Mighty Sparrow early 1960s

Mighty Sparrow and Lord Melody picong duel, c. 1958

left to right: Lord Superior, Brigo, the Mighty Conqueror, Mighty Sparrow, and Lord Cristo, 1970s.

left to right: Mighty Sparrow, Lord Melody, Sir Calba, Sam Bodie, Cobra, Mighty Spitfire, and Lord Cristo. Members of the the Young Brigade Tent from 1956, the year Sparrow won the crown with Jean and Dinah.

1964 Grenada Crisis Calypso Sparrow 1958 Pay as you Earn Calypso Carnival 1991 Abu Bakr We Could Make It Easy If We Try Trinidadians begging Grenada In July 1990 Yasin Abu Bakr led Jamaat al Muslimeen members in It’s a shame, it’s a shame To unite and to join up together… an attempted coup in Port of Spain, seizing the Parliament, But we have we self to blame …Free education as soon as you join up the nation television and radio stations. The army recovered control seven Because we ask for new Government Freedom of movement and a proper Government. days later after twenty-four people, including a parliamentarian, Now they taking every cent… were killed. The Doctor say to pay as you earn But Sparrow say you paying to learn Read the newspapers and find out what going on 1964 Martin Luther King for President With Abu Bakr, Abu Bakr And the father say he sharpening the axe The Outcast For when the collector come to pay off the income tax. The Mujahideen Jamaat is there with the machine gun 1981 Ayatolah Sanford Abu Bakr, Abu Bakr I was born in the U.S.A. They went to parliament brandising their armament But because of my color I’m suffering today From outa exile 1958 Federation (We Are As One) Kidnapped the government Because of my color I’m suffering today You come back in style Now depend on where you pass and who you talk to last This Is Sparrow The white man preaching democracy To chase away the Shah The Federation of the West Indies was formed in 1958 to include Abu Bakr, Abu Bakr But in truth and in fact it’s hypocrisy And you seize power ten former British colonies, with Port of Spain in Trinidad as the But the people get shoot, businesses get loot, while the city burn In truth and in fact it’s hypocrisy capital. Under the slow pace of independence from Britain, and Then set up a firing squad Bakr will stand firm rivalries between Trinidad and Jamaica, the Federation dissolved Shooting people like you mad Till the government do more for the hungrier people four years later. So we want Martin Luther King for president Shah was real horrible I am your leader, Abu Bakr. Tell the north, I go tell the south, mama But you much more wicked and terrible. Well it’s big Federation, for a new little nation Martin Luther King for president On this occasion we should have a big celebration Spread the story all about 1991 Crown Heights Justice Hot Like Fire 1956 Jean and Diana (Yankee’s Gone) So Tom, Dick and Harry 2007 Racism Barack The Magnificent Martin Luther King for president 1984 Grenada (Under Siege) King of the World In August 1991, following a car accident in which Hasidic driver I say to jump and be merry Sparrow’s Greatest Hits Join together now and shout Sparrow was born in Grenada and protested the circumstances Yosef Lifsh killed Guyanese child Gavin Cato, racially motivated I really love this country, it’s really very nice Sparrow celebrates the departure from Trinidad of American Don’t wait till tomorrow Martin Luther King for president 1982 Isolate South Africa Sweeter Than Ever that led to the US invasion of the island in 1983 after internal riots continued for three days in this Brooklyn neighborhood You don’t need to remind me, it’s really paradise servicemen who had been based there since the war. American Everybody now sing with Sparrow When Kennedy finished without a doubt conflicts had triggered an army coup by Hudson Austin and led resulting in two more deaths and many injuries. Notwithstanding its goodness dollars had become a dependable supplement to the low 1974 We Pass that Stage Peace Pipe to the assassination of Prime Minister Maurice Bishop. Cuban If you’re a damn Trinidadian, we are as one Martin Luther King for president Because of his colour, his creed and his culture And chances to advance incomes of some Trinidadian women. If they say you’re a smart Barbadian, we are as one personell based on Grenada initially resisted the American forces. Martin Luther King for president 1966 Sir Garfield Sobers The Calypso Genius The wanton consumption of alcohol A fellow human being is treated like dirt Pain and sufferin’ we have borne It hurts me to see so much bigotry and racial intolerance Get away from me you crazy Grenadian, we are as one In 1965 Garfield Sobers captained The West Indies to 2-1 home Well, the girls in town feeling bad Martin Luther King for president Just to get drunk and peddle in junk If I was a freedom fighter in this world like America I want to go back to Grenada Blacks and Jews should live as one 1996 O.J. Simpson (The Juice is Loose) No more Yankees in Trinidad I don’t care if you’re a bad Jamaican, we are as one Martin Luther King for president series victory over Australia. 