Tag Archives: shelly tobitt

The Fire (Fyah)

(sung by Short Shirt; written and composed by Shelly Tobitt)

1.

A man who is a liar

A man who go and steal

Just because he’s hungry

And to give his children meal

We can understand his kind

We can also forgive his crime

A man who knows about it

And keep it a secret

He shows no dishonour

To safeguard his starving brother

And even though he’s damn wrong

We can all understand

And so we turn a blind eye

2.

A man who is a liar

A man who go and steal

Just because he’s in the position

To do what the hell he please

We can’t just turn our heads away

We must stand up and make him pay

And all those who surround him

Trying to protect him

They are just as guilty

And must suffer the penalty

We can’t let them walk away

And the truth be told

Let God forgive

But their heads go roll

Cho.

the fyah

the fyah coming after

don’t you see them smoking

don’t worry

let them go ahead and prosper

because their smoke

it will not last forever

man it’s blowing in the wind

and when it blows away

watch it

fyah (fyah, fyah, fyah)

oooh oh my

I could tell you how they lie

oooh oh my

they will swear and hope to die

while they dig out yuh eye

3.

A man who is a talker

Raise his voice and scream

Preaching fire and brimstone

Eternal wrath revealed

We can understand his kind

They prey upon the naive mind

Look to gain salvation

This is their solution

Go keep the commandments

Wash and clean your garments

Strip away your envy

And send them all your money

so they can live life …?

Cho.

the fyahthe fyah coming after

don’t you see them smoking

don’t worry

let them go ahead and prosper

because their smoke

it will not last forever

man it’s blowing in the wind

and when it blows away

watch it

fyah (fyah, fyah, fyah)

oooh oh my

I go tell you how they lie

oooh oh my

and ah so they love to cry

while they dig out yuh eye

4.

A man who is a talker

Who raie his voice and scream

For my friends and following

We must stop and think a while

We must not be fooled by smiles and lies

Those whose work are evil

Children of the devil

They will stop at nothing

To spread and sell their doctrine

Their lying and their cheating

Are just their colours showing

No joke

Just look out for their smoke

Cho.

I say

the fyah

the fyah coming after

don’t you see them smoking

just leave them

let them go ahead and prosper

because their evil

it will not last forever

man it’s blowing in the wind

and when it blows away

watch it

fyah (fyah, fyah, fyah)

oooh oh my

I could tell you how they lie

oooh oh my

they will swear and hope to die

while they dig out yuh eye

Transcribed by Joanne C. Hillhouse. Any errors are my own and unintentional. Question marks refer to lyrics that I was not able to decipher. To assist with the song lyrics data base project, contact us at wadadlipen@gmail.com 

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Press On (King Short Shirt – Shelly Tobitt)

Sometimes, it seems
The game is not worth the …
The object not worth the trouble
Press on, Press on; don’t give up
Sometimes, it seems
Only the wicked prosper
The righteous is left to suffer
Press on, Press on; don’t give up
Sometimes, it seems
Justice is really blind
Those who are wrong live right
Press on, Press on; don’t give up
Don’t give up, Don’t give up!

Cho.
Take your burden on your shoulders
Gird your loins and walk with pride
Yield not your soul to fill your purse
Better death than live a lie
For they must dry the sea
And they must move the sky
Before the righteous spirit die

Sometimes, it seems
Ignorance conquers all
Knowledge and wisdom fall
Press on, press on; don’t give up
Sometimes, it seems
Like ….
And violence come out to play
Press on, press on
Don’t give up
Sometimes, it seems
Truth will never come to light
Darkness covers all in sight
Press on, press on
Don’t give up, don’t give up
Don’t give up

Cho.
Take your burden on your shoulders
Gird your loins and walk with pride
Yield not your soul to fill your purse
Better death than live a lie
For they must dry the sea and they must move the sky
Before the righteous spirit die

Sometimes
It seems

Don’t give up
Don’t give up
Don’t give up

Cho.
Take your burden on your shoulders
Gird your loins and walk with pride
Yield not your soul to fill your purse
Better death than live a lie
For they must dry the sea
And they must move the sky
Before the righteous spirit die

 

