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

We ALL Have a Nation to Run.

...a profound silence.
As I am seeing Dr. Wayne Kublalsingh everywhere, while watching the birds recently it occurred to me that the Blue Jay would never in its wildest dreams deny itself the bare necessities of eating and drinking and even less, the supreme, triumphant pleasure of hogging what ought to be shared with others. This bird is a startlingly beautiful, burly, noisy, rambunctious creature that will eat and/or carry away every single nut that I put out on mornings. This bird does not share, does not seem to have the slightest awareness of the concept. It demonstrates a selfish, scorched earth approach to the bounty made available to all. 

Am I being unreasonable to expect a creature living in nature to adopt the nobler of our values? And why do we human beings hold ourselves to a higher standard and expect to be different from the creatures in the wild? Is it thanks only to nurture that we have been socialized to be saddled with the sometimes hopeless pursuit of a "humanity" that includes selflessness? Is the difference as simple as that? Are we in fact much less than we think we are? Is that why surrender to our baser instincts is often the preferred option?

What, I ask myself, makes Dr. Wayne Kublalsingh unlike you and me and and the rabid Blue Jays of this world? Could it be that contrary to our PM's assessment, this man's family, more than many families in Trinidad and Tobago, actually owned their parental responsibility and took it extremely seriously? Can we consider and admit that what we are seeing in his action is the culmination, not of neglect, but of an extraordinary spiritual nurturing on their part?

The days flash by for me as I anxiously follow the news from home. I imagine that the hours pass more slowly for Dr. Kublalsingh, surrounded by many yet deeply alone in so many ways and especially in the inner struggle between nature and nurture. I still urge him to guard his health and life but I want to assure him that even if he were to walk away today, those of us who are still teachable have already learnt valuable lessons.

Today I want to speak from my heart to thank teacher Wayne Kublalsingh for the things he has been showing me. For the past week and more as I have sat unwillingly and often distressed to tears before the chalkboard of his increasingly emaciated chest, I have been forced to trace and retrace with growing dismay the things which I already knew but which have been manifested in his flesh.

I was among those who, valuing Dr. Kublalsingh's life more than this country, more than this cause, more than we Pawi, more than my beautiful and sometimes ugly countrymen, more than this government, urged him to let this cup pass from him. But perhaps being more optimistic, more hopeful and more generous than even those who love him and certainly more than those who continue to deride and dismiss him, he put our concerns aside and persevered patiently with his lesson.

He has reminded me that although this is what we have come to accept as normal, it is unnatural, if not calamitous for any man to believe that he has an existence separate from his country, from just causes, from the fate of the Pawi, from his countrymen and from his government. In this "eat ah food" world, he has done the unthinkable and little wonder then that the shock of it all has thrown many into disarray and has caused some of us in high and low places to retreat to the usual refuges of cynicism, disrespect, vitriole, puerile humour and callousness.

In turning his back on the opiate of the ubiquitous pot of pelau, he has threatened to drag us also from the warm comfort of that prison of belly full and asked us to reflect upon other forms of nourishment of which we have been starved. Another human child of God comes to mind and it was He who reminded us that "Man cannot live by bread alone."

Thank you, Dr. Kublalsingh for allowing the nation once again to witness that the truth means NOTHING to many. Not only will they avoid it to save their skins and that of their cohorts but they will avoid it even when a fellow citizen's life is on the line. They will avoid it in the quiet of their own consciences and they will ineluctably avoid it even when the whole interested world's gaze is upon them.

Dr. Kublalsingh, you have become for me the soul of a Trinidad and Tobago that has been struggling to ascend - not any furtive or touted ascendancy being arranged for a particular race, class or creed, but a lifting for ALL - for this country, for all just causes, for the Pawi, for all countrymen and for a leadership yet to blossom that will be a reflection of the best in us.

Despite the efforts of the revisionists, history cannot be repealed and regardless of whether or not the distorted written or remembered record of this matter is amended, the history of this struggle has already been written in the psyche. I will not qualify psyche with 'national' or 'individual' because if I had learnt nothing else from Patriot Wayne Kublalsingh's struggle, this is the one lesson that will lie glowing in the ruins of his camp/health/life:

Everything and everyone is connected and if you can destroy one man, you can destroy a nation.

People, we ALL have a government to run.

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

A Country To Die For?

...Falling Back and Supporting From Behind.

The reason for my long silences? - The sound of my mother's voice in my head pleading, "If you have nothing nice to say, say nothing."  Reading our news online I often find myself dismayed and to be very honest it is with some reluctance that I now make my daily pilgrimage to T&T's newspapers. This dread, by the way, does not apply to anything written by Sunity Maharaj and Raffique Shah.

Recently I read something that brought mixed feelings of agreement and sadness. The words of Dr. Wayne Kublalsingh:

"The leader of the group said he will not be as vocal about the Point Fortin Highway issue in the future and encouraged the members to be persistent. He said:

"It is up to you to put pressure on the Prime Minister and if she refuses take up your bed and revolt. They (citizens) cannot be looking at Kublalsingh and a minority of people to do their work for them."

The strength residents used to build the 13 communities in the Debe to Mon Desir area should be the same strength they should use to preserve them, Kublalsingh said."

What is there to add? I do not believe in top down revolutions. Yes, a revolution can be inspired by the example of a leader but a revolution that is masterminded and executed mainly by those above often will have to continuously enforced thereafter because it did not spring spontaneously from the grassroots.

