Who sleeps in a church dress and petticoat, prepares sardines and biscuits for dinner, covers their bodies in candle grease, snaps like an alligator and calls immigration in matters of a mate?
I would give you the answer but I’m afraid that I’d be banned for life from the Land of the Flying Fish. Not that I’m in a hurry to get there after the song “GT Advice” but I’ve heard that the beaches are among the best in the Caribbean. But that’s minor and there is always St. Lucia anyway.
So a bit of advice for the Guyanese men: appreciate the women in your lives more and never, I repeat never, go looking for that special someone in Barbados. Unless of course…
The Guyanese singer is creating havoc in Barbados if one is to judge by the reaction. “Bees does always find honey, and ants does run to sugar”, ’Guyanese girl’ croons in ‘GT Advice’ and there is no mistake as to who are the sugar and the honey. Written, arranged and produced by Barbadian Eric Lewis, so he must know what he is talking about, ‘GT Advice’ is stirring up controversy in the Land of the Flying Fish and maybe, the truth indeed hurts, because there have been calls to have it banned from the airwaves in that country. The song is an entry for the Crop-over festival there.
‘GT Advice’ takes Barbadian women to task, with a series of low blows and dishes out advice on how to treat the men in their lives.”Do things to mek he hair curl” and put ice cream on a certain part of the body are two of the pieces of advice.
Lewis explained to the Barbados Nation newspaper that the idea for the song came after the recent controversy surrounding Guyanese, after the country’s Prime Minister David Thompson called for the thousands of CARICOM nationals who were illegally in the island to turn themselves into immigration authorities or face deportation from December 1.
Last month, Thompson told the Barbados Parliament that Caribbean nationals living and working illegally in Barbados must begin the process of regularising their immigration status in the country or face deportation if they don’t complete the process by the deadline. He had listed several conditions for regularisation, including proof of employment; an ability to substantiate a claim of residence in the country for at least eight years immediately prior to December 31, 2005; and background security clearance.
“As usual, every year we try to do something new and innovative in order to be still above the rest of the competition, so I was calling for some suggestions for songs and it was during a telephone conversation with Keith Browne, we decided since it was so topical, to find someone to do a song,” Lewis said. He recalled that at first they thought of getting a man to sing about why Bajan men seem to find favour with Guyanese women, but then they decided it would be even better to get a woman to do the song, since they are constantly accused of stealing the men.
“It is a song that half percent of the women will find distasteful, and some of them would have been those on the losing end. I know the song will mash some corns because it is very controversial, but a lot of the things in the song are also true,” he said.
And the internet forums have been busy. According to one contributor “Bajan women don’t need to wine and grind we are independent and don’t need Bajan men to support us. It only shows Guyanese women are taking up our left overs that we throw away. Bajan women don’t wear big panties or cook macaroni and corn beef”.
Not according to the song: “Every night yuh rubbing down, that does turn off de fella
Bengies balsam, citronella, candle grease and alcolada
Yuh sleep in a church dress, petticoat and two brassiere
Got de sheet pull up round yuh neck, and a big parachute underwear
And when de man he pull at you, yuh snap like alligator
Move man, leh muh sleep nuh, I gotta get up early tomorrow
But when he find a Guyanese girl to give him good movementation
Yuh get she deport, yuh run and call immigration”.
Another commentator says: “Guyanese woman have de sugar and de sweet hand too” while another says “…this song has nothing to do with disrespecting ourselves or even having brains its all past that to the emotional and physical side of a relationship that we neglect thinking that education keeps a man…a man needs to feel love, appreciated and treasured just like women.” Some support the song while others do not.
‘GT Advice’ urges the Barbadian women to stop complaining about Guyanese women “thiefing” their husbands and boyfriends and to treat the men “nice”.
The song asks the Bajan women how they expect to “keep a man with corn beef and macaroni”. There is a response to the song entitled ‘Keep yuh Guyanese wine’. The songs have not been heard here as yet but expect them soon.
So its back to the question asked at the beginning. If you haven’t figured it out yet…it’s apparently the Bajan women.