Lord Kitchener -"Nosey Mother in Law" (Calypso sound file and lyrics)

Edited by Azizi Powell

This is Part III of a three part series on songs about mother-in-laws. This post showcases the Trinidad & Tobago Calypso song "Nosey Mother-In-Law" by Lord Kitchener. Information about the Lord Kitchener and the lyrics to this song are also included in this post.

Click http://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2014/08/malaika-mmatswale-video-and-comments.html for Part I of this series. Part I showcases the song Mmatswale (English translation: "mother-in-law") by the South African Afro-Pop group "Malaika".

Click http://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2014/08/ernie-k-doe-mother-in-law-sound-file.html for Part II of this series. Part II showcases the American R&B song "Mother-In-Law" by Ernie k-Doe.

Notice the similarities between how mother-in-laws are depicted in the American and Caribbean song and how different mother-in-laws are depicted in the South African song.

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

All copyrights remain with their owners.

Thanks to Lord Kitchener for his musical legacy. Thanks also to all those who are quoted in this post and thanks to the publishers of these videos on YouTube.

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INFORMATION ABOUT LORD KITCHENER (CALYPSONIAN)
From http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lord_Kitchener_(calypsonian)
"Aldwyn Roberts (18 April 1922 – 11 February 2000), better known by the stage name Lord Kitchener (or "Kitch"), was one of the most internationally famous calypsonians.[1]

He moved to Port of Spain and had his first commercial success in 1942 with the calypso song "Green Fig" (also known as "Mary, I am Tired and Disgusted"). By 1945, he was known as Lord Kitchener. He toured Jamaica for six months in 1947-8 with Lord Beginner (Egbert Moore) and Lord Woodbine (Harold Philips) before they took passage on the Empire Windrush to England in 1948.

He found further success in the UK in the 1950s, building a large following in the expatriate communities of the West Indian islands. His fame continued throughout the 1950s, when calypso achieved international success. Kitchener became a very important figure to those first 5,000 West Indian migrants to the UK. His music[4] spoke of home and a life that they all longed for but in many cases couldn't or wouldn't return to. He immortalised the defining moment for many of the migrants in writing the Victory Calypso with its lyrics "Cricket, Lovely Cricket" to celebrate West Indies cricket team's first victory over England in England, in the 2nd Test at Lord's in June 1950. This was one of the first widely known West Indian songs, and epitomised an event that historian and cricket enthusiast C. L. R. James defined as crucial to West Indian post-colonial societies. The song, later recorded by Lord Beginner, is rarely credited to Lord Kitchener although Tony Cozier and many who attended the Test at The Oval can attest that it was a Kitch composition...

Kitchener returned to Trinidad in 1962. He and the Mighty Sparrow proceeded to dominate the calypso competitions of the sixties and seventies. Lord Kitchener won the road march competition ten times between 1965 and 1976, more times than any other calypsonian. For 30 years, Kitchener ran his own calypso tent, Calypso Revue, within which he nurtured the talent of many calypsonians. Calypso Rose, David Rudder, Black Stalin and Denyse Plummer are among the many artists who got their start under Kitchener's tutelage. Later he moved towards soca, a related style, and continued recording until his death. Kitchener's compositions were enormously popular as the chosen selections for steel bands to perform at the annual National Panorama competition during Trinidad Carnival. He recorded his most commercially successful song, "Sugar Bum Bum" in 1978. He retired in 1999."...
-snip-
The Calypsonian Lord Kitchener took his name from Lord Horatio Kitchener (1850 - 1916). "Kitchener was a British military leader and statesman who, as secretary of state for war in the first years of World War One, organised armies on an unprecedented scale. He was also depicted on the most famous British army recruitment poster ever produced." http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/historic_figures/kitchener_lord_horatio.shtml

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SHOWCASE VIDEO: Kitchener - Nosey Mother - In - Law.wmv

roger Ramirez, Uploaded on May 16, 2010

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LYRICS: NOSEY MOTHER-IN-LAW
(Lord Kitchener)

It’s worse than before.
I’m tired of this nosey mother-in-law.
It’s worse than before.
I do not like that nosey mother-in-law.
They become a nuisance to married life
They want to tell you how to live with your wife
Well, it is misery, sorrow, and war
To live with a nosey mother-in-law

They come to your place.
They want to be a ruler in every case.
They lie down in bed
And it’s your wife got to do all the work instead
At 10 o clock they ain’t get up yet
And they ordering they coffee and cigarette
So it is misery, sorrows, and war
To live with a nosey mother-in-law

The wife may be nice
But the mother will surely give her bad advice.
“Your husband no good
And he doesn’t treat you as he really should.”
So she listens to what the mother say
Then comes the fighting and quarrelling.
Boys, it is misery, sorrows, and war
To live with a nosey mother-in-law.

