Wha um really is...
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| Album cover featuring some pioneers of the Calypso...humour is already evident-third from left |
What is Calypso and what is not? This can be a challenging question to answer. In the excerpt below I intend to share my findings from a previous study to explore the origin and assist in defining the art form of Calypso. These findings should be kept in mind for part two of this post which will attempt to offer more technical and detailed definitions of the art form based on my own research, observation, analysis and conclusions.
The following is an edited excerpt from the draft of Chapter 2 of my undergraduate B.A thesis.
Power to the People: Calypso and the development of mass Political Consciousness In Post - Independent Barbados
The
most widely accepted view of the origin of the term for the music now known simultaneously
as calypso or kaiso is explained by Warner as follows: “The West African (Hausa)
term “kaiso, itself a corruption of “kaito” an expression similar to “bravo”…
this derivation finds the most favour and has also survived alongside its
derivation calypso.”[1]
According to Warner, this origin was endorsed by the knowledgeable pioneer
calypsonian and calypso scholar Raymond Quevedo sobriquet Atiila the Hun. The offering
of praise for a good performance of calypso still manifests itself in shouts of
“kaiso! kaiso!” from appreciative audiences in a contemporary context. This
Warner explains by the contemporary use of the term kaiso to identify “genuine”
calypsos. “There has been in some circles a favouring of the term kaisonian to
designate one who sings “genuine calypsos, as opposed to calypsonian for the
run -of -the -mill.”[2] What
is most important to note here, is that whatever the , the terms kaiso and
calypso are largely used interchangeably and shall be so used throughout this
study. There are a few other explanations offered for the origins of the term calypso
such as the dismissed connection the Greek goddess of the same name. These
theories are not necessary to consider in this study. We shall however attempt
to define the calypso and its function.
The
calypso has a variety of functions some of which it performs simultaneously. Perhaps
the best definition of the calypso comes from the calypsonians themselves. The
first four lines of David Rudder’s 1987 composition ‘Calypso Music’ should give
us a good idea of the diversity of the functions of calypso:
It is a living
vibration
Rooted deep
within my Caribbean belly
Lyrics to make a
politician cringe
Or turn a
woman’s body into jelly [3]
Rudder’s
calypso obviously does not detail all the functions of the calypso but in true
calypso fashion sums up the varying themes expressed in calypso by reducing it
to its extremes, in this case political protest and festivity. This trend we
shall observe throughout this study. It is without doubt that it is entirely
possible to identify the functions of calypso by stringing lines of various
calypsos together. Such a novel experiment however, will not be attempted here.
That is said to say that the calypso is quite capable of speaking for itself.
Legendary calypsonian
Alric Farrel sobriquet The Lord Pretender, linked the functions of the West
Indian calypso with the roles performed by the West African Griot. This is not
unlike our findings between the African Oral tradition, folk music and the
calypso in the previous chapter. Pretender’s observation further strengthens
this connection. According to Pretender, the calypsonian “ he saw as men who
had followed the African griot tradition of praise singing, storytelling and
documenting the history of his people…gave praises where due and derided those
who opposed the values that the society held dear.”[4]
[1]
Keith Warner, Kaiso: The Trinidad Calypso
a study of the calypso as oral literature. Washington D.C: Three Continents
Press.1982.8
[2]
Keith Warner, Kaiso: The Trinidad Calypso
a study of the calypso as oral literature. Washington D.C: Three Continents
Press.1982.8
[3]
David Rudder, ‘Calypso Music’
[4]
Hollis, Liverpool. From The Horse’s
Mouth: Stories of the History and Development of the Calypso. Port of
Spain: Juba Publications,2003.94
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