1966 was a great summer for Sobers, 1978 New York City Blackout NYC Blackout I would see that my quest was under duress To teach the Cubans how to fight And celebrate Sparrow justifies his support for O.J. Simpson’s acquittal Even the police, racism including his total score of 722 runs, 20 wickets and 10 catches in With the asinine presumption They going to close down the base for good Let us join together and love one another, we are as one 1961 Present Government The July 1977 blackout affected most New York City And do my best to isolate South Africa They let America take over Here life is great following his trial for the murders of Nicole Brown Simpson City Hall, highest office, racism the test against England. That man should treat woman like skunk and Ron Goldman in 1994. Chris Darden and Marcia Clark were Them girls have to make out how they could If you’re born in New York and your parents West Indian. Sparrow the Conqueror neighborhoods and provoked widespread looting and arson, Complaining about Reagan’s might 1985 Invade South Africa A Touch of Class No swastika Straight to the Hall of Justice, racism… Now that’s pure bunk particularly in Crown Heights and Bushwick. prosecutors in the case. Is now they park up in town we are as one. Sparrow blaming PNM president Eric William’s opposition 1964 Mr. Robinson and Lockjoint The Outcast Who’s the greatest cricketer on earth or Mars? Isolate South Africa, annihilate South Africa. No slave master But if mongers want to prosper and succeed as a whole (’stupid opponent’) for the failure of public services. Why can’t we forget about riot and scrimmage In for a penny, in for a pound Anyone can tell you it’s the great Sir Garfield Sobers. Ignore the old talk and gossip in the village Was a summer evening Eliminate South Africa, disintegrate South Africa… Where do psychomaniacs come from United Nations, it’s time for action Instead ah dat is endless fight In the end they say ’O.J. not guilty’… By keeping the Negro and the Latino last on the totem pole Yes is competition for so No gas today, no phone tomorrow Port of Spain got sewerage scheme This handsome Barbadian lad really knows his work In the heart of Brooklyn To create so much bachanal? Gather your army, coordinating the entire military Where we live here in Crown Heights Cochran say ’The gloves didn’t fit him, you have to acquit him’ So they hide in the bushes, racism 1958 Russian Satellite Cease the damn wastage, stop going on the rampage Trouble in town when the price drop low. What next I don’t know Well it’s now here clean Batting or bowling he’s the cricket king, no joke In this day and age, remember we pass that stage… While the sun was setting Daily lives are lost like the Holocaust Who opened the insane asylum Invade South Africa Eastern Parkway Not guilty, the juice is loose And they burn down the churches, racism King Sparrow’s Calypso Carnival No drain digging, no rubbish cleaning Lock Joint are picking up all the waste, from your place… Three cheers for Captain Sobers. I was home relaxing The superpowers sit down and they take no action And make a lunatic general? I say invade South Africa Big Labor Day People started hooting, Black Power saluting Put they hood on they faces, racism So when you bounce up Jean and Dinah A year after Laika’s death orbiting in Sputnik Sparrow protests Only corbeaux working The people they got in Belmont also Laventille Win or lose, the spectators are always pleased I was roused by screaming Showing no interest to try and stop this madness Dusk to dawn, curfew on Old Pik Botha Yuh jump an’ say When they heard it said ’O.J. not guilty’ On your lawn burning crosses, racism the needless sacrifice. We contend certain public servants are disgustingly lazy, openly Rosita and Clementina, round the corner posing The island as you see suffering politically Can’t supply Lock Joint with nothing in a quantity With the greatest team on earth, who else but the West Indies. Yet we have no praise for the hard-working ones we see, no siree Interrupt my dreaming Like they stand behind Afghanistan and Poland Wrong or right, shoot on sight Try him for murder… Yuh eh want meh deh Darden started crying, Marcia pacifying It was bad in the old days, racism Bet your life is something they selling Murder, murder, everywhere Because the present government have some stupid opponent You see they got to buy food Men like Butcher, Joe Solomon, Kanhai and Davis, As a result of the wars we incessantly wage on our elders and teachers A woman shout, so I look out Even China is supplying them with uranium Supported by construction workers Free Nelson Mandela But you who went and roam Ron Goldman an unfortunate soul Now it worse in the new ways, racism And if you catch them broken I think these people should have a care… Oh Lord man they ignorant They got to eat good, before Lock Joint get something Nurse and Rodriguez, Conrad Hunte and White, They just can’t manage this perpetual sufferage And I shocked to find that almost all about So they could build a super hydrogen bomb With machine guns and rocket launchers And Benjamin Moloise Come back now to buy my home Got murdered while visiting Nicole Don’t forget the election, racism… You can get it all for nothing They should be all sent to prison for the dog they poison Because the present government have some stupid opponent But the taxman so fierce, the food getting scarce Gibbs and the wicket keeper Hendricks. You don’t have to go to college in this day and age Blackout, New York like a graveyard Without the US support, the UN is no comfort For if Cuba has arrested more than Austin Free Walter Sisulu Since I wouldn’t sell To me looked like retribution Fanatiscism, racism Don’t make no row, Yankees gone, Sparrow take over now. In the Russian Satellite. Not one is intelligent. Them pipe going to live on wind Australia you lose! The West Indies is boss! To know that we pass that stage. Blackout catch everyone off guard. America, is you to stop Pretoria! America wouldn’t have had excuse to come in. And Solomon Mahlangu. My happiness turn to hell. Some drug execution, not O.J. to try. Parasitism, racism.