Note: Lyrics are transcribed by ear and there are some gaps – help fill those gaps if you can. The Wadadli Pen lyrics data base and data base of Antiguan and Barbudan songwriters is a labour of love; help if you can. Lyrics are shared for informational purpose only; no profit is being made – all credit to Shelly Tobitt and King Short Shirt. We can’t ask you not to share the song lyrics because that’s kind of the point but do credit the writers and for the work involved in transcribing and building the linked data bases, credit Wadadli Pen. – JCH, Wadadli Pen blogger

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Hit Man


Artiste: Latumba
Writer-Producer: Shelly Tobitt
Arranger – Pelam Goddard

I coming from the country
They thought I was easy
They went as far as to call me a clown
They say I can’t dance
They say I can’t sing
They wanted to push me ‘round
But just like a swarm o’ honey bee
Sweet and stinging
I started singing
Now when I attack the city

the fans them shouting

Cho.
Hit man
Number one
Hit man
Jammin’ on
Oi when my music play
Oi See them break away
Oi they does jump and prance
Oi some afraid to dance
Oi cause the music sweet
Oi keep them on dere feet
Oi dey does bump dem toe
Oi when dem on the go
Hit man number one
Hit man
Jammin’ on and on and on and on
Oh Oh
Aye Aye
Oh Oh
Aye Aye

Some claim to be big stars
Two chords on my guitar
The calypso don’t have no variation
But still they claim to beat me
Don’t you see they’re crazy
Absolute exaggeration
My music is too upsetting
Lyrics catching
Melody flowing
I go make them scrub and dub and say
while the fans dem shout out at Jouvert

Cho.

This year is eruption
This year revolution
Pulsating rhythm ah go burn down this place
Them weak calypsonian
From Swallow to Junction
Even Short Shirt must get a taste
Yes when I leggo this Carnival
hear dem (Ai!)
Hit man coming (Ai!)
Short Shirt beware
Swallow get set
Your time is up
I deeply regret

Cho.
Hit man
Number one
Hit man
Jammin’ on
Oi when my music play
Oi See them break away
Oi they does jump and prance
Oi some afraid to dance
Oi cause the music sweet
Oi keep them on dere feet
Oi dey does bump dem toe
Oi when dem on the go
Hit man number one
Hit man
Jammin’ on and on and on and on
Oh Oh
Aye Aye
Let’s Jam
Get Set

Note: As usual, transcribed by me for information/education purposes – to share and inform about our Antiguan and Barbudan culture. No copyright infringement is intended. This is intended for inclusion in the growing song lyrics data base here on the sight and to continue building our records of local songwriters. Where there are gaps, please help us fill them. – Joanne C. Hillhouse, blogger and founder-coordinator of the Wadadli Youth Pen Prize. 

As with all content on Wadadli Pen, except otherwise noted, this is written by Joanne C. Hillhouse (founder and coordinator of the Wadadli Youth Pen Prize, and author of The Boy from Willow Bend, Oh Gad!, Dancing Nude in the Moonlight 10th Anniversary Edition and Other Writings, Musical Youth, With Grace, and Lost! A Caribbean Sea Adventure). All rights reserved. Subscribe to this site to keep up with future updates.

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Nobody Go Run Me (lyrics)

 

Night and day, ah ketching hell

people t’ink ah doing well

Jus’ because ah sing a few calypso

But that is my misery

calypso don’t make money

but most of them don’t know

that I have my axe to grind

just like any other man

existing in poverty

and this giant ghetto land

but I intend to hang on

tell them tell them for me

no dice

I ain’t gonna eat lice

I ain’t gonna grow old

sitting in the cold

not me

no way

they go have to beat me

they go have to eat me

or their heads go roll

 

Cho.

Tell them I say

I was born in this land

Ah go die in this land

nobody go run me from where me come from

Nobody go run me, lard

Nobody go run me

Nobaddy go run me

Nobaddy go run me

me mumma mus’ nyam

me puppa mus’ nyam

me woman mus’ nyam

me picknee mus’ nyam

Nobaddy go run me

Nobaddy go run me

Nobaddy go run me, lard

Nobaddy go run me

 

Life ain’t much for us to choose

Some will win and some will lose

but sometime life is so confusing

I had a lot of friends one time

whom I used to wine and dine

and gave them bread when they need it

now most ah dem against me

take me make big enemy

simply because I am not

what they all want me to be

and with their political views I cyan’t agree

but tell them for me no dice

I ain’t gonna eat lice

I ain’t gonna grow old

sitting in the cold

not me, Algie

No way

They go have to beat me

they go have to eat me

or their heads go roll

Cho.