As you turn your back
The mother –in-law starts to make your attack.
“Don’t you see the man is gone out too long
Why don’t you leave him and come back home?”
So that is the ending of everything
Your wife presents you back with the ring.
So it is misery, sorrows, and war
To live with a nosey mother-in-law
-snip-
Transcription from the recording by Azizi Powell. Additions and corrections welcome.

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Lord Invader - Crisis In Arkansas (sound file & lyrics)

Edited by Azizi Powell

This post showcases the Lord Invader song "Crisis In Arkansas". A sound file of and lyrics for that Calypso song are presented in this post along with notes from that recording about that song. In addition, this post provides information about Lord Invader and information about the historical event that song refers to.

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

All copyrights remain with their owners.

Thanks to the musical legacy of Lord Invader. Thanks to John Cowley, the author of the record notes that are quoted in this post and thanks to cvbagva, the publisher of this sound file on YouTube.

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INFORMATION ABOUT LORD INVADER
From http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lord_Invader
Lord Invader (Rupert Westmore Grant; 13 December 1914 – 15 October 1961) was a prominent calypsonian with a very distinctive, gravelly voice.

He was born in San Fernando, Trinidad. He became active in calypso in the mid-1930s, and was considered a country bumpkin by his contemporaries, because of his humble beginning. It was Grant's tailor who gave him his moniker by commenting, "I tell you, Rupert, you should call yourself Lord Invader so when you go up to the city you be invadin' the capital." With a new name, in 1937 he went to the capital city of Port of Spain and began his career in earnest.

He competed in many calypso competitions (including the very first Calypso King competition) and recorded for RCA Bluebird. Lured by Decca Records, he travelled to New York City in 1941 with other calypsonians such as Roaring Lion and Atilla the Hun to make records and promote calypso music. He wrote many calypsos; his most famous lyrics, "Rum and Coca-Cola", were plagiarised by Morey Amsterdam and became a hit for the Andrews Sisters. Invader travelled to New York and sued, eventually winning compensation, although the final settlement allowed Amsterdam to retain his copyright. Ironically, In the early 1940s, radio stations in the USA would not play his own version on the grounds of its using the copyrighted name, Coca-Cola, and its references to prostitution and alcohol. He stayed in New York for a few years because of the lengthy court case. During his tenure in New York City, he became a fixture in the local calypso scene and recorded many tracks for Moses Asch. Eventually, he won his court case, but would not see his settlement check for seven years, so he returned to Trinidad in the meantime"...

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From http://www.folkways.si.edu/TrackDetails.aspx?itemid=39832
Calypso in New York; Lord Invader SFW40454, Year of Release 2000
"Inspired improvisation and compelling rhythms, created by piano, small orchestra, and sometimes a drum and hand clapping, characterize these performances, which Lord invader (Rupert Westmore Grant, 1914-1962) recorded for Moses Asch in the 1940s and 1950s. Whether recounting events in Trinidad, describing his experiences in New York City, performing traditional songs, or criticizing American racism, Lord Invader combines rhythms and ideas in his unique calypsonian fashion. Thirteen of the 26 tracks are released here for the first time. Extensive annotations by John Cowley include lyrics, bibliography, and discography. 73 minutes. 32-page booklet. Compiled and annotated by John Cowley."

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INFORMATION ABOUT THE SONG "CRISIS IN ARKANSAS"
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Little_Rock_Nine
"Little Rock Nine were a group of African American students enrolled in Little Rock Central High School in 1957. Their enrollment was followed by the Little Rock Crisis, in which the students were initially prevented from entering the racially segregated school by Orval Faubus, the Governor of Arkansas. They then attended after the intervention of President Eisenhower."...

Several segregationist councils threatened to hold protests at Central High and physically block the black students from entering the school. Governor Orval Faubus deployed the Arkansas National Guard to support the segregationists on September 4, 1957. The sight of a line of soldiers blocking out the students made national headlines and polarized the nation"...

By the end of September 1957, the nine were admitted to Little Rock Central High under the protection of the U.S. Army (and later the Arkansas National Guard), but they were still subjected to a year of physical and verbal abuse (being spat on and called names) by many of the white students"...

