So It Go

Basically, I come out of the song-writer mould, but every now and then a poem does come to me, as this one does today.

In the midst of all the woeful, I would even say daunting COVID-19 news landing on us, it is unfortunate that some of the more uplifting items pass virtually unnoticed, so purely from the good news angle, I’m citing three of the latter here.

A definite part of the writer makeup that surfaced in me very early in my youth is my fascination with certain words not in everyday use but carrying interesting shades of meaning or colour. 

Given that I’m always scribbling notes regarding topics for upcoming columns, I occasionally end up with a number of short bits that don’t add up to a single cell but are still worthwhile fodder. Case

After the recent Birthday rah rah that engulfed me and led to my column last week, I am taking that opening to spend some time this week with some looking back down memory lane at the musical journey for me that started all those years ago beginning with my very early years living at Vreed-en-Hoop, which I’ve written about before.

Now and then in life we become blessed with a singular development that both surprises and delights us. 

Over one month ago on a very early morning at 6:00, I stood in line with my wife Annette and a host of other Guyanese to vote for a government of my choice.

I began playing music for fun, many years ago, growing up in Vreed-en-Hoop, across the Demerara River from Georgetown, and in a recent conversation with Bajan musician Roger Gibbs, now based in Toronto where I lived for many years (Tradewinds started there in 1966), it struck me that there is a terrific book in the story of the evolution of Caribbean music that has happened in our lifetimes, particularly in Trinidad and Jamaica, but also across the region generally, from St.

Over the years, I have put my head down, as we say in Guyana, in several other countries.

It’s with us all day, whether we live in the Caribbean or outside, interacting with it in all sorts of ways, major and minor, and so it becomes a given condition, something we don’t even notice, as a rule, but in the Caribbean region we are a nation of immigrants.

In the tangled and often confusing world of popular music both in the Caribbean and abroad, one is often asked in interviews about the “key to success” in that field. 

Having lived in two countries – the Cayman Islands and now Guyana – where significant economic development was taking place, one is struck by the similarity of the two experiences, some 1,500 miles apart in separate times. 

Guyana’s recent Valentine’s Day hoopla reminded me of my first encounter with my Valentine’s lady, Annette Arjoon-Martins, known to Guyanese for her conservationist work.

Mankind in his/her various migrations ends up transforming the places where they settle without giving a thought to the changes, even in themselves, that result. 

In the fifty-plus years since I started the Tradewinds band in Canada, I have been frequently asked about the direction of the group, which was a Caribbean band, formed in a Canadian city, but with a completely Caribbean focus.

I know everyone know the story Every day you hear someone preach How things will be in the country When Guyana oil money reach The political people shouting Even ones with foreign passport I’m hearing nuff nuff predictions Daily, I ain’t making sport.

Many years ago, when I lived in Toronto, a huge TV favourite for me was a late-night talk show hosted by Dick Cavett, a very erudite gentleman, with a great sense of humour, and this keen eclectic interest in everything under the sun and for a quirky but sharp sense of humour; Cavett was a joy to watch. 

One of the striking things about everyday living in Guyana is the number of foreign accents one encounters here frequently and in parallel the variety of pronunciations of Standard English words in common use by people living here. 

Media experiences are an integral part of your life if you are a musician creating songs for public consumption and, as you would imagine, they can vary from exhilarating to painful, and of course you never know in advance which it will be.

The standard of expression one encounters on the various social media, even on Facebook, can range at times from low to quite high, and shades in between, but in the midst of that melee salient points or insights can emerge so it’s up to us to pick and choose.