 

Twelve years I at CDC

work at Halcyon for free

when they went bankrupt and had no money

because of my tolerance

they gave me the assurance

the job belongs to me

But I hear some people high

in our society

they don’t like my calypso

because they can’t control me

so they plan to kick out my ass

tell them tell them, Patty

no dice

I ain’t gonna eat lice

I ain’t gonna grow old

sitting in the cold

not me – Shorty

No way

Allyuh have to beat me

Allyuh have to bury me

more than six feet or more

Cho.

 

Election come and gone

some ah dem treat me with scorn

others put the whole ah Point against me

Tell them I don’t give a damn

I am going to sing my song

exactly as I see it

whoever want to make me

a political enemy

who feel that they playing god

and could wreck me life for me

tell them I ain’t running away

Tell them tell them for me

no dice

I ain’t gonna eat lice

I ain’t gonna grow old

sitting in the cold

not me – Shorty

no way

allyuh have to beat me

allyuh have to bury me

more than six feet ah mould

Cho.

 

Transcriber’s note: This was an oral transcription from listening to the track. I tried to capture the interplay of dialects and/or vernacular, and the diction that is so distinctively Short Shirt. This track – a personal favourite – is from the Ghetto Vibes album, 1976, written by Shelly Tobitt. No profit is being made; it is being shared here purely for informational purposes. – JCH

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Inspite of All (lyrics)

I’m not promising to make a habit of this (first Pledge now another set of King Short Shirt lyrics) …transcribing this stuff from the voice recording is time consuming…plus I’m not entirely sure every word is accurate … but for what it’s worth, here’s another classic from the Antiguan and Barbudan calypsonian known affectionately as the Monarch, because he is the winningest calypsonian in our history – count them 15 local Monarch crowns, plus Caribbean calypso king crowns, plus road march wins…

Short Shirt

In spite of All
(written by Shelly Tobitt – see other Antiguan and Barbudan songs and songwriters here)

At last, at long last, at last
Out of chaos and strife, we found a hope we’ve never known
A glimpse, just a glimmer, just a gleam
But a flicker of light like I have never seen
The voices of my people tells me that they’re reaching maturity
Their spirit shows that determination for a new society
Though plagued by injustice, misfortune, and strain
And constant oppression
I foresaw a change
Though we fail to get along
Is one thing we have in common
The oppression we bear
Will forge us as one

Cho.
Yet in spite of all our
Hardship and misery
And poor economics condition
We must struggle on
The state of affair at the moment indicate that a stand will have to be taken soon
By we, the people, ourselves
For our future’s sake
Can’t allow all our time, efforts and talents to waste
If we open up our eyes
We could soar the skies
And make this island a paradise
We can’t unite speaking with divided voices
Rise rise rise rise
People open up your eyes

Produce, that’s the answer,
Produce
Develop our own, use our own, and own our own
Despite our political views
We must all understand that we are part of this island
And the same stick licking the wild goat
The same stick licking the tame
Everybody drifting in the same boat
We all sinking just the same
Some of them are claiming that they have this country at heart
But their actions are showing
They splitting the people apart
And they pulling and tugging we
We so colour blind we can’t see
It’s no wonder we are used
And abused constantly

Cho.
Yet in spite…

Perhaps, just perhaps, I thought
The pressure we feel that is revealed the world around
Would serve us as a lesson that ought
To make us aware the needs to create lifestyle more sound
The principles of capitalism has left us an empty shell
The decadence of society is the results as well
Promote cooperation, knowledge, and skill
And industrial programmes that will be producing
A strong and hardworking man will
Be glad to own a piece of this land
And be rid of this cancer of foreign domination

Cho.
Yet in spite…

As with all content on wadadlipen.wordpress.com, except otherwise noted, this is written by Joanne C. Hillhouse (author of The Boy from Willow Bend, Dancing Nude in the Moonlight, Oh Gad!, Fish Outta Water, and Musical Youth). All Rights Reserved. Seriously, a lot of time, energy, love and frustration goes in to researching and creating content for this site; please don’t just take it up just so without even a please, thank you or an ah-fu-she-subben (credit). If you enjoyed it, check out my page on Amazon, WordPress, and/or Facebook, and help spread the word about Wadadli Pen and my books. You can also subscribe to the site to keep up with future updates. Thanks.

 

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Antiguan and Barbudan song writers

The cover of the Calypso Association 50th anniversary magazine on which I had the privilege of working as editor.