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SHOWCASE EXAMPLE: Crisis in Arkansas- Lord Invader



cvbagva, Uploaded on Jul 18, 2010

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LYRICS: CRISIS IN ARKANSAS
(Lord Invader)

Yes, Governor Faubus, are you delirious?
If not, show me the reason why you against us
Governor Faubus, are you delirious?
If not, show me the reason why you against us.
Negroes not wanted with Whites in the same school
If I had my way, I'd surely go down with a chain tongue
And break that governor’s tongue.

Chorus:
Please take off that black bowtie, lay-o!
And that black tuxedo.
You're calling us names, yet you're wearing black.
Please take off everything black off your back.

If you ever stop to think that we are all human
You will be a humanitarian.
Instead, you are encouraging segregation
And do not believe in integration.
But God made us all and in him we trust.
Nobody in this world is better than us.
One day you will be made to realize
Six feet of earth makes us all of one size.

So take off that black bowtie, lay-o!
And that black tuxedo.
You hate all us blacks, yet you're wearing black.
Please take off everything black off your back.

Some said it's for political reason
Why you are such a naïve person,
But of late you have studied, everyone knows,
That you have a fear for us Negroes.
That's why you are violating every law,
And closing up the schools in Arkansas.
I think that is high class ignorance
You are afraid of the Negroes' intelligence.

So take off that black bowtie, lay-o!
And that black tuxedo.
You hate all us blacks, yet you're wearing black.
Please take off everything black off your back.

In my opinion, there's nothing but gorilla action
Depriving the kids of their education
When they can become eminent lawyers
Politicians, scientists and doctors
Like Clayton Powell or Bustamante
Doctor Ralph Bunche or Doctor Maloney
Then they can climb the ladder of fame
And utilize their atomic brain.

So take off that black bowtie, lay-o!
And that black tuxedo.
You hate all us blacks, yet you're wearing black.
Please take off everything black off your back.
-snip-
Lyrics and notes from John Cowley about that song from http://media.smithsonianfolkways.org/liner_notes/smithsonian_folkways/SFW40454.pdf
[Song #23 in the record "Calypso In New York"] :

[Information about the crisis in Arkansas]
..."With [Lord Invader's] civil rights credentials established by his interpretation of “God Made Us All”, Invader used lines from the earlier song in the second verse of “Crisis In Arkansas”. Trenchantly, he points to inconsistencies in the segregationist position and identifies the benefits of education to Black people in the United States and the Caribbean. "

Adam Clayton Powell 1908-1972 an outspoken advocate of civil rights, and US representative (1945-67 and 1969-71)

Alexander Bustamante- Jamaican labor leader and politician who served as chief minister (1935-55) and prime minister (1962-67)

Dr. Ralph Johnson Bunche (1904-1971), First African American to be a division head in the US Dept of State, he later served with the United Nations

Dr. Alfred Hamilton Maloney, (1888-1955), a Trinidadian who became Professor and Head of the department of Pharmacology of Howard University, Washington, D.C. He was also author of books on race and politics.

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Congotay Children's Game (words, play instructions, and comments)

Edited by Azizi Powell

This post presents the words to & performance instructions, for the Caribbean children's game song "Congotay". This post also includes a comparison of this game with other British, Caribbean, American children's games and my comments about the possible early meaning of that game.

This serves as a companion post to http://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2014/03/what-one-day-congotay-congote-means.html. That post provides information and comments about the meanings of the proverb "One day one day Congotay (Congote)".

This also serves as a companion post to http://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2014/03/the-love-circle-one-day-congote.html The Love Circle - "One Day Congote (Congotay)" sound file & lyrics

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

All copyrights remain with their owners.

Thanks to thanks to all those who are quoted in this post.

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OVERVIEW OF THE WORD "CONGOTAY"
I have found three online uses for the word "Congotay" ("Congo-tay", "Congote", "Congo-te")
Given in the order of the most often found meaning and the least often found meaning online:
1. "Congotay" refers to the "old" proverb (saying) "One day Congotay". Old" here probably refers to the 19th century, but I can't substantiate this guess.

Most online sites associate this proverb with Trinidad & Tobago and with Grenada.

This sub-category also includes the use of "Congotay" in songs such as The Love Circle's record which is showcased in the previous pancocojams post whose link is given above.

2. "Congotay" is the name of a Caribbean* children's game and is the refrain used in the chant for that game.

*Online and off-line sources that I've found associate this game with Tobago, but it may have also been played in Trinidad and in other Caribbean nations. I used past tense, but this game may still be played in the Caribbean and, by dissemination, elsewhere.

