How to write a Calypso
How to write a Calypso . By Johnny Coomansinghw With regard to this topic, I have one caveat. I am not a calypsonian by profession. Nevertheless, I dabble in lyrical content that eventually lends itself to the creation of a calypso. So far, I have written quite a few calypsos including Doh Cry Papa Bois, Phoolbassiya—Guyana Tabanca, No Water, Saltfish Christmas, […]
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Caribbean News Global
By Johnny Coomansinghw

With regard to this topic, I have one caveat. I am not a calypsonian by profession. Nevertheless, I dabble in lyrical content that eventually lends itself to the creation of a calypso. So far, I have written quite a few calypsos including Doh Cry Papa Bois, Phoolbassiya—Guyana Tabanca, No Water, Saltfish Christmas, No Ham, Doh Bring Dem Back, and several others.

This leads to the question: What is a Calypso? Let me quote our good friend, Nobel Prize Laureate, Vidia S. Naipaul in his book The Middle Passage. Naipaul stated: “…calypso is a purely local form. No song composed outside Trinidad is a calypso. The calypso deals with local incidents, local attitudes, and it does so in a local language. The pure calypso, the best calypso, is incomprehensible to the outsider.” Mariacristina Petillo, in her article The Trinidadian Calypso as Oral Heritage: Linguistic and Cultural Issues in the Italian Translation of V.S, Naipaul’s ‘Miguel Street’ published in 2010 states:

“…any translator must be keenly aware of the linguistic problems that he/she may have to face when transposing calypsos into another language. More particularly, the Italian translation of Miguel Street shows that a twofold difficulty arises: firstly, the translator needs to decide how to reproduce the colloquial liveliness of the Creole language used for calypsos and, secondly, how to translate into Italian the manifold cultural data that all those popular ditties convey.”

I would not go into the different types of songs that some people tend to want to recognize as calypso. That’s for another rant. However, what I know as calypso involves the use of ‘double entendre’ ‘sexual innuendo’ and ‘satire.’

Quite late one night, my eight-year-old younger son told me that he had to sing a calypso at the Beach Camp School the next day. I exclaimed: “Tomorrow morning!” He answered in the affirmative. Thank heavens I had my cuatro (see photo) with me. With a cuatro, it was relatively easy to concoct the music to suit the song. He said he wanted to sing about the environment. I started working with him. I told him to write what he wanted to say in a little poetic form.

Here is a snippet of what we came up with:

Clean and tidy

“I want to tell you my friends,

For this I make no amends,

‘Bout people who do not care,

Dumping dey garbage anywhere.

Chorus

Keep yuh surroundings clean and tidy,

Nobody must call yuh Mister Nasty,

Ah clean place is ah healthy place,

My message tuh every class, creed, and race,

My message, O my message,

My message tuh every class, creed, and race.”

With the rendition of this song, he took first place from a field of 65 singers. This song was my second attempt of writing a calypso. On the said night, his elder brother also asked me to help him with his calypso. He wanted to sing about ‘Vagrants,’ so we set about writing the song:

Sorry for the vagrants

“I’m sorry for the vagrants

In this country

Leh mih tell yuh something

Each one is still somebody.

I’m sorry for the vagrants

Each one in in torment

See them sleeping

On the cold hard pavement.”

In essence, a calypso is at the basic level, a poem, a story, to which a musical score is attached. In writing my calypso titled No Water I piggy-backed on the ‘Mighty Shadow’s’ Snake in the Balizay… “…snake in the balizay and dey biting hard.” This calypso highlighted some of the problems that citizens are facing with getting a regular supply of potable water from the Water and Sewerage Authority (WASA) in Trinidad and Tobago.

Here’s a verse and a chorus:

No water

“It was ah snake dey say, that escape from di balizay

Ah snake dey say, that escape from di balizay

Dat start a big fire

In di WASA transformer

Water gone, water gone, O, look mih water gone!

Chorus

Mih toilet ah cannot flush…No water!

Look ah have tuh use the bush…No water!

No water tuh make some tea…No water!

No water, ah cannot pee…No water!

So ah ask tantie Kamla tuh fire di minister

And all dem big boys up in WASA.”

I have also written on ‘Domestic Violence.’ Written in Ontario, Canada, my calypso Phoolbassiya–Guyana Tabanca is a favourite. Under the shower with a soapy skin, this song just came to me. Still wet and dripping, wrapped in my towel, I left the shower in a flash, sat on the floor, and with a pen and a piece of scrap paper hurriedly scribbled the lyrics.

My sister’s center table ‘paid the cake’ with droplets of water. I went back to the shower, finished my bath and forgot about the piece of paper on the table.

I left Canada and flew back to North Dakota. While in flight I remembered the calypso and the piece of paper. As soon as we landed, I called my sister about the piece of paper. She told me that she tore up the paper and threw it in the garbage bin. I told her to retrieve every bit of it and stick the pieces back together. Thereafter, she mailed it to me. Thank heavens! These things happen. Here are the lyrics of the first verse and chorus:

Phoolbassiya – Guyana Tabanca

“Phoolbassiya, why yuh treat mih so?

Phoolbassiya, ah want yuh tuh know

Dat life with mih ah know was kinda hard

But ah never beat yuh all over the yard.

Chorus

Yuh living in ah dut house by the Caroni

Sonah in the hammick only smoking weed

He calling fuh dhal, bhat, and saheena

And I over here with tabanca in Guyana.”