As with the playwrights and screenwriters, the listing of Calypso song writers may will take a good long while, building sloooowly over time as I gather information and as I find time to upload the information I already have. Part of the challenge is that while we know the names of the artistes, the writers often exist somewhere in the wings, out of the spotlight (sometimes deliberately so). Often, even today, there are no liner notes (a pet peeve of mine since well-written liner notes enhance the listening experience for me). So, more than any of my lists, this one promises to be a challenge. In a number of cases, I’m not 100% sure about the songwriting credits (so if anyone knows, for sure – i.e. with proof, please email wadadlipen@yahoo.com). I think Antigua and Barbuda has produced some classic calypsos (and noteworthy songs in other genres) and they dripped from somebody’s pen; and those guys and gals deserve a bit of the spotlight, wouldn’t you say?

Davidson ‘Bankers’ Benjamin – Bankers’ popular tracks include ‘Me D Ras’ and ‘Fire go bun Dem’ which won him the Antigua Calypso Monarch crown in 1996. He’s also popular for the songs he did with Dread and the Baldhead (‘Motorbike’, ‘Do You wanna rock some more’ etc.) in the 1990s and for songs like ‘Pulling Me’ on the Sweetest Mango [film] soundtrack.

Boasta (Tario Philip)Old Time Something (2015).

Muerah ‘Mighty Artist’ Bodie His calypsos are known for their double entendre (read: alternate lewd interpretation), earning the most humorous prize in competition a time or two. His songs include ‘Vitamins and Iron’, ‘Tarpan Tone Up’, ‘Woman Working Under Man’, ‘Me Ole Wife’, ‘Pot Hole’, ‘Business Dead’, ‘Clap You Tongue’, and others. He’s been singing since 1972.

Marcus Christopher– over 300 calypsos written: incuding several which won the Calypso Monarch competition like Short Shirt’s ‘Carnival on the Moon’ (1969), ‘Beatles MBE’ (1965), ‘No Place Like Home’ (1964) and ‘Heritage’ (1964), ‘Technical School’ (1971), ‘Black Like Me’ (1971); Zemakai’s ‘Tribute to Radio Antigua’ and ‘Fidel Castro’ (1961); King Canary’s ‘Gem of the Caribbean’ and ‘Slapping Hands’ (1960) and ‘Island People Names’ and ‘Immigration Bill’ (1962). Also many that while not winners are memorable, such as Short Shirt’s ‘Parasites’ (1963) and ‘Anguilla Crisis’ (1969) and Sleepy’s ‘Under the Carpet’. Christopher died in 2015.

Toriano ‘Onyan’ Edwards – One fourth of the original groundbreaking Antiguan jam/soca band Burning Flames and later a solo act and four time calypso monarch (1997, 1998, 1999, 2000); Onyan has attracted controversy for lyrics deemed offensive by some (I for instance wrote an article critical of 2012’s ‘Kick een she back doh‘- loved by fans who assured it the road march win, and decried by women’s groups) and not for the first time; anyone remember such classics as ‘Man fu Whorehouse’ and ‘Baby Food’ off the Baby Food album? But with songs like ‘Crazy Man’, ‘Old Fire Stick’, ‘Life in the Ghetto’, ‘Nice and Slow’ and even the named controversial songs he remains  a crowd favourite and road march winner.

Mclean ‘Short Shirt’ Emmanuel – The Calypso Hall of Famer is celebrated as The Monarch (subject of the documentary film The Making of the Monarch  and of the book Nobody Go Run Me – long-listed for the 2015 Bocas prize) as the 15 time Calypso Monarch (’64, ’65, ’66, ’69, ’70, ’72, ’74, ’75, ’76, ’79, ’80, ’86, ’87, ’88, ’92) of Antigua and Barbuda; in addition to being a multiple title holder in both the Road March and Caribbean Calypso King categories. Check out this article on his 1976 album, Feeling the Ghetto Vibes. Also scroll down for the Shelly Tobitt entry.

