The Carnival We Deserve

[Bitter]

Plenty nonsense lyrics

Lisa Allen-Agostini
http://www.guardian.co.tt/Lisa-Allen-Agostini.html


Is Carnival time
Get ready to wine…

—Wining Season, Machel Montano

I mean, I quoting Machel there because is a nice lavway and if I was doing anything for the Carnival I definitely would of be doing it to that song, but when you study it, I could of be quoting anything. The lyrics we getting nowadays mostly sounding the same.

That “get ready to wine” is a Alyson Hinds breakaway from some time aback, and I sure if you do a head count it must be show up in a next set of songs.

You go say, soca is not about lyrics.

That is a load of gobar that so deep it could leepay every wall in every house in Trinidad.

Soca start with lyrics, not just music, not just the soul-deep, hip-shaking, mind-blowing, hand-in-a-the-air rhythms we getting nowadays. Soca (or sokah, as some who in the know have it) was always a child of calypso and calypso is the original lyrics art form.

But what we saying with soca now is a biscuit tin beating in the Savannah. It have lyrics to that? No. It need? Neither. All you want is something to shake your manifesto and you good.

We getting exactly the kind of music we deserve. Not just soca, neither, but kaiso and all gone down.

It use to have clear division between what could play in public and what good for the tent; but I was so shame to sit down in a maxi and hear, sitting right next to my seven-year-old the Lady, all about Crazy and he phone-card situation.

The Lady, in she best English, explaining she friend how the man have a girlfriend who have five phone and so want plenty phone card… thank God she didn’t engage with the double entendre, although I know she not stupid and she well hear it.

And it playing on radio like nothing.

It use to have different kind of song in the tent, from rude one to funny one to serious one and then the imaginative and the political. Now, judging by Calypso Monarch song selection, it only have one kind of calypso: the political kaiso. Anything else ent making the finals so you best ent even bother.

Long time the Calypso Monarch was the thing, the boss, the crème de la crème. Now the poor fellah lucky if he get two gigs for the rest of the year when it done. Who want to hear Calypso Monarch when Shurwayne playing?

And the soca? Them song making Iwer classic Han-han-han-han-han (etc) sound like a scholarly treatise on party. If I never hear about another bumper rolling it go be too soon.

We mustn’t complain, though. We look for that.

I recently take up gardening after years of saying I had a black thumb. It shock me to know that the plants and them didn’t really have nothing personal against me. Is just that some of them like water and some don’t; some like sun and some don’t; and all like you to talk to them and love them up or they go just ups and dead on your hand, water, sun or not.

That is what going on with we and these Carnival arts. We making all the right noises about preserving the Carnival, but where we attention going? We loving up the inane, banal and utterly dotish soca songs, the monotonously aggressive pro-PNM songs, the Chinese bead-up bikini and the gargantuan, clumsy king of Carnival costumes with illegal fireworks and all the trimmings.

Yes, it have Junior Carnival, but when they grow up and find we not really interested in all the delightful, ingenious and individuated costumes they accustom to, what they going and play?

We have workshops to teach children to write and sing calypso and soca, but when they turn 18 and want a work, what they going and do? Ask Patrice Roberts. She come up from Junior Monarch singing real solid songs, songs with craft, melody, wit and charm. What she singing now? I like Sugar Boy, but come on.

That girl could of be something big. Instead she in the shadow of Faye Ann, singing for she supper in a soca band. That is where the real money is so why not? Why she must trap sheself in a kaiso ghetto when she could be blinging next to Machel on a stage in Miami, New York, Toronto?

And now we have Junior Soca Monarch. I pass it in the Savannah the other day. Sound like Soca Monarch to me.

When this thing ups and dead on your hand, the Carnival I mean, don’t cry no crocodile tears. We getting exactly the Carnival we deserve.

[Bitter]

I posted this article b/c I think it could lead to a decent discussion about the state of the game so-to-speak, while, hopefully providing a song-list that we can appreciate. 

I have long maintained that in the x-hundred (thousand?) tunes released every year, a single-digit percentage is worthy of recall even 2 years later. My point being that Soca is throw-away music. The seasonal nature of Carnival makes it so.

