‘Whey De Panman?’
Verse
Have ya ever
wondered where de panmen does go
Ask after Panorama, just to see who
know
Know some fellas gone away to... gig
in Japan
Mus’ be better than staying here and
be forgotten
Verse
Sad to see some
panmen starring... just once a year
When all is said and done vanish
into thin air
One man take a work on a cruise
ship... “fellas ah gone
Ha to leave meh wife behind, and meh
newborn”
Chorus
Ah want to know
whey de panman go
Foreign shows, whey dey appreciate
us all
And whey dey go, de dollars flow
What happening, dey making a
living... making a living
Verse
Tell meh whey we
going when de head ha no home
Yet we hosting World Steelband
Festival all on we own
Panmen still waiting for payment...
from the year before
Some living from hand to mouth, is
dis what we about?
Verse
No one could doubt
we have de talent and skill
Every week we could entertain, it
just takes some will
Sometimes ah really wonder... how
big we could be
Let’s get organize, and think
globally
Chorus
So leh we know
whey de panman go
Ah realize, dey so underutilize
We cyar deny, de movement growing
Open your eyes, is outside it
flowing... outside it flowing
Interlude
Bridge
Panmen running
panmen in a literal sense
Why we doh stop “dis is we ting”
nonsense
Doh leh we waste away, ah even hear
some say
Whey de panman?
Verse
We might be lucky
if we on a stage side
Is a way some ah us does keep we
selves occupied
Meh pardner look like a badjohn...
surviving from pan
He could get on, and blow ya mind in
any competition
Chorus
Ah doh know whey
de panman go
Well ah say, stop learning de hard
way
Moving on, to another dawn
Ash Wednesday morn, ask whey de
panman, ask whey de panman
Ask whey de panman... gone
(Ad Lib)
‘Another Time, Another Place?’
Verse
Everytime ah hear
dis sweet pan sound
Ah doh know why meh pores does
raise, and meh heart does pound
Yet we sometimes take it, take it
all for granted, ah cyar understand
Why ah feel we now start with dis
instrument... in dis blessed land
Verse
How one hundred
people could get on side by side
Before we might be walking down deh
street, without saying “Hi”
Truly the power of pan is more than,
more than making music, mamayo
Just like we forge the steel, it
have a way to go... it could unite
we souls
Chorus
So take meh to
another time, yes another place
Where we truly treat de pan with de
utmost grace
where we give thanks for giving
birth to de power of pan
where dis unique gift is celebrated
by all man
Verse
De tuner ha to
pound away at a hundred pan
He say he going up de islands for a
Carnival
Is then ah realize dis ting ha de
power for Caribbean integration
But after fifty years we could only
find... fragmentation
Chorus
So take meh to
another place and another time
where pan players doh ha to scrunt
for a dollar and dime
And there is respect for de panman,
by all de business community
And all de potential becomes reality
Verse
So where would we
be in the next century
Ah hope we ha de will to learn from
our history
And is there a new vision for de pan
dat will stand de test of time
Well all ah ask is for some new
direction... show us all a sign
Verse
Well ‘99 Panorama
use a foreign arranger
Is time we look to the international
arena
Can de Ministry, TIDCO and Pan
Trinbago work together towards dat
light
That would make the power of pan
burn so bright, yeh so bright...
we can make it right
Chorus
So take meh to
another time, yes another place
Where de instrument could only cast
a smile across our face
And we realize there’s no boundary
for dis instrument
So we can only open our hearts, to
what is (heaven sent)
(Repeat)
|