalsingh took a stand against corruption
The naysayers say life is too precious for that
They say surely he must have had a better option
The thing [is], we all willing to die, tell me for what and why
For something noble or just to get a bligh? Oy!

[Are you willing to die?] Just for some nicotine?
[Are you willing to die?] You smoking cigarettes by the pack
[Are you willing to die?] Just for the thrill of speed?
[Are you willing to die?] The highway is your drag race track.
[Are you willing to die?] Just for sexual antics?
[Are you willing to die?] Risking AIDS and HIV?
[Are you willing to die?] Like Dr. Kublalsingh?
[Are you willing to die?] No water, no food, not even IV?

What you willing to die for? Tell me!
What you will lose your life for?
Will you die for your country?
Trinidad, come! Will you die for your country? Hear me!

Now, a legal pillar who stood for justice and truth
Senior counsel and lead prosecutor
Some coward killers, now almost one year removed
Up to now, they still can't find that shooter
Justice reform on her plate, high profile work for the state
And pro bono work for those who can't afford
In return, what did she get? A cold case that can't solve yet
She deserve the nation's highest award.

Dana Seetahal died in service to this nation
She lived a life of purpose, fighting crime
Her legacy goes beyond the legislation
You see, we all going to die with no promise to say Bye-bye
Every man have their own appointed time. Oy!

[Are you willing to die?] To jump and wine in a band?
[Are you willing to die?] When Ebola is a serious threat?
[Are you willing to die?] Hey, you, the smuggler man!
[Are you willing to die?] You swallowing all these cocaine pellets. You fool!
[Are you willing to die?] To protest the cabal?
[Are you willing to die?] They disgusting and worthless.
[Are you willing to die?] Like Dana Seetahal?
[Are you willing to die?] To stand for truth and justice? Oy!

What you willing to die for? Tell me.
[What you willing to die for?']
Will you die for your country?
Lose your life for your country?

This one really hits home. ------------ this one is for you,  for the love of my country.

A mother of six, grandmother of eight
In the media she is known as Good Granny
A tower of bricks, Marlene Grant was her name
Fought the gangsters with no damn apology
They threatened and warned her, the bad boys call her informer
She didn't bat an eye or even hide in fear
They tried to kill her with fire, they even had guns for hire
Had the whole community running in tears.

Marlene Grant took a stand against them vultures
No police protection despite all the threats
That why we have a "Me-ent-see-nothing" friggin' culture
Man 'fraid to snitch and die but to cheat death they willing to lie
Seeing wickedness, then turning a blind eye. Oy!

[Are you willing to die?] Just for your B13, or even your Wingroad?
[Are you willing to die?] For your taxi money coil?
[Are you willing to die?] Just for some KFC?
[Are you willing to die?] You just might get some hot oil.
[Are you willing to die?] Just not to be a Mammy?
[Are you willing to die?] And abort that child you had?
[Are you willing to die?] Like that brave, brave granny?
[Are you willing to die?] To stand up against the gang. Oy!

What you willing to die for? Tell me.
What you will lose your life for?
Will you die for your country?
To save your community. Tell me.

This one is for the leaders.

Left hand on the Bible or the Bhagavad Gita
Some swear with the Qu'ran, right hand upraised
Sworn to serve our country but watch how you raping her
Break and take and yet, you are still not phased
Who lie before God will be surely put to the sword
You could find that in any scripture
Public office life should be a great sacrifice
But every politician leaving richer.

Willingness to die isn't just physical
Are you willing to die to self and serve?
But the parliament full of thugs and political criminals
Most of them ent willing to die, they just full of mamaguy
Which leaders can we watch and exemplify? None!

[Are you willing to die?] Just for financial power?
[Are you willing to die?] With corruption all over the place?
[Are you willing to die?] For the almighty dollar?
[Are you willing to die?] Or like Anil, who left in disgrace?
[Are you willing to die?] For a political change?
[Are you willing to die?] Or are you going to stand, run your mouth and do nothing?
[Are you willing to die?] Money for vote is nothing strange
[Are you willing to die?] Trinbago, we must stand for something! Ey!