Nonetheless, every year, we hear the lament that there's nothing good this year. "Them fellas only singin g stupidness." My usual reply is: 1. There are great songs every year - we just don't get to hear them. 2. them fellas singing stupidness since King Hatchet was a Hammer.

My goal for many years has been to try to discover the gems and savour them. This is a task akin to diamond mining. You have to dig through a lot of mud to find those shiny stones.

My criteria for these songs relies on the lyrical content. The music we produce is second to none, but as the article says, only so many flags you could wave and bumpers you can roll. Lyrics people, sometimes you should include them in a song.



My (very short) list this year thus far is as follows:

Shurwayne Winchester - No More
    Relevant, serious, good music.

Brian London - A Song for we.
  Here is someone who pays attention to what's coming out of his mouth. A good narrative calypso
   that doesn't stray from the plot or have to resort to awkward structure.

Selvon “Mistah Shak” Noel - Freedom Music
   I'm not sure if this is a calypso, It might be a reggae. It's a good tune regardless. Well put together.
   "We need some emancipation from this jump and wave situation"

Iwer George - 10 Days
   We know Iwer only chooses to be the boom boom man. (or is it the Han-han-han man?)
   I don't know, maybe in 3 months I've decided not listening to this one again.

Defosto - Sperm Running Wild
  A serious topic, to a soca beat. You don't have to sing like Chalkdust to be serious. (jubai jubai)
  Probably has a short shelf life as well.

[Midknight]

I posted this article b/c I think it could lead to a decent discussion about the state of the game so-to-speak, while, hopefully providing a song-list that we can appreciate. 

I have long maintained that in the x-hundred (thousand?) tunes released every year, a single-digit percentage is worthy of recall even 2 years later. My point being that Soca is throw-away music. The seasonal nature of Carnival makes it so.

Nonetheless, every year, we hear the lament that there's nothing good this year. "Them fellas only singin g stupidness." My usual reply is: 1. There are great songs every year - we just don't get to hear them. 2. them fellas singing stupidness since King Hatchet was a Hammer.

My goal for many years has been to try to discover the gems and savour them. This is a task akin to diamond mining. You have to dig through a lot of mud to find those shiny stones.

My criteria for these songs relies on the lyrical content. The music we produce is second to none, but as the article says, only so many flags you could wave and bumpers you can roll. Lyrics people, sometimes you should include them in a song.



My (very short) list this year thus far is as follows:

Shurwayne Winchester - No More
    Relevant, serious, good music.

Brian London - A Song for we.
  Here is someone who pays attention to what's coming out of his mouth. A good narrative calypso
   that doesn't stray from the plot or have to resort to awkward structure.

Selvon “Mistah Shak” Noel - Freedom Music
   I'm not sure if this is a calypso, It might be a reggae. It's a good tune regardless. Well put together.
   "We need some emancipation from this jump and wave situation"

Iwer George - 10 Days
   We know Iwer only chooses to be the boom boom man. (or is it the Han-han-han man?)
   I don't know, maybe in 3 months I've decided not listening to this one again.

Defosto - Sperm Running Wild
  A serious topic, to a soca beat. You don't have to sing like Chalkdust to be serious. (jubai jubai)
  Probably has a short shelf life as well.

There was a very good song that was passed up by the judges on Calypso Fiesta and didn't make finals behind a lot of questionable material. It was called

"All because of you."

 based on the whole Akon incident. I can't remember the little girl's name who sang it though

There's also a video clip I saw for a reggae song (I'm not a reggae fan) by a youth with a funny name like "Bumky Ranking" or something of the sort. The song is called

"A quiet evening".

Very topical. Nice music

[Deeks]

Honestly, Sheldon Blackman souds good to me!!!

[Bakes]

My nomination...

Whoa yo yo yo yo yo yo yo
Yea yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah
whole day we jammin (jammin up)
Whole night we wukkin(wukkin up)
Is whole day we jammin (jammin up)
Whole night we wukkin (wukkin up)


...deep.

[Midknight]

My nomination...