Fd – The official pseudonym of a songwriter who provided evidence of his contribution to Antiguan calypso (as I hope other songwriters will do so that I can continue to build this data base). Those contributions include social commentaries  –  ‘True Antiguan’ (2011), ‘Forward Together’, ‘Share The Honey’ (1992), ‘Heaven Help Mankind’ (1993), ‘How Could I Sit Back’ , ‘Tell The Truth’; and party tunes – ‘Push Back You Bam Bam/Jennifer’ (1987), ‘Taste The Honey/Taste It’ (2011), ‘After Midnight’ (1983), ‘Get It Up’, ‘Champion’ (1987) & ‘Angela’ (1987) – all performed by King Short Shirt. Other Fd songs: ‘The Party’, ‘Give me a Beer’, ‘Rolling Back’, ‘That’s How I Like It’, ‘Wire Waist’, ‘Stay out of Politics’, ’25 Years’, ‘Good Advice’, ‘Love Me Up’, ‘Shake de Booty’, ‘Push Wood’, ‘Selfish Man’ (1983), and ‘Rub Your Body (1983)’.

Stanley Humphreys – a frequent Short Shirt collaborator beginning with 1980s Summer Festival album, continuing wtih 1981’s Dance with Me Album including songs like ‘Nationalism’ and ‘We have got to Change’, and ongoing; also in 1981 ‘Pledge’ (as confirmed by the artiste himself).

Joseph ‘Calypso Joe’ Hunte – His classic ‘Bum Bum” became, in 1970, the first homegrown winner of the Antigua and Barbuda calypso road march title. Other well known tracks composed and (I believe) written by Joe include: 1971’s ‘Educate the Youths’ and ‘Recorded in History’ with which he won the Calypso Monarch crown;   ‘War’, ‘A Nation to Build, A Country to Mould’, and 1972’s ‘Life of a Negro Boy’.

Tameka Jarvis-George is a novelist and poet who continues to cross boundaries by mixing genres such as when she converted her poem Dinner into a short film of the same name. Her lyrics for Naki’s ‘Talking in Tongues’ on the Tin Pan Riddim is another example.


Oglivier ‘Destroyer’ Jacobs  has written for both himself and his son Leston ‘Young Destroyer’ Jacobs. Destroyer Sr. has never won the crown, though he came close in 1971 and 1989 winning the first runner-up spot. His written songs include 1967’s ‘Bring Back the Cat-o-Nine’, 1989’s ‘Discrimination’ and ‘Message from Gorkie’, ‘Back of de Bus’ (sung by his son and winner of best social commentary in 2006),

Accepting a National Vibes Star Project Award

‘Woodpecker Sarah’, ‘Jail Cart’, ‘Country Running Good’, ‘All Fool’s Day’, ‘Beg Georgie Pardon’, ‘Ah Wha Me Do You’, ‘Can’t Smile ‘Bout That’, ‘Ah Wonder Who Do Dis’, and many others.

King Zacari

Trevor ‘King Zacari’ King  (pictured above, performing)- The 1991 and 2001 monarch began writing for juniors in the early 1990s (e.g. ‘The Zulu Will Rise Again’ performed by Pepperseed) before entering the arena with his own tracks among which can be counted ‘Black Rights’, ‘Guilty of Being Black’, ‘Fine Ants’ (2001), ‘Guilty as Charged’ etc.

Logiq (Vincent Pryce) – A rapper whose discography includes tracks like ‘Sometimes‘, ‘Intimidation‘, and ‘All 4 Love‘.

Menace (Dennis Roberts) – ‘Old Time Something‘ and ‘ Sand to the Beach ‘ (2015).

Kobla ‘Promise No Promises’ Mentor – This Guyana born singer-songwriter broke through in Antigua with his behind the scenes contributions (as co-writer) on the 2003 Wanski hit (‘More Gyal‘) before claiming the so/calypso spotlight the following year with hits like ‘Can’t Stop My Carnival’ and ‘Pon de Move’; 2010’s ‘Do Good‘, 2011’s ‘Her Drums‘, and 2014’s ‘Draw we out‘are among his more recent offerings.

Lesroy Merchant – His songwriting is referenced in this obituary/tribute but details of the specific songs remain elusive. RIP. ETA: “Lesie wrote mainly for Franco, as a matter of fact, it was Lesie who introduced me to Franco and tried to get me to write songs for him. I was very busy at that time hence Lesie wrote the songs for Franco and many times he would have me look at them and asked for my input. May he rest in peace.” – William Shelly Tobitt in the comments below the post ‘Press On’

Justin ‘JusBus’ Nation – He’s written and produced songs and remixes for many artistes including himself with his 2015 J. Nation CD (‘Vertigo’, ‘Hard Work’, ‘Sometimes I’, ‘Blasting Away’ etc.)