3."Congotay" refers to a Caribbean* prepared food.
*Caribbean here also means "Tobago" but may also mean Trinidad and other West Indian nations.
-snip-
This post focuses on the use of "Congotay" as the title of an refrain in a children's game.

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OVERVIEW OF THE CHILDREN'S GAME
"Congotay" is a children's chasing game that begins as a line game.* My guess is that the "One day Congotay" proverb was created before the singing game (which also includes the words "one day".
According to Candice Goucher, author of Congotay! Congotay! A Global History of Caribbean Food, this game was first recorded by J.D. Elder in 1936. A description from J. D. Elder about the performance activity associated with this game is given below.

*Congotay & other line games & dances is the name of a 1996 book by David G Woods (Publisher: Chicago, Ill. GIA Publications, ©1996.). A summary of that book reads:
"A collection of traditional line games and dances for use as a supplemental resource in a comprehensive elementary music curriculum.
-snip-
Note that this book refers to "Congotay" and the other featured games as "traditional". However, although this book is cited numerous times online, I haven’t been able to find a listing online or any of the words to any of its featured games (as they are found in that book). Also "traditional" isn't defined in any of the citations for this book ("Traditional" in which cultures? When were these examples first collected which would make them traditional?)

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TEXT TEXT EXAMPLES
Here are two text examples of that game. Unfortunately, to date, I've not been able to find any YouTube sound files or videos of this game.

Here are two examples of this rhyme. My guess is that example #1 is older than example #2:

Example #1:
One day, one day
Congotay!
I meet an ol' lady,
Congotay!
With a box of chickens,
Congotay!
I ask her for one,
Congotay!
She did not give me,
Congotay!
She’s a greedy mama
Congotay!
-as given by Candice Goucher in the chapter "The Enslaved Africans Kitchen" (p. 67) of her 2013 book Congotay! Congotay! A Global History of Caribbean Food books.google.com/books?isbn=0765642174

Here's the preface that Candice Goucher wrote about this game song:
“On the island of Tobago Congotay is a simple tag-and-capture team game in which half the children are chickens and half are attackers. The attackers try to get past the female leader , “the greedy mama:, to capture her chickens for their side. First recorded by J.D. Elder in 1936, the Congotay song and dance is still remembered in various parts of the Caribbean, where the children’s laughter punctuates the lines of the song

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Example #2:
One day, one day
Congotay
I went down to the bay.
Congotay
I meet an ol' lady,
Congotay
With a bag of chickens,
Congotay
I ask her for one,
Congotay
But she wouldn't give me,
Congotay
She's a greedy Mama,
Congotay
So I took it anyway.*

" 'Congotay' is an alternating chant game in which two lines of children stand facing each other with the leader (Mama) of one side protecting the children (chickens) behind her."
- from the 1996 book Down By The River: Afro-Caribbean Rhymes, Games, And Songs For Children
compiled by Grace Hallworth and illustrated by Caroline Binch. (New York: Scholastic Inc, 1996)
-snip-
Given the two acknowledgements/dedications in that book are for two people from Tobago, it appears that these examples in that book come from the Caribbean nation of Tobago.

*I believe that this line is a later addition to the words of this song, but that's just my guess.

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OTHER PLAY INSTRUCTIONS
From http://books.google.com/books?id=nL1aAAAAMAAJ&focus=searchwithinvolume&q=congotay
Jacob D. Elder
American Folklore Society, Jun 1, 1965 - Social Science – 119 [Google books]page 54
"Movements: captured “chickens” are then added to the attackers’ side

The attackers chant “one day one day”, and the “chickens” reply “Congotay”

From time to time the leader of the attackers attempts to get past the greedy “Mama”."
-snip-
In his essay "Recall....Growing Up In Tobago" that is included in the 1997 book Brown Girl In The Ring: An Anthology Of Song Games From the Eastern Caribbean collected & documented by Alan Lomax, J. D. Elder, and Bess Lomax Hawes, J.D. Elders recalls both boys and girls in Tobago playing chasing games. However, the game "Congotay" isn't among the 68 games that are included in that book.

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COMPARISON OF "CONGOTAY" WITH OTHER CHASING GAMES
Several children's chasing games involve children in the role of "chickens" being protected by their mother from attackers. Among those games are "Bull Inna Penn" (original source location: Jamaica), “Chicamy" (original source location: The United Kingdom); and "Chicka Ma Chicka Ma Craney Crow" (African American version of "Chicamy", given as "Hawk and Chickens" in Thomas W. Talley's 1922 book Negro Folk Rhymes: Wise and Otherwise.

