Some calypsonians are afraid to touch up the establishment

Mar 28, 2017 Letters

---

Dear Editor,
My description and understanding of a calypsonian is a person who composes and sings songs on a wide range of topics, events and issues, often very topical impacting, influencing and afflicting society- both locally and globally. Compositions can be hilariously thought provoking, satirical, piercingly critical, imaginative or simply an excursion into the mundane vagaries of human folly. This latitude gives the calypsonian sweeping scope to indulge in a 360 radius in which every nuance in life becomes fair game.
He\she can pick his\her pick to their hearts delight from a reservoir of inexhaustible material. The Mighty Sparrow is a fine example who has exploited this vast field of play during an illustrious career that yielded him so many classical pieces, entertaining and capturing fans with crafty compositions – from ‘JEAN and DINA’, OBEAH WEDDING’, EDUCATION to CAPITALISM gone MAD’. While many of our calypsonians over the years have done some fine pieces, ‘BRIGHT COLOURS’ and ‘BLAZING FIRE’ have caught my attention, for they have not only remained stuck in highlighting the ‘free from blame’ everyday common occurrences, but have tackled troubling issues now and again to some extent.
Apart from Derick Mangal known as ‘Bright Colours’, I do not know of any other Indian calypsonian who has over the years been a part of our ‘kaiso brigade’ competing in this yearly traditional event. Had this been so I want to think that our calypsos would have been coloured much differently, would have been much richer, more stimulating and in some ways might have add a semblance of balance.
I think that our calypsonians are racially lopsided, not quite objective, biased, lacking in authenticity and shamefully coward; who are carefully selective on whose corn they step on or calling a spade a spade.
This is not the kind of stuff which genuine artistes are made of. Artistes without backbone and lacking in courage are fakes. It gets overbearingly annoying and boring, relentlessly peppering an Indian led opposition, no matter how justified, while turning a blind eye to similar wrongs and in fulsome praise for an African led government be they right or wrong, good or bad. They would hammer those who they don’t feel threatened by as was done to known individuals, small fries, but they don’t venture into what they perceive as troubled waters by criticizing the ruling authority. And the thing that is so pitifully heartrending is that the young and upcoming brigade is following with precision steps.
No doubt many will become highly annoyed with this statement. Some may even want to boil me alive in oil, but it’s true. . Mind you, I am not saying that the opposition should not be blazed, far from it, anyone found wanting, deserves to be. But the artiste, the critic, political analyst, social commentator must crave a passion for being evenhanded. Artistes are supposed to be of sterner stuff and daring enlightenment but most of our calypsonians are not, some are blinded by racism, and are at home with topics such as domestic violence, child abuse, and violence against women.
We have a truck load of real sick issues that are never touched. They had a field day with the ‘pope’, and rightly so, he deserved being lampooned but he is not the only culprit. I think I can understand why Indians are hardly noticeable at these shows. I say again, racism will continue to damage our people, it will consume us! What is so hopelessly depressing is there seems to be no end to it. But like the big man said “there is one guilty race”.
Just imagine, for nearly 40 years the Walter Rodney assassination like the Jim Jones tragedy have been two of the biggest horrendous events in our history in recent times, yet no one had the fortitude and boldness as a true calypsonian to the core to address it. They kept light years away from it, avoided it like a curse, not that they lack the skill and ability. No! But fear, too timid to attack a black led administration. Come on! We are the ones whose function it is to look society square in the eye with a penetrating mind and paint and frame the picture as it presents itself; like the little boy with the king and his magic suit, who saw the king just as he was – plain buck naked! There are blunders, shortcomings and failings that the APNU-AFC government is guilty of, yet not a word, only praises, just like the BURNHAM years! However i do commend the good pieces outside the political: Young Miss Cort’s “Where the innocence gone”, Precious Pearl’s “Old age” and The Professor’s rendition of the “Pope”.
Frank Fyffe

---

---