What you willing to die for?
What you will lose your life for?
[What you willing to die for?] Will you die for your country?
[What you willing to die for?] Will you die for your country?
[What you willing to die for?] Ey!
[What you willing to die for?] Trinidad and Tobago, let us get up!
[What you willing to die for?] Stand firm with our RED, WHITE and BLACK.
[What you willing to die for?]
What you will lose your life for?
[What you willing to die for?]
Will you die for your country?
[What you willing to die for?]
God bless our nation, Trinidad and Tobago.
[What you willing to die for?]
[What you willing to die for?]

Source: The lyrics posted on this blog are often transcribed directly from performances. Although it is my intention to faithfully transcribe I do not get all the words and I have a knack for hearing the wrong thing. Please feel free to correct me or to fill in the words that I miss by dropping me a message via e-mail. I'd be forever grateful. Thanks in advance! ..............................................................................................................................
"Patria est communis omnium parens" - Our native land is the common parent of us all. Keep it beautiful, make it even more so.

Blessed is all of creation
Blessed be my beautiful people
Blessed be the day of our awakening
Blessed is my country
Blessed are her patient hills.

Mweh ka allay!
Guanaguanare

Old Time Cat o' Nine [Song]

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

 

Number one, ah en' working no way

Number two, ah en' drawing no pay  

Number three, ah en' got no wife  

Number four, is a saga life

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Source: The lyrics posted on this blog are often transcribed directly from performances. Although it is my intention to faithfully transcribe I do not get all the words and I have a knack for hearing the wrong thing. Please feel free to correct me or to fill in the words that I miss by dropping me a message via e-mail. I'd be forever grateful. Thanks in advance!
..............................................................................................................................     

"Patria est communis omnium parens" - Our native land is the common parent of us all. Keep it beautiful, make it even more so.

Blessed is all of creation
Blessed be my beautiful people
Blessed be the day of our awakening
Blessed is my country
Blessed are her patient hills.

Mweh ka allay!
Guanaguanare
 

Alice Miller On Society's Abuse Of Children

Things for us to think about as we focus on addressing the problem of child abuse and the wider problem of violence (and the connection between the two) in our country.

"The Roots of Violence" By Alice Miller | Uploaded by projectEnlightenment

See the text version of Roots of Violence and other flyers by Alice Miller, including the one below:

How is Emotional Blindness Created?
21 points

1. The newborn child is always innocent.
2. Each child needs among other things: care, protection, security, warmth, skin contact, touching, caressing, and tenderness.
3. These needs are seldom sufficiently fulfilled, and in fact they are often exploited by adults for their own ends (trauma of child abuse).
4. Child abuse has lifelong effects.
5. Society takes the side of the adult and blames the child for what has been done to him or her.
6. The victimization of the child has historically been denied and is still being widely denied, even today.
7. This denial has made it possible for society to ignore the devastating effects of the victimization of the child for such a long time.
8. The child, when betrayed by society, has no choice but to repress the trauma and to idealize the abuser.
9. Repression leads to neuroses, psychoses, psychosomatic disorders, and delinquency.
10. In neuroses, the child's needs are repressed and/or denied; instead, feelings of guilt are experienced.
11. In psychoses, the mistreatment is transformed into a disguised illusory version (madness).
12. In psychosomatic disorders, the pain of mistreatment is felt, but the actual origins are concealed.
13. In delinquency, the confusion, seduction, and mistreatment of childhood are acted out again and again.
14. The therapeutic process can be successful if it is based on uncovering the truth about the patient's childhood instead of denying that reality.
15. The psychoanalytic theory of "infantile sexuality" actually protects the parent and reinforces society's blindness.
16. Fantasies always serve to conceal or minimize unbearable childhood reality for the sake of the child's survival; therefore, the so-called "invented trauma" is a less harmful version of the real, repressed one.
17. The fantasies expressed in literature, art, fairy tales, and dreams often unconsciously convey early childhood experiences in a symbolic way.
18. This symbolic testimony is tolerated in our culture, thanks to society's chronic ignorance of the truth concerning childhood; if the import of these fantasies were understood, they would be rejected.
19. A past crime cannot be undone by our understanding of the perpetrator's blindness and unfulfilled needs.
20. New crimes, however, can be prevented, if the victims begin to see and be aware of what has been done to them.
21. Therefore, the reports of victims will be able to bring about more awareness, consciousness, and sense of responsibility in society at large.
________________________________________
© Alice Miller, 1985. Excerpted with permission.