Dorbrene O’Marde – song listing requested. Dorbrene is also the publisher of Calypso Talk magazine and the author of the Short Shirt biography Nobody Go Run Me.

The Mighty Bottle (Percival Watts) – ‘Fungi’, ‘Dive Dung Low’, ’10 Bag a Sugar’.

Rupert ‘Littleman’ Pelle – Winning Junior Calypso titles during an uninterrupted eight year run: ‘Parenting’, ‘Prostitution’, and ‘Wadadli Children’ sung and won by Lady Challenger (pictured left, above), 2000-2002; ‘Jump & Wave’, ‘Aunty Esther Say’ sung and won by Princess Thalia (2003-2004); and ‘Train Us Up’, ‘T. N. Kirnon Say’, and ‘Thank You Icons’ sung and won by Lyricksman (2005-2007). – Junior calypso record courtesy a facebook post by Trevaughn ‘Lyricks Man’ Weston on Littleman’s passing in December 2020. Also, ‘Riot 68’ for Latumba – first song when he was still performing as Deceiver (1968) and ‘From Statehood to Independence’ for Prince Jasbo (1978), along with songs for Daddy Iko, Calypso Farmer, Baby Eve and many other junior calypsonians.

Swallow

Rupert ‘Swallow’ Philo – ‘Raphael Trujillo‘ (1961), ‘Party in Space’, ‘Man to Man’, ‘Dawn of a New Day’, ‘We Marching’, ‘Subway Jam’, ‘One Hope One Love One Destiny’, ‘Don’t Stop this Party’, ‘Fire in De Backseat’, and more as chronicled here. With Short Shirt and Obstinate, he is considered one of the big three of Antiguan calypso and a legend in his own right. King Swallow died in 2020. RIP.

Quarkoo

Quarkoo, circa 1942. (Museum of Antigua and Barbuda archival photo)

“The dominant form of popular music in Antigua [up to arouund 1950] was ‘Benna’. The main proponent at the time was a strolling minstrel John ‘Quarkoo’ Thomas.” – P. 20, King Short Shirt: Nobody Go Run Me by Dorbrene O’Marde. Listed among his songs – ‘Maude Smell Donkey’ and 1924’s ‘Man Mongoose, dog know your ways’; 1943’s ‘Yes, it is more than tongue can tell…’

Sir Prince Ramsey is a family physician by profession, an HIV/AIDS activist by choosing, a calypso lyricist and producer by calling. He has produced more than 45 calypso albums and written over 100 songs since 1979 for artistes like King Obstinate, Rupert ‘Baba’ Blaize (‘In Antigua’), Onyan (‘Stand up for Antigua’ – 1998 Calypso Monarch winner), De Bear (‘My Allegiance’ – 2003 Calypso crown winner; and ‘Man is Nothing but Dust’ – 2007 Leeward Islands calypso competition winner), Zero (‘Protect Yourself’ – 2002 Calypso Monarch winner), De Empress (‘We don’t want it here’ and ‘Power of a Woman’ – 2000 Queen of Calypso crown winner), Blade (‘The Brink’ – 2008 Carnival Development Committee winner for best writer and best calypso), and others (about 50 artistes in all). Dr. Ramsey died in 2019. RIP.

Paul ‘King Obstinate’ Richards – The Undefeated is the creator of such classic gems as 1980’s ‘Believe‘, ‘Children Melee’, ‘Always come back to You’, ‘Antigua’s True Heroes’, ‘Got a little Something  for  You’, ‘Coming down to Talk to You’ (1982), ‘Hungry’, ‘Shiny Eyes’, ‘Who kill me Sister?’ (1985), ‘I already Talk to you’ (1992), ‘All of Self‘ (1993), ‘Ready to Go‘ (1996), as well as ‘Wet You Hand’, ‘Gold Rush’, and ‘Is Love a Love You’.

