BASSETERRE, St. Kitts – We have to wake up to the fact that we have in our midst the very essence of indigenous entertainment and calypsonians are ready to mount the stage to captivate audiences with their lyrical judgments and anecdotal experiences.
These local sages of social issues stand shoulder to shoulder with the best of calypsonians anywhere in the region.
Their witty and creative lyrics, their can’t-keep-still tempos and their captivating stage presences have already begun to engage us since the opening of the Calypso Tents which could easily be called Calypso Courts as they pass judgments filled with humour in some extremely conscious pronouncements.
Collectively their social messages encapsulate the serious issues of our nation and their passion to set their country right has sometimes made them the modern day pastors of social and political enlightenment.
Taken together, the calypsonians long for the day ‘when we would unite and stop fight’, when ‘hostilities would cease’ and the streets would be no longer ‘full of lethal weapons’. They sing of the children who are becoming ’society’s problem’, of poverty, of ‘criminals taking over’, of wayward fathers, of ‘brain drain’ and the absence of law and order.
They ask the audience and leaders to stop looking for ‘a white messiah to lead us to the Promised Land’ and not to let the ‘lands slip through our hands’. In a ‘world that is full of confusion, we need a solution’, hence we must ‘apologise’ as parents, ‘cherish our children’ and set good examples. They call for responsible leadership and an end to leaders whose ‘hunger for power was corrupting the land’, for as Starshield warned, “Woe to the Shepherd that leads his sheep astray.”
Unfortunately their lyrics never appear in print form and much of the social commentary that records the history of our experiences is lost and fade into history. Some calypsonians themselves do not even have their lyrics written down.
SKNVibes will try to put a stop to that and will be bringing in print form, from time to time, the lyrics of classic calypsos that carry insightful social commentary - calypsos that serve to educate the nation and affect public opinion.
We begin with ‘THE REAL HEALTH SCARE’ by Sylvester ‘King Socrates’ Hodge in which education can be found in every line. Hopefully in time a booklet with the lyrics of the poets of our time will be published.
THE REAL HEALTH SCARE
(c) Sylvester ‘King Socrates’ Hodge
Vs.1
At first I thought I’d treat it with a bit of humour,
When I heard the chief medical officer
Say we have the fattest women in the world per capita
Though I’m a fella who don’t mind the extra padding
I was certain Dr. Martin wasn’t joking
While researching for my song
What I found was astounding
Our current health situation
Needs our urgent focused attention
For obesity is a growing cause of concern
We now know it is one of the triggers
Of the four silent killers
Diabetes, strokes, hypertension & heart failure
Chorus
So if our nation’s health is truly our nation’s wealth,
Then I suggest we are in distress,
Judging by the food our people ingest
Then it’s no surprise that diabetes is on the rise,
Between the ages of 13 to 55,
The question is, how will they survive
The trauma of being amputees,
With kidney failure and heart disease,
Not to mention blindness and strokes,
Triggered by stress
So if our nation’s wealth is truly our nation’s health,
The fear of swine flu cannot compare to
What is indeed a growing health scare
Vs. 2
For just over fifty thousand people as a population,
There are four hospitals in the nation
And seventeen health centres between the islands
But when many people don’t have medical insurance,
This puts a drain on the finance,
Coupled with the high cost of medication
Specialized medical attention
Could easily wipe out your pension,
You may even have to mortgage your house and land
So for a healthier life in the long run,
Take these three ounces of prevention
Exercise, good diet and trips to your physician
Chorus
If our nation’s health is truly wealth,
Revisit our national dish
And replace the salted cod with fresh fish
As for the fast food chain,
Don’t grant anymore licence
Our nation’s health is in great distress,
Yet some see fast food chains as progress
But it’s high fat, low fibre, high sodium,
Lacking iron, zinc and potassium,
Vitamins A, B, C, D, E and calcium
So if our nation’s health is truly our nation’s wealth
That $5.00 Chinese our people crave,
We’re not saving but digging an early grave.
Vs.3
They’re many men, who dread the thought of prostate cancer,
Yet they’re afraid to take the little finger
To see if there’s anything malignant
So sad to say that some of them end up suffering,
Too late they find out the cancer is spreading
To add insult to injury, they’re impotent
When we know that early detection
Halts the onslaught of most condition
Some women won’t even go for a mammogram
Despite the wealth of health information,
We seem hell bent on health destruction
Now there’s a rise in substance abuse and alcoholism
Chorus
If our nation’s health is truly our nation’s wealth,
The cases of Elli Mat and Val T
Serve as a dose of reality
They’re less fortunate ones,
Who can’t raise the much needed funds,
Like some of our young ladies
With breast cancer in their twenties
For the expertise of the oncologist,
For the required dialysis,
Most people can ill afford to go abroad
So if the nation health is truly our nation’s wealth
We may have to copy the Cuban’s plan
And institute socialised medicine
Vs. 4
So now I’m talking to the leader of the nation
Though we seldom share most opinions
As diabetics, we can form an alliance
You in your role as a medical doctor
I as a social commentator
We can shake up the nation
From its indifference
Dr. you know about good nutrition
So when it comes to food importation
There are certain products you know, I know you can ban
Then I would emphasise in calypso,
That we eat the healthy food our farmers grow
Taking us back to the best use of our sugar lands
Chorus
So if our nation’s health is truly our nation’s wealth
Ban the junk food we are importing,
By paving the way for healthier living
These fertile lands
That we have toiled from generations
Has been blessed by the master’s hands
And hold the keys to good nutrition
So then for all the right reasons
Our children should grow healthy and strong
The prerequisite for a healthier wealthier nation
So if our nation’s health is truly a nation wealth
We won’t have to copy the Cuban’s plan
Our salvation lies in good nutrition.
(c) Sylvester ‘King Socrates’ Hodge
With thanks to King Socrates for allowing us to publish his lyrics. All calypsonians are invited to submit their lyrics to callender@sknvibes.com and if possible make themselves available for an interview.