..............................................................................................................................
"Patria est communis omnium parens" - Our native land is the common parent of us all. Keep it beautiful, make it even more so.

Blessed is all of creation
Blessed be my beautiful people
Blessed be the day of our awakening
Blessed is my country
Blessed are her patient hills.

Mweh ka allay!
Guanaguanare

T&T: "Arise, You Resurgents Of Intelligent Evolution!"

IF it turns out that the alleged assassination threat was real, here are only a few of the many questions which I would like to ask the plotters:

What exactly did you hope to achieve??
Trinbagonians are fully aware that packing red [on the index finger] and not lead is the way to remove a government.

Were you hoping to send a political message?
What message exactly and to which receptor? The system is a DEAF juggernaut. You kill some agents and the system self heals and proceeds without so much as a squeak. The system is an infection and all our minds are the hosts. Bullets are bullcaca.

Did you think that you were doing us a favour handing us a neatly packaged dismissal?
Handouts haven't helped us so far so, no thanks, we will struggle on with this one and print our own poster sized pink slip if circumstances demand it. It will have to be OUR collective decision and hopefully not influenced by bribes, slick publicists or foreign agents.

Were you influenced by forces alien to this society?
I will tell you this once and I hope I don't ever have to repeat myself. Friends will carry you but they won't bring you back. This is OUR business and whoever is trying to make our business their business and telling you that we cannot figure it out ourselves, take it from me - SELF INTEREST IS THEIR ONLY MOTIVATION.

Were you unhappy because your nefarious activities were being interrupted?
Paleets, we are unhappier when they aren't, so maybe its a good thing that it was the government that caught you and not the upright majority of the people.

Were you unhappy because YOUR nefarious activities were being targeted and you felt that a blind eye was being turned to that of others?
Yes, it is true, discrimination hurts wherever it manifests but we are also keeping tabs so wine to the side and let us take care of business.

Did you think we needed a revolution and you imagined yourselves as its patriotic midwives?
Well, in my experience I have seen that men convinced against their wills are of the same opinion still. So don't get us stuck instead in a bloody revolving door. We'll just find ourselves back at square one and minus some more good men and women.

EXCLUSION
Research has shown that the social exclusion, which can be brought about by various punishing circumstances in an individual's life, is often a characteristic of the personal lives of criminals. Go back, often into their childhoods and there you will find a break, a disconnecting with someone or some aspect of human society necessary for proper development. The human being withdraws and can fall through the cracks. This slippage, and perhaps the perception that the loss has gone unnoticed and is therefore without rescue and remedy, leads to feelings of anguish and rage.

We each have something to contribute. That is why we are born. I must admit that I do not unreservedly encourage the bringing of new lives into the cesspool we have made of this world but once a new life has been conceived, something tells me that it is on its way for a reason and that it must be assisted to the realisation of that purpose.

Is it not the same in the life of a society, of a nation? People should not be silenced by their equals who pretend that they hold the power over life and death, over whose voice is heard and whose is shouted down, over who can handle the truth and who cannot, over who is allowed partnership and who deserves condescension? This is OUR society.

I am thinking of the expression "to out someone's light" meaning to kill that person. There is another kind of extinguishing that happens to some of us even though our bodies continue to walk. I have seen it happening to our children. You have to look at their eyes. For some of our children the sparkle is no longer there.

The attrition that our society has endured for the longest while is taking its toll, even on the strongest among us, and right now I am hoping that this allegation of an assassination plot really turns out to be a hoax because there is an even more frightening truth than the possibility that this administration is dishonest and it is that we are shutting down, we are losing confidence, we are so disillusioned that we are going against what is most natural for Trinbagonians - that warm empathy and willingness to give a transgressor at least one more chance,"Doh study nah" with a handshake and a smile.

