Yeh, Yung Bredda, we share your dream, you touched our hearts, you voiced the people’s wish to rise from the darkness of crime, to stop “chasing shadows that take the soul,” to rise from the status quo and “fly to the skies like plane.”
I had to get the lyrics of Yung Bredda’s calypso—a memorable kaiso that evoked reflections of the realities of our lives. The Bredda sang, “for the common man times real hard/Crime and murders driving we mad/And the youth cyah find no work/Cause the system take them for joke/Let the positive fight control/We must not lose sight of our goal/In spite of the stress and strain/Let us build our country again.”
He didn’t preach about the failures of the “system” and Government, but instead, he infectiously delivered a relevant, socially conscious calypso passionately and compellingly, and the audience’s appreciation erupted thunderously.
Yung Bredda’s performance, the lyrics, sweet music and tempo of We Rise linger in our minds, conjuring up images of Rudder, Sparrow, Kitchener, Shadow, and other greats.
He sang, “I’m sure we can rise from the shadows as we shine/Through the pain and sorrow leave de darkness behind/For the youths and we future, let the healing begin/In the rhythm of we island let love pull us in/So come from the dusk till dawn/As we rise up every morn/We’ll fly to the skies like plane/Our people will rise again/Hand in hand is how we’ll start/Everyone can play their part/Man woman and child come in/Let the cleansing begin ...”
Bredda demonstrated what “to rise” means. “From the ghetto I born and grow/I learn to make joy from sorrow/Though my story was hardship and pain/I see the blessings falling like rain/And every time the setbacks would come/I keep the faith and weathered the storm/With every step I toil and strive/Just to keep my dream alive.”
What an inspiration, especially for so many of our young people. Every day we witness youth gone astray and their challenging lives in Sea Lots and other communities. Like Rudder, the bard of sweet “Calypso Music,” Yung Bredda vibrations make you “shake like a Shango.”
We Rise, and will Dimanche Gras rise to our expectations for an efficient and shorter production? It is the pivotal event leading into J’Ouvert and the street parade and should be a spectacular celebration of the crème de la crème of de mas. But after eight decades, you wondered whether the poor stage lighting and muffled microphone sounds were natural symptoms of your ageing until the people and friends around you said, “Gawd, de lighting and sound system bad,” having expected that after all these years the show would have been a professional, outstanding production of three to four delightful hours. It had all the potential.
The opening performance was Year 3095 when a Trini Ibis spaceship returned home from its odyssey. Dancing astronauts disembarked, scarlet ibises flew across the sky, beautiful butterflies fluttered, and an array of characters crammed the stage to the amazing singing of Tiana Chandler. Truly an imaginative display. But everything was lit up pink, sometimes flashing blue. Maybe somebody was trying to focus the lights. The wonderful costumes became abstract art. The sound and lighting glitches and the uneven production flow undermined innovation and the artistes’ splendid performances.
If Dimanche Gras is intended to showcase the best of calypso, kings and queens depictions, Panorama and other competition winners, why not a production featuring just that? Why 12 kings and 12 queens finalists? Why not have the guest entertainers after the completion of the competitions, so patrons who want to “pardy” as a traditional prequel to J’Ouvert can do so, while others can go home early?
At 11 pm, patrons began leaving before the Kings and Queens competition. People love their soca and calypso and would likely stay after the competitions to hear them. Why not a smooth flow of performances without MCs having to fill time? Is there a night-time rehearsal to refine stage production, lighting and sound, especially as viewed from the stands?
Yeh, Yung Bredda, we can rise with the will and courage you have shown us. Dimanche Gras can rise. After all, “the rhythm of hope is strong.”
(We Rise lyrics written by Leeanna Williams, Kester Stoute, and Ato Williams.)