Mahendra Ramkellawan - "Dem Ah Watch Meh" (Chutney Soca song)

Edited by Azizi Powell

This post showcases a sound file and lyrics to Mahendra Ramkellawan's 2011 Chutney Soca song "Dem Ah Watch Meh". This post also includes information about Soca Chutney (also known as "Chutney Soca"), definitions of the term "Road March" and definitions of certain words in "Dem Ah Watch Meh".

The content of this post is presented for cultural, entertainment, and aesthetic purposes.

All copyrights remain with their owners.

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INFORMATION ABOUT CHUTNEY SOCA
From http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chutney_Soca
"In Trinidad and Tobago, Guyana & Suriname Chutney-Soca music is a crossover style of music incorporating Soca elements and Hindi-English lyrics, Chutney music, with Indian instruments like the dholak and dhantal.

The term chutney soca was first coined by Drupatee Ramgoonai of Trinidad & Tobago in 1987 in her first album entitled Chutney Soca, with both English & Hindi versions of the songs. The current style of spelling of the term was not established then & she spelt it as " Chatnee Soca". The following year her mega hit "Roll up de Tassa" was instrumental in creating a commercial market for this type of music internationally. Drupatee has spoken about the blending of Afro & Indo melodies & rhythms in songs like Chatnee Soca & Hotter than ah Chulha". Chutney is a melody & soca is a beat. Drupatee used an ancient Indian melody called a lawnee with the soca beat in her rendition of "O Tassawalley" & has released a legacy of Chutney Soca music.

Chutney soca is a prime example of how Indo-Trinidadians have established roots in Trinidad also Antigua and have created an original, syncretic art form.[1] Resulting from the intervention of Indo-Trinidadians into Soca music in the 1980s,[2] the addition of chutney soca to the island's musical life signified a consolidation of the East Indian influence on Trinidadian culture and politics, particularly during the 1990s."
-snip-
Also click http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soca_music for information about the history of Soca music, and click http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chutney_music for information about the history of Chutney music, including this section on Chutney sub-genres:
"The origin of chutney being in the Caribbean has meant that it's been in close contact with different peoples, traditions, and other musical styles since its inception. According to the government of Trinidad and Tobago, roughly 35% of the country's population is of Indian descent, another 34% of African descent, and the remaining 31% composed of a mix of European, Chinese, Middle Eastern, and other ancestry. This has allowed chutney to fuse with other genres and/or implement new instruments into its own style, creating an array of syncretic subgenres including ragga chutney, chutney-bhangra, chutney hip-hop, soca-bhangra, and chutney soca.

Chutney soca is the most notable of these, as it has become virtually indistinguishable from what is considered normal chutney in recent years"...

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SHOWCASE VIDEO: Dem Ah Watch Meh-Mahendra Ramkellawan (HIT SONG)



music televisionUploaded on Feb 18, 2011

Chutney HIT- DEM A WATCH MEH- MAHENDRA RAMKELLWAN. ."Guyana's Road March song 2011"
-snip-
Definition of "Road March"
From http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carnival_Road_March
"The Carnival Road March is the musical composition played most often at the "judging points" along the parade route during Carnival. Originating as part of Trinidad and Tobago Carnival, the term has been applied to other Caribbean carnivals...

In Trinidad and Tobago the Road March title has been given out in every year since 1932 (with the exception of years affected by World War II when Carnival did not take place). Scoring is based upon a rank-and-points system devised by a Carnival committee before the start of the parade. The Road March title is among the most prestigious in Trinidad Carnival."

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LYRICS: DEM AH WATCH MEH
(Mahendra Ramkellawan)

If ah by the fence and gaffing with meh neighbour
Dem ah watch meh
How dem ah watch meh

Dem ah watch meh
Dem ah watch meh
Dem ah watch meh
Dem ah watch meh

If ah by the fence and gaffing with meh neighbour
Dem ah watch meh
Dem ah watch meh
If ah in de club and ah dancing with meh neice
Dem ah watch meh
Dem ah watch meh
If ah buy a car or ah new house and land
Dem ah watch meh
How Dem ah watch meh
Dem ah watch meh
How Dem ah watch meh
Dem ah watch meh

Ah walking with meh bhouge ah hold and on to she hand
They watching and saying that I is she man
(dem ah watch meh)
(dem ah watch meh)
Ah walking with meh bhouge ah hold and on to she hand
They watching and saying that I is she man
They doh really know that ah just lending ah helping hand
They doh really know that ah just lending ah helping hand

Dem ah watch meh
Dem ah watch meh
How Dem ah watch meh
Dem ah watch meh

If ah by the fence and gaffing with meh neighbour
Dem ah watch meh
Dem ah watch meh
If ah in the club and ah dancing with meh neice
Dem ah watch meh
Dem ah watch meh
If ah buy a car or ah new house and land
Dem ah watch meh
How Dem ah watch meh
Dem ah watch meh
How Dem ah watch meh
Dem ah watch meh

Ah bus load ah gyul pull up in front meh yard
They watching and they talking
They getting on rel bad
(dem ah watch meh)
(dem ah watch meh)
Ah bus load ah gyul pull up in front meh yard
They watching and they talking,
They getting on rel bad
Why they blaming me when is meh family from abroad
Why they blaming me when is meh family from abroad

Dem ah watch meh
How Dem ah watch meh
Dem ah watch meh
Dem ah watch meh

If ah by the fence and gaffing with meh neighbour
Dem ah watch meh
Dem ah watch meh
If ah in de club and ah dancing with meh neice
Dem ah watch meh
Dem ah watch meh
If ah buy a car or ah new house and land
Dem ah watch meh
How dem ah watch meh
Dem ah watch meh
How dem ah watch meh
Dem ah watch meh

Now the more they watch the less they see
Nothing bother me, I doh care what they see
I doh fraid nobody
(dem ah watch meh)
(dem ah watch meh)
Now the more they watch the less they see
Nothing bother me, I doh care what they see
I doh fraid nobody
I have one life to live and ah living happily
I have one life to live and ah living happily
Dem ah watch meh
How dem ah watch meh
Dem ah watch meh
Dem ah watch meh

If ah by the fence and gaffing with meh neighbour
Dem ah watch meh
Dem ah watch meh
If ah in de club and ah dancing with meh neice
Dem ah watch meh
Dem ah watch meh
If ah buy a car or ah new house and land
Dem ah watch meh
How dem ah watch meh
Dem ah watch meh
How dem ah watch meh
Dem ah watch meh

Dem ah watch meh
Dem ah watch meh
Dem ah watch meh

Source: http://islandlyrics.com/lyrics-mahendra_ramkellawan_lyrics-dem_ah_watch_meh_2011.htm

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EXPLANATIONS FOR CERTAIN WORDS IN THIS SONG
bhouge – girlfriend [?]
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Dem - them
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Gaff (gaf) - chatting
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gyul - girl
**
meh - me

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Thanks to Mahendra Ramkellawan for composing and performing this song. Thanks to the transcriber of this song and thanks to all others who are quoted in this post. Hat tip to pancocojams commenter slam2011 for emailing me an inquiry about Chutney Soca music.

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Visitor comments are welcome.