Isn't it strange how far some of us are from our brothers and sisters and from HOMEland, even when we are physically within its borders?

T&T: "There are hills and mountains between us
Always something to get over
If I had the way, surely you'd be closer
I need you closer..."

"Patria est communis omnium parens" - Our native land is the common parent of us all. Keep it beautiful, make it even more so.

Blessed is all of creation
Blessed be my beautiful people
Blessed be the day of our awakening
Blessed is my country
Blessed are her patient hills.

Mweh ka allay!
Guanaguanare

The Madman's Rant [Song]

Uploaded by mmmKyronmmm
THE MADMAN'S RANT
By David Rudder (1996)

Vote for we and we will set you free!
Anywhere you turn somebody chanting to we
Somebody promising jobs for all
Some renting gun to make other people bawl
But somebody promising more police car
Somebody going to take the country far
Somebody putting all the bandits away
He say, "If they do the crime, they going to damn well pay!"
But somebody promising human rights
While somebody threatening to put out your lights
The mortuary full with little Trinidad boys
A bullet start to whine and put an end to their joy
Now they lying tall for dey Mama to mourn
Dey Nike gone, dey gold teeth gone
You see they, they want dey pocket full with blue, blue silk
They want dey statue drinking full cream milk
The little red silk is not dey true friend
De blue one had two extra nought on the end
So ah tag on dey toe is now dey ticket to Hell
But look where we reach, well, well, well, well, well, well.

Ah hear a madman bawl as he spread out on a wall
He say, "This is it, this is it, this is it, I’ve been hit!
No time to give up brother, no time to quit!"

Was the chant of a madman, in this tale from a strange land
Give me the chant of the madman. It’s the only salvation
Ah say the chant of a madman, in this tale from a strange land
Give me the chant of the madman, Lord, is the only salvation.

Anywhere you turn somebody chanting to we
Vote for we and we go set you free
Somebody promising natural law
Die like a yogi, end all the war
Seek inner peace, end all the pain
De same woman promising to go down again
Somebody promising to run all the bread
Somebody pushing a world class head
Somebody clean out the weed well fast
But somebody letting the cocaine pass
Somebody promise to abolish the tax
Somebody promise to give we the facts
Somebody promise to clean up the land
But in this clean land, rat still killing man
We bright little youths going to waste
Somebody dinge the smile on dey face
Somebody take “One Love” off the shelf
Then the One Love boys start to sell out dey self
Somebody going to end all this talk about race
But they can't tell me that with a straight, straight face
Big, big men dying, the crime can't solve
A madman rant is my only resolve
Ah hear the madman bawl
As he lie on a wall.

He say, "This is it, this is it, this is it, I’ve been hit!
But no time to give up, brother, no time to quit!"

A chant of a madman in this tale from a strange land
It was a chant of a madman, in this tale from a strange land
Give me the chant of the madman. Is the only salvation.

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, David Rudder for this powerful, powerful message.

"Patria est communis omnium parens" - Our native land is the common parent of us all. Keep it beautiful, make it even more so.

Blessed is all of creation
Blessed be my beautiful people
Blessed be the day of our awakening
Blessed is my country
Blessed are her patient hills.

Mweh ka allay!
Guanaguanare

The Bandit Factory [Song]

Uploaded by IsDePanInMe
THE BANDIT FACTORY
By Chalkdust (2006)
Album: The Bandit Factory

Dedicated to all my grandchildren that they may never be bandits, and for Kelvin Pope, the Mighty Duke. Take this one brother.

"Wey all dem bandit come from?" Is a question all Trinis asking,
We were poor and yet how come we ent turn to shooting and killing?
Ah tell dem, it simple, all bandits come from de people
Bandits ent born big, my friend, is poor values dey get as children
So plenty people here, you know making bandit and dey don't know.

Let’s count…
So you make a baby before yuh time, little girl.
You make one.
Yuh child father hiding from Uncle Sam in de cold.
You make one.
You and your boyfriend, all yuh leave Primary School in Standard One
So to do homework you cyah help yuh son.
All yuh make another one.
You vex with the teacher 'cause he give yuh son two lash.
You make one.
He going to school with blue note and he cyah even spell cash.
You make one.
You ent give your two boys a sound cut ass for cursing in front of you
So instead of one bandit, you give de nation two.