Other closely related children's chasing games in the United States are "What's the time, Mr. Wolf", "What time is it Mrs. Witch", "What's The Time, Mr Fox", and "I'm going downtown to smoke my pipe".

To serve as an example, here is a description of "Bull Inna Penn" from Xavier Murphy; "Games played by children in Jamaica" http://www.jamaicans.com/culture/intro/childgames.shtml, Published May 1, 2002, retrieved October 29, 2010:
"[Bull Inna Penn] is a tense, rough and super exciting game, much loved by every child (and adults) in Jamaica.

This game is basically a story of a mother hen and her chicken, a bull in the pen and a hawk.

The mother hen is protecting her brood who are tightly lined up behind her, each little chick clutching tightly onto each other and in step with every move that mother hen does.

The Bull is standing a couple feet in front of mother hen, taunting and jeering, making noise, and trying everything to reach behind Mother Hen to grab one of her precious chicks. The game has a song and little play..."
-snip-
Visit my Cocojams cultural website for examples of words and play instructions for these games http://www.cocojams.com/content/childrens-game-songs-and-movement-rhymes. mo

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MY SPECULATION ABOUT THE EARLY MEANING OF THE CHILDREN'S GAME "CONGOTAY"
My folkloric approach to children’s rhymes, cheers, and game songs starts with the premise that the words to many of those compositions have meanings that may have been forgotten and/or changed over time. With regard to Afro-Caribbean and African American children's games and rhymes, like dance songs and work songs, the words to these compositions may have had coded meanings to shield people from the negative consequences that would occur if their criticism, protest, and/or revolutionary intentions were recognized and understood. These folk songs are ways of “hiding in plain sight” anti-systems criticisms, protests, if not revolutionary intents.

To clarify, a game can have English (United Kingdom) sources, or other Anglo sources and mean something else or some thing more when that game is adapted by Black people in the Caribbean, in the United States, or elsewhere. Also to clarify, if the game "Congotay" is still played now or even when it was played in the mid 1960s, I doubt if the children playing that game gave it that same meaning as the speculative meaning that I've shared here.

My guess is that the early meaning of the word "Congotay" in this game song from Tobago is the same as the meaning of that word in the Caribbean proverb: "You might get away with doing wrong today but one day it will catch up with you." As I presented in http://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2014/03/what-one-day-congotay-congote-means.html, the word "Congotay" (Congote) probably originally meant "Congo Day" with "Congo" being a referent for Black people and White people were those who were getting away with doing wrong.

What confused me about the game "Congotay" is that the mama who is protecting her chicks from being captured is presented as “the bad guy” (since the Mama is described as being “greedy”.) Presumably, that means that the attackers are “the good guys”. You would think that those good/bad roles would be reversed.

Since chickens are food that people eat, I wonder if the attackers felt justified for stealing the chickens in order to supplement their meager diet. Perhaps the word “congotay” and its promise that one day justice will prevail alludes to the end of systems that caused people to be in such dire conditions that they felt they had to attempt to steal had to steal from those who had plenty in order to get adequate food.
-snip-
"Stealing chickens" is a theme in several antebellum African American social songs that are included in Thomas W. Talley's Negro Folk Songs: Wise And Otherwise. Click http://www.cocojams.com/content/food-beverages-mentioned-thomas-w-talley%E2%80%99s-negro-folk-rhymes for those examples.

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Machel Montano - "Ministry Of The Road" (videos & lyrics)

Edited by Azizi Powell

This post showcases three videos of and lyrics for Machel Montano's song "Ministry Of The Road". "Ministry Of The Road" (M.O.R) is the 2014 Trinidad & Tobago Carnival's Soca Road March Song.

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

All copyrights remain with their owners.

Thanks to the composers of this song. Thanks also to Machel Montano for performing this song and thanks to the publishers of these videos on YouTube.