1956 Calypso King—Jean and Dinah 1958 Road March Champion—Pay as you Earn 1960 Calypso King—Ten to One is Murder/Mae Mae 1966 Road March Champion—Obeah Wedding 1969 Road March Champion—Sa Sa Ya 1972 Calypso King—Drunk and Disorderly/Rope 1973 Calypso King—Happy Schooldays/Same Time Same Place 1984 Road March Champion—Doh Back Back 1992 Calypso King—Both of Them/Man Will Survive 1956 Road March Champion—Jean and Dinah 1960 Road March Champion—Mae Mae 1972 Road March Champion—Drunk and Disorderly

1955 1960 1 961 R oa d M arc h C ha mp ion —R oya l Ja il 1965 1970 197 4 Ca lyps o K ing — 1975 1980 1985 1995 2005 2010 We Pass That Stage/Miss Mary 1962 Calypso King—Sparrow Come Back Home/Federation

1957 William the Conqueror 1959 The Base 1962 Our Model Nation 1962 The Slave The Slave 1965 Solomon Out Congo Man 1969 Martin Luther King More Sparrow More 1978 Idi Amin NYC Blackout 1980 London Bridge is Falling Down 1983 Capitalism Gone Mad The Greatest 1986 Coke Is Not It A Touch of Class 1995 Democracy in Haiti Carnival “Jam Back’ 1999 Doh Touch Me President 2007 Barack the Magnificent Praise for Dr. Eric Williams, the leader of the People’s National Sparrow questioning the legitimacy of the lease on the American Celebrating independence for Trinidad and Tobago with patriotic In 1964 Dr. Patrick Solomon, the Minister for Home Affairs, had 25th Anniversary Album Aristide was to return to power in Haiti in 1994 with American On the consequences of Bill Clinton’s affair with Barack The Magnificent Movement, founded in 1955, that steered Trinidad and Tobago to military base at Chaguramus, near Port of Spain. Their presence lyrics. Uriah Butler and Arthur Cipriani were prominent labour I’m a slave from a land so far to resign after illegally obtaining the release of his stepson from jail. Our champion is dead and gone Idi Amin is a tyrant in Africa You got to be a millionaire or some kind of petit-bourgeoisie Tell the children that Sparrow says ’Don’t use coke’ help. Clinton negotiated the exile of coup leader Raoul Cédras Monica Lewinsky. Singing the praises of Barack Obama as he ran for the Independence in 1962. lasted from 1940 to 1977 when Americans finally relinquished organisers in the 1930s and 40s. The Doctor is Eric Williams, who had ousted Aristide in 1991. I was caught and was brought here from Africa If I had any doubts, now they gone completely Martin Luther King Creating real terror over Uganda Time was when the British Empire was in full control Any time you living here in this country Don’t you smoke United States Presidency. control of the base. leader of the People’s National Movement. A chronology of selected songs by Mighty Sparrow that address social, For bribery and treachery Praise little Eric, rejoice and be glad Well it was licks like fire from the white slavemaster every I am living in true democracy And there is nobody else to sing that song His every act is cruel and sordid Not only America but of one third of the world You got to be in skullduggery, making your money illicitly Don’t take no dope Liberté, Liberté High crimes against the country We have a better future here in Trinidad So when we ask the Yankee to move Trinidad and Tobago will always live on day ah down on my knees If I had any doubts now they gone completely Martin Luther King political and topical themes. The lyrics are edited. Self-opinionated and cold-blooded No more Empire to command, they strangling Northern Ireland To live like somebody in this country Learn to tell them in the party Democracy in Haiti Infidelity should be left to Hillary, We know he’s young, PNM, it ain’t got nobody like them Nobody really cares Colonialism gone And it took weeks and weeks before we cross the seas Our nation stands for true democracy Martin Luther King is dead and gone Rules with an iron fist… In the eyes of God, oh man, it’s wrong It’s outrageous and insane, them crazy prices in Port of Spain ’No more coke, no cocaine, no amphetamines’. My petite Cherie You can’t impeach Bill for what Lewinsky put in she mouth. But, with the wisdom of Solomon, For they have a champion leader They refuse to go they say the base is theirs Our Nation is born… To reach the West Indies I am referring to that most regrettable disaster Martin Luther King Disagreeing with Amin is suicide. London Bridge is falling down And like the merchants going out dey brain One man politics Not like that one! William, the Conqueror. Until 99 years. You may not believe this but we didn’t achieve this Through a corporal, we lost our acting Prime Minister Now who do we have for leader? Falling down, I say falling down And the working man, like he only toiling in vain. No longer exists He has experience, look what he’s done!