King Obstinate

Shelly Tobitt – Arguably Antigua and Barbuda’s best songwriter in the calypso arena, especially at his height in the 1970s during his winning partnership with the country’s most lauded calypso icon The Monarch King Short Shirt. It’s important to define Shelly’s partnership with his cousin and frequent collaborator Short Shirt. “Shelly wrote, virtually everything. He also provided ‘base’ melodies. Short Shirt either fine-tuned the melodies or created new ones based on his singing abilities or his own melodic instincts and he helped shape musical arrangements. He also provided a grounding of Shelly’s lyrics. Shelly was the poet, prone to flights of fancy and fantasy. Short Shirt pulled him back, opting for the ghetto slang or the dialect expression in phrase or sentence.” – p. 81 – 82, Nobody Go Run Me by Dorbrene O’Marde. Among the songs they did together are ‘Lamentation’ in 1973; ‘Lucinda’ in 1974; the songs on 1975’s Pan Rhapsody album – ‘Pan Rhapsody’, ‘Cry for Change’, ‘Awake’, ‘Antigua’, ‘Miss Yvette’, ‘Leh We Go’, ‘Vengeance’, ‘Lead On’, and ‘Come J’ouvert’; the tracks on the classic Ghetto Vibes album of 1976 – ‘Carnival ’76’, ‘Inspite of All’, ‘When’, ‘Tourist Leggo’, ‘Nobody Go Run Me’, ‘Power & Authority’, ‘Fantasy’, ‘Vivian Richards’, ‘Hands off Harmonites’, and ‘No Promises’; ‘Rock and Prance’ in 1977, ‘Jammin’ and ‘Gently on my Mind’ in 1978,  ‘Press on‘ the title track for an album that included songs like ‘Viva Grenada’  and ‘What You Going to do’ in 1979, and ‘HIV/AIDS’ and ‘Fyah’ in 1988. Tobitt’s discography also includes:  Latumba’s ‘Culture Must be Free’ and ‘Liberate Your Mind’ in 1979, Chalice’s ‘Show Me Your Motion‘ (1981), King Progress’ ‘You getting it‘ (1984), Figgy’s ‘Look what they’ve done to my song‘ (1998), ‘Benna’ (2011). ETA: “I am the writer and arranger of my works and provide everything needed to realize a complete production. Back then, before I could write the musical parts for the musicians I needed an arranger to do so, but it was my arrangements that they wrote. I sat with and instructed every arranger I worked with how I wanted the songs, and what rifts and motifs to write.” – William Shelly Tobitt in the comments section below the post ‘Press On’

Cuthbert ‘Best’ Williams

Cuthbert ‘Best’ Williams with Queen Ivena

has written winning tunes for Antiguan monarchs Smarty Jr. (who won the crown in 1993, 1994, 1995 with ‘Never Again’, ‘Role of the Calypsonians’, ‘What Black Power Means’, ‘Cry for Change’, ‘Draw the Line’ and ‘Follow the Leader’) and Ivena (who won the monarch crown 2003, 2004, 2005 with ‘Robin Hood in Reverse’, ‘Ivena’s Agenda’, ‘After Lester’, ‘Reparation for Africa’, ‘What Did Castro Say’, and ‘Don’t Pressure Me’; and the  Queen of Calypso crown in 2001 – 2005 with ‘Old Road Fight’, ‘Save Ms. Calypso’, ‘I’m Angry’, ‘Remember the Pledge’, and the other named songs).

As with all content on wadadlipen.wordpress.com, except otherwise noted, this is written by Joanne C. Hillhouse (author of The Boy from Willow Bend, Dancing Nude in the Moonlight, Oh Gad!, Fish Outta Water, and Musical Youth). All Rights Reserved. Seriously, a lot of time, energy, love and frustration goes in to researching and creating content for this site; please don’t just take it up just so without even a please, thank you or an ah-fu-she-subben (credit). If you enjoyed it, check out my page on Amazon, WordPress, and/or Facebook, and help spread the word about Wadadli Pen and my books. You can also subscribe to the site to keep up with future updates. Thanks.

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Filed under A & B WRITINGS

Press On

Sometimes

It seems

Ignorance conquers all

Knowledge and wisdom fall

Press on

Press on

Don’t give up

Sometimes

It seems

Like peace gone on holiday

And violence come out to play

Press on

Press on

Don’t give up

Sometimes

It seems

Truth will never come to light

Darkness covers all in sight

Press on

Press on

Don’t give up

Don’t give up

Take your burdens on your shoulders

Gird your loins and walk with pride

Yield not your soul to fill your bowl

Better death than live a lie

For they must dry the sea and they must move the sky

Before the righteous spirit die

(lyrics by Shelly Tobitt as performed by Short Shirt, copied from Nobody Go Run Me: The Life and Times of Sir Mclean Emmanuel by Dorbrene O’Marde).

3 Comments

Filed under A & B WRITINGS, Links We Love, Literary Gallery