BASSETERRE, St. Kitts - The Calypso competitions may be over...and so is the Carnival season but the language of our culture is forever changed with new expressions from the calypsos.The language of our calypsonians will define us.
“Stay in you lane,” says Rockafella; “Bite and roll,” sings Fantastic Thunder and “Gimmie a Duggie,” relates the uninhibited and irrepressible ‘Unexpected’.
When locals go abroad and say any of these or “De Soap drop”, “Step on them” or “We always out,” those Kittinevisians hearing us will smile and say “Only in St. Christopher”.
But the calypso that titillated our imagination most and was adopted into the language of every sector of the society in 2007 was “Fo-cus” by Unexpected. Throughout the length and breadth of St. Kitts, the double meaning between ‘Of course’ and ‘Off course’ and ‘Fo-cus’ dominated the language of every ‘tut, mun and sam’.
Those expressions brought merriment and smiles to everyone’s lips – on the road, in the marketplace, in offices, in schools even in the pulpit and in the National Assembly!!
In keeping with our promise to bring you lyrics of classic calypsos which will live forever, we choose to relive at this time FO-CUS by Unexpected.
FO-CUS
by Unexpected
Everywhere I turn in this country
All kinda people complaining to me
Some of dem is Labour,
Some of dem is PAM
Anywhere I turn
They have the same song
Even the policeman dem
Keep on complaining
They used to get so much money
Outa de Treasury
They used to take sick leave
All like three weeks
And still get they salary
But Dougie call the Inquiry
And he stop it immediately
He say you have to go down
To Social Security
They say – he fo-cus
He really fo-cus
He fo –cus on we salary
He fo-cus, Dougie fo-cus
He focus on the Treasury
I say he fo-cus
And really fo-cus
He focus on he own business
If he fo-cus and truly fo-cus
The man gone in to real estate
He building plenty of houses
With someone name Car
But me nuh-nuh
If it is Mercedes or Toyota
But they building houses all over
- English is a funny language -
Well I went and ask me granny
Because she more Labour
Than anybody
Granny, do you see where Dougie
Taking this country?
She say, “Of course, of course”
I say, “ Granny do you see
Where he goin’ lead we?”
She say, “Of course, of course”
I say, “Granny, do you see
Where we all goin’ end up?”
She say, “Of course, of course”
I say, “Granny, everything
I asking you, you telling me
“of course”
Could you please explain to me?
She say, “Listen, and you goin’
answer now
So I started listening to me granny
She say, “Where do you think
A ship goin’ end up
If it don’t have a rudder
Navigator or compass?
Ah say “Off course, off course…
Off course…Of course!
It must fall off course..
I thought that he fo-cus
You say he focus
He focus on he own business
You say that he focus
He really fo-cus
If he truly focus
He wouldn’ta sell the Angelus
English is a funny language
I hear the police dem
In confrontation
Traffic police asking Chief of Police
“Chief, when this traffic
going stop be so still
Everyday things getting worse and worse
He say, I dun talk to Assim secretary
This is what they tell me
He fo-cus on the by-pass road
Right now we don’t have
Nothing to disclose
He fo-cus, he really fo-cus
Assim on de by-pass road
They say he fo-cus, he really fo-cus
He fo-cus on de by-pass road
All I say is…
English is a funny language,
a funny language,
A funny language..
Well the factory workers was bragging
‘bout Dougie
Tell them he won’t shut down
the sugar factory
But he get de money and it sweet him
And he start to send people all over
Banking
Now the sugar workers.
They there and grieving
And Cedric on the side
He promising
All you goin’ get de ethanol
And …de ethanol,
But all I can see ‘bout the ethanol
Is Bobo Caines telling
Round de town and up to now
The ethanol just can’t come
They say Cedric fo-cus
He really fo-cus
He fo-cus on the ethanol
Wha you say?
English is a funny language,
a funny language,
A funny language,
But ah like it on stage
Four girls from across in McKnight
Meet me up one night
Here what they telling me
Unexpected you could be the monarchy
But, whoa, seriously you got to…
They say you got to fo-cus
If you really fo-cus
You bound to be the monarchy
And if you focus, really focus
The king could really be Me
English is a funny language, a funny language
A funny language…
Got to watch how you accept it…
(c) Clement Gordon ‘De Unexpected’
To listen to Fo-cus please click the following link http://youtu.be/qr0j0WrEmDI