Writing a calypso is easier if you could play an instrument. With the use of basic chordal progressions, a writer could apply musical definition to the lyrical content. I work out chords and rhythms with my cuatro. Here are some guidelines:

Choose your topic;

Organize what you want to sing about: Introduction, Chorus, in about 4-5 Stanzas;

It’s not necessary, but try an maintain a rhyming pattern;

Work out the metre of the lines…the beat…the most technical aspect;

Say what you have to say without smut. It’s not illegal to use double entendre, sexual innuendo or political satire, unless there is a law against these things in the constitution;

The use of the English language, dialect, patois, Hindi, Mandarin, all languages allowed;

Finally, put music to your poetry and sing it! Record it to keep the music;

Do not seek to hurt or defame anyone in the lyrical content.

Here’s what I wrote, an example political commentary:

Where dotishness abounds

“In Trinidad, yuh sell yuh fridge

Tuh buy ice…O gaddoye!

Yuh close yuh refinery. Total frass!

Tuh buy gas…wuh the ras!

Yuh close down sweet Caroni

Tuh buy sugar…from Rupununi…

Yuh doh care bout agriculture

Importing banana…and still waiting for yam from Ghana.

Ah hear dey want tuh sell WASA

Because people eh getting water…

T&TEC might go too,

All ah we come like boo-boo.”

One of my favorite calypsonians, in fact my favorite was Dr Leroy Caliste – Black Stalin who demonstrated what is real calypso. Here is a selection from Bun Dem, one of one of his songs that I appreciate to the hilt!

Bun Dem

“Judgement morning, ah by the gate and ah waiting

Because ah begging di Master, gimme ah work with Peter

It have some sinners coming, with them I go be dealing

Because the things that they do we, ah want to fix them personally.

Peter wait, Peter wait, Peter, look Cecil Rhodes by the gate…Bun he!

Peter, look the English man whe send Cecil Rhodes to Africa land…Bun he!

Peter, take Drake, take Raleigh, but leave Victoria for me…Bun she!

Peter, ah doh care what you say, but Mussolini, he cyar get away….Bun he!”

Aldwyn Roberts – The Lord Kitchener – otherwise known as The Grand Master is another of my favorites. He wrote songs that were highly applicable to the music of the steelpan instrument. In fact, history illustrates that the steelpan instrument was invented to interpret the music of calypso. Many of Lord Kitchener’s calypsos are still being interpreted by the steelpan, for example: Pan in A Minor. In my opinion, I don’t think that no one ever created a better tune for pan than Lord Kitchener. Here’s the vibe:

Pan in a minor

“They say to me they want a musical change in pan,

Well, I didn’t tell them yes,

But I didn’t tell them no!

I say, well, gentlemen, I gonna to do the best I can,

As long as you challenge me,

Well, I going to have a go!

(Beat pan!) Boogsie on the tenor; (Beat pan!) Bringing out the minor!

(Beat pan!) Up come the Professor; (Beat pan!) To add to the fire!

(Beat pan!) I calling on Bradley; (Beat pan!) To challenge Beverly!

(Beat pan!) Which mean Desperado; (Beat pan!) Go answer Tokyo!”

Now everybody knows about the Calypso King of the World – The Mighty Sparrow…The Birdie. I am in possession of many of his calypsos on my phone including, Lying Excuses, Obeah Wedding, Sasahyay, Big Bamboo, Marajin, Benwood Dick, We Like It So, etc. Many of his lyrics are loaded with sexual innuendo and of course, double entendre and political satire.

Take a taste of Sparrow:

We like it so

“Neighbor, look, if I was selfish man

I wouldn’t be involved in this election

I done old already, I ent want fame

Plus I ent looking for fortune again

All I asking is that you pay close attention to

The many problems we all face from dawn to dawn

You’re intelligent, I think, and you should face issues

But you behaving like a moron, cussin’ me fuh wey I born.”

In today’s world of calypso or ‘Kaiso’ as it is referred to, the older connoisseurs of kaiso feel a bit disgusted with the Party Jam type of calypso. As one person said to me, “That is what the young people like…that is what is making the money.” Here’s a bit of a Nadia Batson’s 2024 calypso:

Market

“If yuh lookin for sweetness to put inside a basket

I am di whole, di whole

Di whole blinkin’ market

And if yuh lookin’ for sexy to throw inside a basket

I am whole, di whole

Di whole blinkin’ market.”

Calypso is a good and powerful medium for dissemination messages to the masses. Nevertheless, as with everything else, we have to be reminded that in writing and/or singing calypso we must be careful not to cause hurt and embarrassment or defame anyone with our lyrics.

Gregory McBurnie in his article TUCO president on defamation ruling: Don’t use calypso as a weapon published January 30, 2024 by Newsday mentioned a court issue concerning defamation. Ainsley King -president of the Trinbago Unified Calypsonians Organization (TUCO) said that he had no issue with a court judgment ordering four-time Calypso Monarch Weston ‘Cro Cro’ Rawlins to pay businessman Inshan Ishmael $250,000 in damages for defamation.

“Justice Frank Seepersad, in his judgment said while some parts of Rawlins’ 2023 calypso Another Sat is Outside Again were ‘fair comment,’ there were defamatory portions which were ‘salacious and derogative.’” King added: “We have to maintain a level of respect and order in the place. And we cannot just do anything, say anything to people. I think calypsonians need to be careful because we have a beautiful art form, a real nice art form, and we shouldn’t use it as a weapon against people.”
Santa Lucía
Caribbean News And Beyond
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2024-11-20
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By Johnny Coomansinghw With regard to this topic, I have one caveat. I am not a calypsonian by profession. Nevertheless, I dabble in lyrical content that eventually lends itself to the creation of a calypso. So far, I have written quite a few calypsos including Doh Cry Papa Bois, Phoolbassiya—Guyana Tabanca, No Water, Saltfish Christmas, […]
The post How to write a Calypso appeared first on Caribbean News Global.
How to write a Calypso