I once referred to Dr. Wayne Kublalsingh as a patriot and reading his words I mused that there are times when Patriotism involves falling back and supporting from behind. Even the migratory birds understand that the individual flying point in the V formation cannot fly there forever. That lead bird will eventually tire and must fall back to allow another to lead. Tire...not die. Although I admire Dr. Wayne Kublalsingh's passion and I am particularly moved by his father's comments about his son, I do not want Dr. Wayne Kublalsingh to leave us now, and certainly not for citizens who are not sufficiently compelled to take care of their own business and judging by the online comments, many others who intend not to remember his ultimate sacrifice past this Christmas season. I want Dr. Kublalsingh to continue to live and fight for his country. This world is overrun by the ignorant, the crass and the ignoble and I seriously doubt that his death will have any impact on the jaded and spiritually dead. I am ashamed to have concluded that in this valley of death where life is cheap another person's demise will not provide the much needed tipping point.

Dr. Kublalsingh, I dedicate the song below to you. Life is the battle and you can only see it to its natural end by continuing to LIVE.


Uploaded by Adamfulgence ..............................................................................................................................
"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
 

Which Bone? [Song]

Listen to Joanne Foster sing "Which Bone" courtesy we7.

[Link will open in new window.]
WHICH BONE?
Performed by Joanne Foster (2004)
Composed by Christophe Grant

Them is patriots [patriots]
The Soca Warriors they're back
See them wave their red, white and black
All them patriots [patriots]
Some does even plate up their face
Like the cascadou they done taste.
If you probe past the superficial
They bound to leave you amazed
Shocked, bewildered and in a daze
'Cause the same ones who are so vocal
Time to put their heads on a block
Long ago abandoned this rock.

'Cause when it down to the nitty gritty [Trini to we bone!]
They done fly out to New York city [Trini to we bone!]
Pursuing their own self interests [Trini to we bone!]
To this land they does pay lip service [Trini to we bone!]
They say they making a sacrifice
So their children won’t pay the price
In the Apple they take a bite
Back in Trini, boy, things real tight
And they can't fly back home until
They get their green card or learn a skill
Until then, just leave them alone
'Cause them is Trini to the bone
Which bone?
Oh, which bone?
Which bone?
Ah say, which bone? Oh oh oh oh

Them is patriots [patriots]
Say they go dead for their Trinbago
They love their Pan and they Calypso
All them patriots [patriots]
With their cooler in the North Stand
Panorama to hear their band
All they love Boogsie and their Phase II
Do they know that Pan getting stick?
Every day a next one evict
Homeless now, thrown in the bamboo
Yes, Boogsie and he boys
Kick out because Pan is noise.

While we give them a big ovation [Trini to we bone!]
Lord, the panman facing frustration [Trini to we bone!]
While we run about helter skelter [Trini to we bone!]
Still the panman must beg for shelter [Trini to we bone!]
Though we never support the Arts
Our commitment does stop and start
How many kasisonians must dead
Without a roof over their head?
While the local composers bawl
All the royalties for Sean Paul
All them Sizzla and Beenie clone
But them is Trini to the bone
Which bone?
Tell me, tell me, tell me, Which bone?
Oh, which bone?
Ah say, which bone?, oh oh oh oh

When they up and leave Trinbago,
Is straight New York they does go
When they get deport and they come back home
Is only then they does be Trini to the bone
When they up and leave Trinbago,
Is straight New York they does go
When they get deport and they come back home
Is only then they does be Trini to the bone

Them is patriots [patriots]
All them DJs who make the switch
Never playing Shorty or Kitch
All them patriots [patriots]
Who daily offend we ear
With all that garbage that we does hear
For every time we turn on the radio
Is only hip hop in the mix
Local music keep getting licks
How the hell we go build Trinbago
How we go ever sit on the throne
If we do not promote we own?

Cause is only foreign they playing [Trini to we bone!]
Local music, right they, it staying [Trini to we bone!]
Dem is cobo, yes, bloody vulture [Trini to we bone!]
But they real love their Trini culture [Trini to we bone!]
No they never support the pan
Till they play the 50 cent jam
They think that soca and calypso
Began with Marshall Montano
They don't root for no limbo dance
Julia Edwards could go to France!
All them Snoop and P. Diddy clone
But them is Trini to the bone
Which bone? Oh, which bone? Oh oh oh oh oh oh
Which bone? oh oh
Ah say, Which bone? Oh oh oh oh
Which bone?, tell me, tell me, tell me
Which bone? Oh oh oh oh
They fooling…oh oh oh oh they playing

Source: The lyrics posted on this blog are 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

WOW!!! I am speechless. Let me reveal my ignorance by asking, Who is this amazing Joanne Foster? I love her voice and the passion with which she sings this song. As one of the "patriots" who long ago "abandoned" this rock, I want to thank Ms Foster for raising some interesting issues (while singing to my self doubt). I hope to look at patriotism soon.

In the mean time, here are some posts by Trinbagonian bloggers on that topic of patriotism. If you know of any others, please consider sharing them with us.

To Die For by Geoffrey Gonsalves at his blog, "Occasional Ramblings"

Citizens of the world...and patriots by Nzingha at her blog, "Mouth of the River of Real Evolution"

On Patriotism by Dzifa Job at her blog, "Mystic Melange"

And thank you very much for this amazing song, Joanne Foster and Christophe Grant.

"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