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FEATURED VIDEOS
Video #1: Machel Montano: Ministry Of The Road”

Machel Montano - Ministry Of Road (M.O.R.) | Official Music Video | Soca 2014| Trinidad Carnival


Machelmontanomusic Published on Feb 21, 2014

Song Written by Jelani "Pops" Shaw, Kasey Phillips, Nikholai Greene & Machel Montano
Produced & Mixed by P.A.G.E., Precision Productions & Machel Montano
Background Vocals by Nikita Browne, Jenna De Leon & Jelani Shaw
Mastered by Mike Wells, CA

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Video #2: MACHEL MONTANO | MINISTRY OF ROAD (M.O.R) | LYRICS



MrCaribKaraoke, Published on Jan 20, 2014

Lyrics video for Machel Montano's MOR ( Ministry of Work ), written by Jelani Shaw, Machel Montano and Kasey Phillips, produced by Precision Productions

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Video #3: Machel Montano - "Ministry of Roads" Winning Performance Power Soca Monarch 2014 [HD]



Mike Sam, Published on Mar 1, 2014

Power Soca Monarch Results
1. Machel Montano - "Ministry Of The Road"
2. Hollice "Mr Kill@" Mapp - "Rolly Polly"
2. Neil Iwer George - "Mama Oye"
2. Destra Garcia - "Mash Up"

2014 International Soca Monarch Finals (Power & Groovy Categories) at Haseley Crawford Stadium
-snip-
Notice the three way tie for second place.
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LYRICS*
(Jelani "Pops" Shaw, Kasey Phillips, Nikholai Greene & Machel Montano)

Work! Work! Work Work!
Down on de ground (3x)
So giwwe more
We wa more
Giwwe more
We wa more!
And giwwe stage
We wa staaaage
Down on de ground (3x)
We wa staaaage
Down on de ground (4x)

See for dis carnival
Nobody waiting long
Cya stay in a traffic jam
Or wait by de hospital
We ready to make a mas
Trucks dem line up in town
People ready to run
One million coming down
Or wait by de hospital
We ready to make a mas
Trucks dem line up in town
People ready to run
One million coming down
Ah say

On de road or in a party
We come to work!
When you jamming on somebody
Ah say
On de road or in a party
We come to work!
When you jamming on somebody
We come to work!
Make a decision
Work!
To mash up every ground
Work!
When yuhsee carnival come

Giwwe a Ministry a’ Rooooad
More road
To build when we mash up on de road
More road.
Fix up when we movin to de stage
More stage
Nobody cya stop we
If iz lock up, charge or pay money

Giwwe road
We have authority now to…
Work! [3x]
We have authority now to…
Work [4x]
Down on de ground! [4x]
Jump on de ground now
Work!
Mash up de ground now
Work!
Jump on de ground now
Work!
Mash up de ground now
Work!
Say, mash it up now
Work!
Yah, mash it up now
Work!
Hey, mash it up now
Work!
Say, mash it up now
Work!

Say giwwe more
We wa more
Giwwe more
We wa more!
And giwwe stage
We wa stage
Down on de ground [3x]
We wa stage
Down on de ground [4x]
As we come off de stage
Dey say dat we break it down
Yes, we mash up d place
To build it back up in town.

Coming round de savannah
Heading down by de square
We building up everything
When we done mash up everywhere
To build it back up in town
Ah saaaay-aaa

Look at all the 18-wheelers rollin’
We come to work!
Watch material they totin’
We come to work!
Make a decision
Work!
To mash up every ground
Work!
When you see carnival come

Giwwe a Ministry a' Roooad
More road
To build when we mash up on de road
More road.
Fix up when we movin to de stage
More stage
Nobody cya stop we
If iz lock up, charge or pay money
Giwwe road
We have authority now to…
Work! [4x]
Down on de ground! [4x]
Jump on de ground now [etc]
[repeat “We want more etc]

We want more! [7x]
Giwwe a Minstry a’ Road
More road
To build when we mash up on de road
We want more!
Giwwe a Minstry a’ Road
More road
To build when we mash up on de road
We want more!
Fix up when we moving to de stage
More stage
More road
Fix up when we moving to de stage
More stage
Nobody cya stop we [etc]
[continue repeating previous lyrics]

*These are partial lyrics that I transcribed from the words given in the video that is presented above as Example #2.
-snip-
One of the reasons why the song "Ministry Of The Road" is so creative is the dual meanings for certain of its words. Besides it's standard English meaning, in this song the word "work" and the phrase "work it" means "to do something (such as dance) very well".

