Cyar leave Rose

McCartha “Calypso Rose” Lewis is the Calypso Queen of the world and she recently rocked the world when she copped the Album of the Year at the French version of the Grammy’s, the Victoires de la Musique, for her platinum selling album Far From Home. And like the titular flower, Rose’s 16-track album blends the beauty of sweet calypso rhythms with the thorny lyrics of social commentary.

The opening track, Abatina, is also one of the strongest on the album. Rose, with her usual melodious, resonant voice, tells the tale of Abatina, a victim of domestic violence at the hands of her husband Harry. It is a tune with deep storytelling that draws you in from the first few lines.

One of the final lines, “in the end Tina was buried by the church where she was married”, is poignant and melancholy and when Rose lifts the final note it is as though she is crying not only for Abatina but all the victims of domestic violence. In the track, I am African, Rose celebrates both her African and West Indian heritage, declaring she is both an African from Soweto and an African from Tobago.

“I’m an African, and my blood is hot, I’m a West Indian, I like to dance a lot,” she sings.

The song is a nice pick me up after the sobering Abatina. The party continues with the album’s most popular track, the ultra catchy Leave me alone. And the story is simple - Rose is in the mas and enjoying herself and she does not want any man holding her down and bothering her. Just leave her alone. It is a lovely chipping tune and features the thrills and chants of Manu Chao, a French-born musician of Spanish origin.

The tagline is so catchy and so universal it can be applied by co-workers who do not want to be disturbed, or by children who do not want to come in from playing on the street. Leave me alone has really captured the nation and is testament to the genius that is Rose.

Next up is the title track Far from home. It is a song of wanderlust as Rose ponders during a flight “nothing looks real from up high”.

It encapsulates her journey from young Tobago girl to international music icon.

“It’s a long, long way from Mt Irvine Bay,” she sings.

Chao returns for this tune as well as the later track, Human Race, and he does add some extra pep and vitality into the songs where he is featured.

The fifth track is Calypso Queen, one of my favourites. From the opening trumpets you are thrown back to the era of vintage calypso.

The 76-year-old Rose has been singing since 1964 and she lets you know that she was and still is the boss. “They say that I reign too long. Forgetting that meh constitution too strong,” she sings.

She added: “I been breaking down walls ever since I was small.” This is robber talk and reminiscent of a stick fighter chant. It is bold and brash and beautiful, and reminds of what an impact she made on the male dominated arena of calypso.

“No man alive or dead could come and take meh crown off meh head.” She also tells of the breadth of her career, “they used to call me small island girl, now I travel the world”, and also its longevity - “others have come and gone but Calypso Rose still singing on”.

The track Zoom Zoom Zoom is a whimsical party song. Rose is a young girl who wants to play mas but her mother will not let her. She expresses her frustration with the refrain “mammy oye!” Things continue up-tempo with Trouble, which also returns to the social commentary aspect of the album. In the tune Rose sings about a jealous man mistreating his woman. She urges him to let her be free and warns of the dangers of attempting to control her.

“It go be trouble if you fence her in,” she cautions.

There is a similar theme of freedom as with Leave me alone, but with a broader message.

The eighth track, Love me or leave me, continues the issue of the treatment of women by men but dives even deeper into romantic relationships and adds the aspect of domestic violence.

“You cook their food, you wash their clothes, when they want they give you blows,” she laments.

But in the song, Rose, a pillar of strength, will not take any nonsense from any man.

“The time is too hard to mine a man that is bad,” she declares.

For the next track, No Madame, she gets humourous. The character in the song is a domestic worker in Princes Town. She is dissatisfied with her low wages and becomes very unproductive. When her boss lists the various tasks she should have done, the character responds with “no madame”. This clever track caused me burst out laughing at least once.

For the 10th track, Woman Smarter, Rose discusses various scenarios, from infidelity to the Garden of Eden, and shows the intellectual superiority of women.

It is no feminist statement, though, as Rose delivers the cheeky line “is not me, is the people that say”.

In the track, Human Race, Rose delves into race relations and criticises racial purists.

“Nobody cyar say who the hell descended from who,” she points out.

She tells listeners that “no matter where your mammy and your pappy come from you belong to the human race”. Throughout the album, whether she is dealing with partying and social commentary, the musicality of her songs are always very happy and breezy. The final main track, Wah fu dance, continues the theme of enjoying yourself in the party. No violence nor work but just dance.

The album also features four bonus tracks and remixes: I Am African (Jillionaire Remix), Calypso Queen (Mo laudi Remix), Abatina (Dollkraut Remix) and Leave Me Alone (Kubiyashi Remix), which adds the vocal talents and energy of soca superstar Machel Montano.

It is easy to see why Far From Home received the prestigious French Album of the Year. It is fun and energetic from a musical standpoint and also has great depths of social commentary. Rose may sing “leave me alone” but with such talent, prowess and strong messages, music lovers really should not heed her advice.

Rating: 5/5 stars.