Whoa yo yo yo yo yo yo yo
Yea yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah
whole day we jammin (jammin up)
Whole night we wukkin(wukkin up)
Is whole day we jammin (jammin up)
Whole night we wukkin (wukkin up)


...deep.

yuh loss mih dey...

[pecan]

My nomination...

Whoa yo yo yo yo yo yo yo
Yea yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah
whole day we jammin (jammin up)
Whole night we wukkin(wukkin up)
Is whole day we jammin (jammin up)
Whole night we wukkin (wukkin up)


...deep.

lol

With lyrics like that, Bitter comment about Soca being a throw-away is accurate

[palos]

None a dem allyuh call dey have anyting on

Yuh could bring it in a bottle

Yuh could bring it in a glass

Yuh could buy it by de bottle

Yuh could buy it by de flask

Ah waaaaaannnnt....meh rum in de mornin

Ah waaaaaannnnt....meh rum in de eveeeeeeeniiiiinnn

[Tallman]

Duke gives his perspective in Money ruining Trinidad

[TrinInfinite]

dis is my response 2 de thread, some elements at least....

ah juss sittin back and watching fellahs blazin de trail here with de topic, but on a more non confrontational level of discussion, youths in the ghetto cling tuh reggae for more than one reason, dancehall, conscious and culture all rep de ghetto, the message symbolizes what is goin in de ghetto, thats why so many youths are listening to it, for example when they hear movado sing about dying or amazing grace, its tings that are happening in the ghetto that youths witness, more so live day in and day out, the airwaves have been pushing the reggae music for decades which has contributed to the youths adopting this culture and music, so when big reggae artists come to trinidad, they support, it draws the youths bc they singing about non carnival issues, u cant listen to carnival stories all de time in all honesty, trinis goin back to my father's time have listened to everything, they were never close minded in the sense that they wont listen to others music, they may have been to open in that the progression and intl exposure of our local music has been stunted...

however, if soca artists sing about everyday issues on a regular basis, i think the youths will listen, especially if the radio stations start playing it year round and the artists release music year round, however thats a problem bc of their touring cycle and the fact they hardly have time to stay home and record a full album non carnival related bc they have to tour, with the exception of machel and a few others they have no excuse and the money to perform is too lucrative to pass up, so they dont take a break and spend time to make an album that will cross over and have a message to it...

furthermore, performers like machel see that no matter what songs they come out with, they will sell out home bc of performance and name, once it takes off for carnival, they tour with those songs to london, toronto, new york, boston, miami, dc, montreal, the other islands and so on, bc they not selling albums, they know the foreign djs play anything that trinidad laps up, so why need to worry about the quality of music? this seems to be no longer a concern which is bad for our music, if the djs were to stand up and say we not playing this music bc its not quality music, then the artists will be forced to come out with better quality music, and in essence it will allow them to lean towards the direction of " we need to sell albums" going platinum and taking the music internationally, with broader messages....

 also people 4get theres alot of music in trinidad that we dont hear bc of the control by the bigger artists, so music with a message may go unheard many times a year bc of the radio stations..

back to the caledonia issue, they could have brought local trini reggae artists but the mindset home is an ignorant one sometimes, there probably saying to themselves, whos coming to support our local reggae artists and carnival now done, so who coming 2 see soca artists, furthermore its bad to see that many promoters will not pay the local reggae artists the same performance fee they would pay a jamaican reggae artist, and thats the reality of their thinking...

if people want to reverse the negative process our music has ben goin through the govt needs to form legislation to support local pan, calypso, soca and chutney, we need competitions during the year which would bring out songwriters that will forgo carnival lyrics and concentrate on day to day issues, also our local reggae artists need the push also, but keeping in mind, as being a trini, just bc your a rasta or bc u sing reggae doesnt mean u need to impersonate a jamaican, lewwe do it our way, let the youths see our local artists can bring forth music that will play year round with a message besides carnival.... like what we see in the ex-tempo, calypso king competitions, these comps need to be funded even more and the youths need to see the incentive gain, as you would see in young king but a new format needs to be implemented to create thsi music...

God is de BOSS.....