… With floods of blood And then you work and work and you get no pay He complained to the Commission Martin Luther King Also listed are the sixteen occasions when Mighty Sparrow won the Like the the beat of an old ping pong No more terrorists Barack! Barack! It is leaders like Butler, Cipriani and the Doctor Toil and toil so hard each day And make them kick out poor Solomon. As a civil rights leader he stood for himself From South Africa to Hong Kong Where you ever hear, a television for seven thousand 1988 Jump For Jesse No monkey business… The first black President to lead this mighty nation! 1957 No Doctor No 1959 Leave the Damn Doctor Sparrow They fight for what is right. I’m dying…I’m crying… Hallelujah Carnival competitions of Calypso King and Road March Champion. People know we are no longer strong Quarter million for lil piece of land Jesse Jackson ran for the United States Presidency in 1984 and 1988. Barack! More Sparrow’s Greatest Hits Defendng Prime Minister Dr. Eric Williams from his detractors. Oh Lord oh…Oh Lord I want to be free. Where in the world you could find democracy so? Was assassinated London Bridge is falling down A pair of sneakers—two hundred dollars Cédras done concede We’ll regain worldwide respect, Sparrow blames price rises on Eric Williams’ PNM officials and Amen Falling down, I say falling down Eighty, ninety thousand for motor cars Are you tired of economical woes With Obama’s vision and excellent comprehension! All of them that giving their verdict Except in Trinidad and Tobago It is all I need hints at recourse to violence. Manytimes I wanted to run Well now that his precious blood was shed At last here in Trinidad, we see capitalism gone mad Hitting the little man with severe blows The respect of the world we now lack, Bout the Doctor getting me sick 1962 Federation Sparrow Come Back If was in America, is the corporal that had to go Now it’s Aristide who’s going to lead… But the English Slave Master standing there with his gun Plenty go live and plenty go dead. It’s sad and getting more bad because, doudou, capitalism If you want a change If you want it back, then vote Barack! They raise up on the taxi fare, No doctor no I don’t know why they won’t mind they stinking business The fault for the failure of Federation is attributed somewhat In the first place a man like he Photographs courtesy of Calypso Dreams. unreasonably on Jamaica alone. Oh I know he would shoot to kill 1980 Wanted Dead Or Alive gone mad! Support the man who plays no games Not this time. And the blasted milk gone up so dear, No doctor no Leave the man in peace, Couldn’t see the Commission of Inquiry Tonton Macoute run away So I stayed and I prayed but ah planning still 25th Anniversary Album A man who definitely has positive aims We come out to vote! But you must remember we support you in September I say Leave the damn Doctor People want to know why Jamaica run from the Federation Doh care how he try, they woulda charge him as a spy Hand colouring by Michael Horne. There’s no more attaches I studied night and day how to break away It’s time to let our feeling show You better come good Look don’t get me mad Well they want to know why Jamaica run away from the And tell the public he lie. President Clinton set us free Ah got to make a brilliant escape The rule of the tyrants decline 1983 Phillip My Dear The Greatest Everyone support him and let him know… And the feeling is so great, baby let’s celebrate Because I have a big piece of mango wood. Leave the damn Doctor Federation… But everytime I think bout the whip and them dogs The year, 1979 Sparrow imagining a different set of consequences following Jump for Jesse, jump, jump, jump, jump, Jump for Jesse… 2007 Weapons of Mass Dis-Illusion Christ’s sake, or is murder in Trinidad … I say to tell the Doctor you’re not in favor don’t behave like a Democracy in Haiti Me body does start to shake… From Uganda to Nicaragua Michael Fagan’s 1982 break-in to Buckingham Palace when he Chantez! Liberté for Aristide Barack The Magnificent Leave the damn Doctor blasted traitor It’s bombs and bullets all the time disturbed the queen in her bedroom at 7AM. President George Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney 1957 Carnival Boycott He ain’t trouble all you How the devil you mean you ain’t federating no more… 1965 Get To Hell Out Congo Man Liberté! Liberté! constructed a set of false evidence about Iraqi weapons of Singing of his withdrawal in the late 1950s from the Calypso King Leave the damn Doctor Federation boil down to simply this Mimicking President Eric Williams, Sparrow mocks the Phillip, my