The word "mash up" in this song is another example of the songwriters' creativity. I'm presuming that "mash up" has the same meaning in this Trini song as it does in the definition given in this online Jamaican dictionary: http://niceup.com/patois.html "Mash up"/"Mash down" means "destroy" and "Mash it up" means "a huge success". "Destroy" here probably has the same meaning as "killed it" in African American slang (to do something exceptionally well, in this case, performing very well.) Notice that "Mash Up" is the title for one of the three songs that tied for second place in the Soca Monarch Finals given above.
-snip-
Here are standard English words for a few other words from the "Ministry Of The Road" song:
giwwe - give us
wa - want
cya - can't

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RELATED LINK
http://everybodysmag.com/trinidad-tobago-carnival-results/

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Mighty Sparrow - Yankees Gone (Jean & Dinah) sound files, lyrics, & comments

Edited by Azizi Powell

This post showcases Mighty Sparrow's Calypso song "Yankee Gone ("Jean And Dinah"). This post also includes information about Mighty Sparrow, information & comments about that now classic Calypso song, as well as portion of that song's lyrics & a link to the song's full lyrics.

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

All copyrights remain with their owners.

Click http://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2013/11/caribbean-patois-in-youtube-video.html for a clip of a video that includes an interview with Mighty Sparrow about "Jean And Dinah" and an early film clip of Sparrow singing portions of "Jean And Dinah". That post focuses on the use of Caribbean Patois in some viewer comments about that video.

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INFORMATION ABOUT MIGHTY SPARROW
From http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mighty_Sparrow
"Slinger Francisco CMT (born July 9, 1935), better known as Mighty Sparrow, is a calypso singer, songwriter, and guitarist of Trinidadian citizenship. Known as the "Calypso King of the World", he is one of the best-known and most successful calypsonians. He has won Trinidad's Carnival Road March competition eight times, Calypso King/Monarch eight times, and has twice won the Calypso King of Kings title...

Slinger Francisco was born in the fishing village of Grand Roy, Grenada, West Indies on July 9, 1935. He moved to Trinidad with his mother, his father having relocated there in 1937.[1][2] He grew up in Port of Spain.[citation needed] He began singing as a small child, but his love of calpyso was discouraged while at Newton Boys Catholic School, where he sang in the choir.[1][2] At the age of 14 he joined a steel band comprising neighborhood boys, and performed with the band at Carnival.[1]
He received his performing name 'Little Sparrow' during his early career, as a result of his energetic stage performances:

Your calypso name is given to you by your peers, based on your style. In the old days they tried to emulate British royalty. There was Lord Kitchener, Lord Nelson, Duke. When I started singing, the bands were still using acoustic instruments and the singers would stand flat footed, making a point or accusing someone in the crowd with the pointing of a finger, but mostly they stood motionless. When I sing, I get excited and move around, much like James Brown, and this was new to them. The older singers said "Why don't you just sing instead of moving around like a little Sparrow." It was said as a joke, but the name stuck. [3]
—Mighty Sparrow

After a couple of years he changed his stage name to 'Mighty Sparrow'. His first performance as a carnival singer came in 1954 with "The Parrot and the Monkey", and in 1956, Sparrow won Trinidad's Carnival Road March and Calypso King competitions with his most famous song, "Jean and Dinah" (aka "Yankees Gone", a song celebrating the departure of US troops from Trinidad).[5] Sparrow made his recording debut in 1956, with a live performance of "Yankees Gone" which was included in the album Jump Up Carnival in Trinidad.[5] His prize for winning the Calypso King title was $40.[ In protest of the small sum (the winner of the Carnival Queen beauty contest won $7,500), he wrote the song "Carnival Boycott" and attempted to organize other singers to boycott the competition.[5] About half of the singers followed, including Lord Melody.[3] Sparrow claims credit for succeeding improvements in the conditions of calypso and steelband musicians in Trinidad, as well as the formation of the Carnival Development Committee, a musicians' assistance organization.[6] Sparrow refused to officially participate in the competition for the next three years, but he continued to perform unofficially, even winning another Road March title in 1958 with "P.A.Y.E...

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FEATURED SOUND FILES
(These examples are placed in chronological order based on the date of their posting on YouTube with the oldest dated example presented first.)

Example #1: Mighty Sparrow - Jean & Dinah



CanchozI, Uploaded on Sep 14, 2008

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Example #2: Yankees Gone"(Jean and Dinah) The Mighty Sparrow
(Calypso Crown winner-Dimanche Gras 1956)



Glenroy Joseph, Published on Sep 14, 2012

In 1956 a young newcomer to the calypso scene won the calypso crown in his first appearance on the big stage.

From the 1956 Emory Cook album, Jump Up Carnival, here is the actual Dimanche Gras performance by the Mighty Sparrow of his winning calypso, "Yankees Gone."
-snip-
From http://www.africasounds.com/trinidad_calypso.htm
"Dimanche Gras is the Sunday before Carnival day and the official beginning to the carnival season which has been in full swing for days....