Wey bandit come from? Ask Kamla my child
Wey bandit come from? Kamla should be tried
‘Cause is she stop teachers from cutting children backside.

"Wey all dem bandit come from?" All dem businessmen keep complaining
Dey say is people who come, deported from Uncle Sam’s kitchen
Ah tell dem, it simple, bandits does start from de cradle
When a man is a poor model, bandits does copy example
So plenty folks, I must admit, specialise in making bandit.

Let’s see…
You is a teacher, but children doh see you on Monday.
You make one.
You going to school but don’t teach, you only studying Play Whe.
You make one.
As a parent you don’t take time off to teach the little ones to pray
So de child don’t know ‘bout the life beyond.
All yuh make another one.
You in parliament but you getting on like a clown.
You make one.
You disrespect the Speaker and always shouting him down.
You make one.
You put a cuss bud hip-hop man on front page papers
Showing he gold chain and money
Well for your stupidity you gave de nation three
Wey bandit come from? Ask de DJ man
Wey bandit come from? 96.1
Every time you promote Buju Banton, you make one.

"Wey all dem bandits come from?" All dem politicians keep asking
Dey spending plenty lump sum but poor values dem children getting
A child must understand the sanctimonious nature of man
If he only knows, good lord, what’s inside one drop of human blood
Then that blood he cannot spill and a human being he can’t kill.

You is a police man, but you specializing in bribe.
You make one.
You call de radio station and boasting about yuh tribe.
You make one.
You is a doctor but before de patient sit down for an examination
You tell him that his bill is a thousand.
All yuh make another one.
You hide yuh bank book from de Integrity Commission.
You make one.
De airport money you tief and bank it in Switzerland.
You make one.
You ent want government to look good so you throw police reform out de door
Well for every month you ent change that law, you make four.

Wey bandit come from? Ask dem lawyer.
Wey bandit come from? Who charge people from Morvant
For a case, when you charge dem ten thousand, you make one.

"Wey all dem bandit come from?" Is a question newspapers asking
Yet dey 'fraid to tell Punch and Bomb dat their sex page have de youths rottening
You see friends, de media, some are irresponsible here
Instead of pushing cleanliness, hard work, chastity and good health
Dey making de youths obsessed with sex and material wealth.

You is a rat tiefing cocaine in de police station.
You make one.
You put cocaine in Sadiq Baksh water tank and run.
You make one.
De papers showing female calypsonians in a birth position
With man wining up on dem singers bambam.
All yuh make another one.
You is a judge freeing murderers all over de town.
You make one.
You on sick leave but dey find you working in London.
You make one.
You are a police man or a soldier and you tiefing ammunition
And den selling de bandits bullets live. You make five.

Wey bandit come from? Ask de Punch and Bomb
Wey bandit come from? With dey centrepage scum
Every time you show youths a naked woman, you make one.

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

"Bandits ent born big." Thanks for this Chalkdust.

Yes, I fully agree that a human being's development begins in the womb and is shaped by the guardians and the wider society. I think we find it overwhelming to face this truth because we do realise that generations of neglect went into the products with which we are faced today and we fear that it will take that long or more to rectify the problems. So it is easier to grasp at the quick "fix." You hit on it exactly when you say that it is all about poor values and the most frightening as you outline is the undervaluing of human life and divinity in general. Other human beings exist to be used, exploited, cheated, lied to, and led down paths to destruction and all this for the worldly advancement of the thieves, whatever the colour of their collars.