dear, last night I thought was you in here 1962 Kennedy and Khrushchev The Slave reinstatement of Solomon after his resignation for abuse of power. So they corrupt, so they vile mass destruction to justify the 2003 invasion. Competition whose small prize money he found derisory, Sparrow’s What he do, he do Is dog eat dog and the survival of the fittest Where did you go? Working for good old England, Raoul Cédras kouri. boycott marked a newly assertive independence on the part of some The Cuban Missile Crisis was an international nuclear So it’s coup after coup all the while Missing out all the action. My dear, do you know Leave the damn Doctor Everybody fighting for Independence, singularly I am going to bring back Solomon Going to war should be a last resort young calysonians. confrontation unfolding right in Trinidad’s backyard. After a Human rights they violate There was a man in my bedroom wearing your shoe, Trinidad for instance blockade of Cuba and negotiations with the Soviet Union, Who doh like it complain to the Commission That’s when all diplomacy fails… They thought they were so great Trying on the royal costume, dipping in the royal perfume The Calypsonians with the talent But we go get too don’t bother President Kennedy and Premier Khrushchev reached an None of them going to tell me how to run my country Well you had everyone believing So in disgrace now they live in exile I telling you true. Hardly getting a cent… 1959 Police Get More Pay The Mighty Sparrow But ah find we should all be together agreement for the missiles on the island to be returned and US I defy any one of you to dictate for me What really was a pack of lies There was a man in my bedroom Calypso is the root of Carnival The pay raise for policemen was too small to make a difference Not separated as we are nuclear weapons in Italy and Turkey to be dismantled. I am no dictator, but when I pass an order People are now bereaved grieving Gairy is a wanted man Anxious for a rendezvous and I thought it was you. Steelband is the foot of Carnival but it nevertheless deterred people, who imagined the police now Because of Jamaica. Mr. Speaker, this matter must go no further For all of the unnecessary loss of life had sufficient salary, from giving them gifts on which they had I have confidence in Kennedy Idi Amin is a wanted man Without Calypso, no road march could beat I have nothing more to say Saddam was a wicked stooge you say previously depended for a reasonable quality of life. Khruschev ain’t mean nothing to me Shah of Iran tried so hard to survive He big just like you but younger Without Steelband, I’ll bet you don’t move your feet. And it must be done my way With weapons of mass destruction All Khruschev do is laying threats He, too, is wanted dead or alive. He thick just like you but stronger The policeman mad, mad 1962 B.G. War Sparrow Come Back Come on, come on, come on, meeting done for the day. Only to find out the truth today But I will bet he will regret He lingay like you but harder Ah say they wild here in Trinidad… Riots in February 1962 between followers of rival political leaders A ruse and a mass deception Kennedy is a genius He laylay like you but badder The Government raise on they salary led to the destruction of much of Georgetown, the capital of what This land is mine, I am the boss What really was your intender was then still British Guiana. Guyana achieved independence Khruschev playing robust A man in my bedroom Still they unhappy What I say goes and who vex los’ You want the money and the land to squander. in 1966. Always talking tough He came on the bed, doudou, and I took him for you. With this raise people know they get Finally Kennedy called his bluff I say that Solomon will be Minister of External Affairs The don’t want to pay they debts Well they drop a hydrogen bomb in B.G And make him turn them ships in the opposite direction If you ent like it, get to hell outta here! Lord have mercy Kennedy is the master They used to get a shilling here, collect a shilling there Riot in town mama, Ah hear the whole place on fire Any retaliation will be met with explosion But all of that stop From Kitty to the waterfront all that, burn down flat, flat, flat. Kennedy will take care of him Is they only say they broke, people say they making joke I don’t care if the whole of B.G. burn down Stop them, search them, or sink them to the bottom of the ocean They pay gone up I don’t care if all of Bookers burn down Kennedy is the master. I hear the whole force in misery But they will be putting me out of mey way No more loans and credit you see. If they tackle Tiger Bay and burn down the Hotel Where all mey wahbeens does stay.