The [year's] King and Queen of Carnival and the Calypso Monarch are to be chosen on this night in Queen's Park. The event includes a pan competition as well but it is an opportunity to see the great practitioners of Calypso music in dramatic confrontation that is the draw that fills the stands."

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INFORMATION ABOUT THE SONG "JEAN AND DINAH"
From http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jean_and_Dinah
" 'Jean and Dinah' (When The Yankees Gon)is a calypso from Trinidad and Tobago in the Caribbean sung by calypsonian Mighty Sparrow that became an international hit in 1956. It was also his first of eight roadmarches. This calypso, Sparrow's first hit, commented on the large-scale prostitution that the bases once supported and the desperation of these prostitutes following the closure of many American military bases in Trinidad in the post-war period.[1]
-snip-
"Jean And Dinah" (1956)was the first of Mighty Sparrow’s eight road wins marches.
From http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roadmarch
"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."

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COMMENTS ABOUT THE SONG "JEAN AND DINAH"
From http://jamaica-gleaner.com/gleaner/20021127/ent/ent1.html
"Sparrow, the concerned Caribbean villager"
November 27, 2002 By Mel Cooke
..."Sparrow integrated concerns of nationalism into his music from the beginning of his recording career, which started with the immortal Jean And Dinah. He had 'words but no song' and, hearing jingles by other calypsonians on the airwaves, he was determined to do one himself. So the ambitious young lyrical Slinger did one and approached the largest company, as each jingle was sponsored by a particular business.

"I thought it was good, but after five attempts the owner of the place said 'no thanks', but we will give you two dollars for your trouble," Sparrow recalled.

However, Sparrow was totally entranced by the tune and when the Americans left the military base in Chaguaramas some time later, it was the foundation of Jean and Dinah.

"When they were here we could not get any girls. The girls were always meeting 'Joe' (as the US soldiers were called). Then when they decided to leave I wrote a song, Jean and Dinah," Sparrow said, going back in time musically and vocally, his voice going high and youthful as he sang, ending with:
'De Yankee gone
Sparrow take over now'"

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From http://www.ecaroh.com/bmp/think/jeananddinah50.htm "'Jean and Dinah' turning 50" by Keith Smith
..."In July 2004 Keith Smith published ‘Jean and Dinah’ turning 50 “to acclaim not simply the singer [The Mighty Sparrow] but the song”. In this 2006 carnival season, we join in that acclaim to the calypsonian of the century.

...since the day following the night Sparrow sang "Jean and Dinah'' on that Savannah stage, calypso was never to be the same again, Sparrow remembering:
"I can see it as if it happening now. I got up there the night and I started to sing, the crowd, man, the crowd. From the first verse the stands were in an uproar...'', the good Dr Rohlehr, (Gordon, of course) writing for history (Calypso and Society in Pre-Independence Trinidad) that the topic (the Yankee withdrawal) "had been explored ad nauseam in the post-1945 period by Kitchener, Invader, Lion, Growler, Beginner and others. It was therefore remarkable that Sparrow was able to resuscitate it ten years later. It may be that the bitterness evoked by the presence of American soldiers as wealthier competitors in the skin-trade had outlasted them by a decade. It is, however, more likely that the calypso made its impact through the personality of Sparrow: his youth, vigour, confidence and the sense that he represented the newness of the time...Another reason for the popularity of "Jean and Dinah'' was the vitality and biting cynicism with which Sparrow was able to invest a worn-out theme. Consider the final stanza:
It's the glamour boys again
We are going to rule Port of Spain
No more Yankees to spoil the fete
Dorothy have to take what she get
All of them who used to make style
Taking their two shillings with a smile
No more hotel and Simmons bed*
By the sweat of thy brow shall thou eat bread.....
-snip-
“Simmons bed” a high quality type of mattress; From http://www.simmons.com/about “For over 140 years, Simmons has been introducing technological innovations to help the world sleep better… Today Simmons is one of the world’s leading names in bedding”…

I find this transcription interesting as that line is usually given as "No more hotel to rest your head".

Click http://www.elyrics.net/read/c/calypso-lyrics/jean-and-dinah-mighty-sparrow-lyrics.html for the complete lyrics to Mighty Sparrow's song "Yankee Gone" ("Jean And Dinah") that include that ending.

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Thanks to Slinger Franscico (Mighty Sparrow) for his musical legacy. Thanks also to all those who I quoted in this post and thanks to the publishers of these sound files on YouTube.

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