THE CALYPSO BAN

Feb 28, 2013 Features / Columnists, Peeping Tom

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The decision of NCN to restrict the playing of calypsos from this year’s National Calypso Competition was ill-thought out. There was no need for the action taken.
All the songs that are now off the air were being played from since early in the month. And since the local “carnival” season is about to end, there would have been little harm in simply allowing the compositions to be played until the end of the month, by which time this particular genre of music would have been deemphasized.
Instead, an edict was purportedly issued for the songs not to be aired. This has played right into the hands of the critics who will see it as a form of censorship and now have another issue upon which to create a mini-storm.
Any broadcaster, of course, has a right to exercise censorship over material that is unsuited for broadcast. But the moral authority to do so in this instance is questionable, considering some of the highly sexually suggestive soca songs that are being played on radio these days.
It is one thing at a competition to sing a song that is defamatory in content. It is another thing for a rendition that is defamatory of others to be aired on public radio. Slanderous content must be restricted.
One of the ways in which calypsonians avoid slander is to use an indirect approach to the subject of their songs. The art of the calypso is to treat with social commentary in such a way that the audience knows who the subject of the song is, but this subject is addressed through various devices that point to rather than directly identifies the persons being sung about.
A great many devices are used to achieve this effect, but unfortunately not many of our calypsonians have mastered this art. Many of them continue to be uncreative in their compositions or fail to use the many devices that are part of the repertoire of the great calypsonians.
One of the truly great calypsonians, the Mighty Sparrow mastered that art of indirect social commentary. One of his big hits was about the oldest profession in the world which became threatened when the Americans closed their base in his country. He composed a masterful selection called, “Jean and Dinah” which dealt with this issue in a way that has come to characterize the fine art of calypso song-writing.
Jean and Dinah, Rosita and Clemontina
Round de corner posing
Bet your life is something they selling
But when you catch them broken, you can get it all for nothing
Don’t make no row
De yankee gone and Sparrow take over now
The Trinidadian calypsonians have become quite adept at this art form. When they have to comment on political matters, the really great calypsonians know how to make their points in a manner disguised to avoid direct mention of the subjects, but subtle enough for the audience to know who is being referred to.
As a form of political satire, the way in which calypsonians treat with certain subjects goes to the heart of the craft. One of the best exponents of this art form is the Mighty Shadow who composed a song called “Snake in the Balisier”.
It is about divisions within the PNM, once the ruling party in Trinidad and Tobago.
A verse from this masterpiece of political satire goes as follows:
Big snakes in the country, man they worse than mapepire
When they making they racket, they dress up in nice jacket
Some big fat macajuel drain out the oil in the oil well
I don’t know how they found the key but hear they empty the Treasury.
The symbol of the PNM is the balisier flower. This flower is found in Trinidad and according to Selwyn Ryan, it harbours one of the deadliest snakes in the country, the mapepire. Shadow used the imagery of the balisier and its association with deadly snakes to comment on the then divisions within the party.
In this year’s calypso competition in Trinidad and Tobago there was a song about the People’s Partnership in which the composer uses the imagery of a leaking ship to comment on the problems and travails of the government. The song is entitled “Meh Pardna Ship Leaking”.
This was a brilliant play on the pun of partnership. This art of political satire through the medium of the calypso has never been as sharp and creative in Guyana as it is in Trinidad and Tobago. Indeed, much of the art seems to have departed from our calypsos.
A great deal of what passes for local calypso would not pass auditions in Trinidad and Tobago. Some of our calypsos have been reduced to tasteless anti- government bashing. Much of it is uninspiring and lacking in artistic content. Just how some of the selections in this year’s final passed the audition segment is anyone’s guess.
And this will stir, as it does each year, controversy over the results of the national calypso competition. A regular topic each year in calypso competitions in both Trinidad and Guyana is the judging of these competitions and come next year, some calypsonian will complain about this year’s results. It happens every year in one form or the other.
The judges however have made their choice and it is for them to justify their decisions. However, there will be many who will question how it is that “God nah Sleep” came in at first place.
This song is the one that irritated the authorities. There is nothing overtly slanderous about the lyrics of this song, except that in one verse reference is made in negative terms about the face of a government official. But that is hardly reason to take it off the air
There is nothing to be feared about this song. It is never going to capture the public’s imagination.
As such the NCN overreacted in taking this and other calypsos off the air. This action was unnecessary, because quite honestly, only a few of this year’s calypsos are worth listening more than once.

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