About discipline and the little ones, I don't know if we should be nostalgic about physical violence a.k.a. corporal punishment in schools or anywhere else. Why pick on people who are a fraction of our size? Isn't that the same kind of bullying that the thugs engage in with the aid of their fists, guns, cutlasses, knives and crowbars. There must be other effective methods of correction/guidance. If there are, I cannot suggest any, since corporal punishment was a feature of my upbringing. My teachers and parents cut my "arr-tichoke" on a few occasions. I can tell you that as an adult, I do not reflect on these incidents with gratitude and I know that these "benedictions" did not make me a better person. As a child they filled me with rage, humiliation and resentment and I can remember each beating, where they took place and the implements that were used. In addition, I am even more reluctant to give dominion over any child's body and mind to some of the characters who are becoming teachers today (Not referring to the wonderful teachers who do exist.) People like yourself, who have had responsibility for many children over the years will probably be in a better position to comment.

"Patria est communis omnium parens" - Our native land is the common parent of us all. Keep it beautiful, make it even more so.

Blessed is all of creation
Blessed be my beautiful people
Blessed be the day of our awakening
Blessed is my country
Blessed are her patient hills.

Mweh ka allay!
Guanaguanare

Is Ah Long Time [Song]

IS AH LONG TIME
Performed by Manchild
Composed by Carlton Collins (2004)

Dis old lady was fretting, to she grandson she talking
Grandchild of mine, you going to regret
You feel it have profit in being a bandit
What you looking for you surely go get.
He tell she, Granny, Granny, Granny, Granny you sticking
If you know the facts you surely go bawl
When you listen to me, I’m sure you will agree
Dis system cyah stop criminals at all.

Because is a long time dey take whenever dey planning
Dey have de mentality of a snail
He say, is a long time but while dey zigging and zagging
Bandit lighting fire in people tail
They say dey have to uphold de law so dey got to be very sure
While they upholding, hold-up we staging
Dey say is crime dey fighting but de reason why dey losing
Is a long time dey take to do anything.

The youth was expatiating, if you hear him crowing,
Granny, there are many things you don’t know
We bandit never go UWI but we make de system a study
And we know de damn ting is really slow
He tell she, we know every station that doh have transport
Who only have one jeep for patrolling
We bandit eh making no joke, we doing we homework
Is we liveliehood that we protecting.

He gone again…

Is a long time ah sure you hearing the rumours
Criminals is get dey information
He say is a long time we have we inside informers
Who does tell we all dat is going on
How you feel de coke and the guns
Coming in by crate and the tons
How you feel there is money laundering?
Dey say is crime dey fighting
But corruption alive and kicking
‘Cause is a long time dey take to do anything

De bandit say listen to me, Check out any Trini
We does take we time to do anything
We take we time when we eating, 'specially in lovemaking
Yes, we very slow when we responding.
He tell she, Trini to de bone is dem politicians
Look how long to pass de Kidnapping Law
And while they jibbing and jibbing, stressed out people asking
Wey de hell we does vote for dem people for?

Because is a long time dem jokers fighting each other
Both the government and opposition
He say is along time it taking them to discover
Dey only frustrating the whole nation
By the time dey take to get smart
We bandit done have a headstart
Some of we get rich and retiring
Dey say is crime dey fighting
But ---------
‘Cause is a long time dey take to do anything.

De old lady wasn’t submitting, she starting attacking
She say monkey know what tree they should climb
If you was in Iran, you done lost yuh two hand
But remember time is longer than twine.
She say, the system that you disrespecting and mocking
The system you telling yourself is boo
It will make you get slack and then it will attack
Grandson, I am saying a prayer for you.

Because is long time ------- was thinking
By the law he didn’t have to abide
He rise, he fall, he slip and then he went sliding
Now he chillin’ out on the other side
The system is slow it is true
But grandson, I am warning you
You go get lock up, it is a sure thing
And when you trial slow in starting
Remember the point you making,
Is a long time they take to do anything.

Source: The lyrics posted on this blog are often transcribed directly from performances. Although it is my intention to faithfully transcribe I do not get all the words and I have a knack for hearing the wrong thing. Please feel free to correct me or to fill in the words that I miss by dropping me a message via e-mail. I'd be forever grateful. Thanks in advance!
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"Patria est communis omnium parens" - Our native land is the common parent of us all. Keep it beautiful, make it even more so.

Blessed is all of creation
Blessed be my beautiful people
Blessed be the day of our awakening
Blessed is my country
Blessed are her patient hills.

Mweh ka allay!
Guanaguanare