Ray Holman
“Ma you can’t stop me
You can’t stop me
You can’t
stop me
You can’t stop me, no ma
I want to me a pan man”
Pan Man
by “Jackspania”
So when you close your eyes and listen to the refrain of “Pan Man” by “Jackspania,” you smile and think it’s the story of a headstrong child in Trinidad and Tobago. Not so fast, think again - this could easily be about a youth in China, Japan, Australia or Nigeria. Literally anywhere in the world. Such is the growing universality of the steelpan music experience.
What is a ‘Pan Tune?’ This question has been asked many times before. Many learned people say there is no such thing. Others say it is that tune that allows the arrangers, and by extension the panorama orchestra/band - to best showcase their musical and performance abilities for the great event. There has never really been any hard-and-fast definition of what this entity (‘Pan Tune’) is. It’s been for the most part, a blurred line that has been left up to personal interpretation and/or taste.
In a rare pensive moment, we found ourselves listening to the 2014 collection of Pan tunes in the WST rotation not as technocrats, music critics or producers - but as simple listeners - pan fans, if you will. And in this disconnected moment, the realization of what a ‘Pan Tune’ is, surfaced.
Sweet Pan
I does admire
how them pan men does practice
The dedication
that they take
From evening to morning
you could hear them
jamming
This thing does amaze me
It really entices me
When
the tune finish
and they start to play
Chorus
Sweet Pan does make you jump and sway
Make you feel to
break away
It’s a magical feeling
Sweet Pan does creep into
your soul
Make you feel to rock and roll
It could make you
lose control
J’Ouvert morning
all I want is meh sweet pan
Playing music sounding like Beethoven
Pom Pom Pom Pom Pom Pom Pom
Pom Pom Pom Pom Pom Pom Pom
I love to hear sweet pan
Vs2
To my surprise
most of them can’t read music
They
playing by ear
and so quick they does catch it
Note for note
the arranger does give it
Such complex harmonies
Rhythm and
melodies
Sweet Sweet Pan start to ramajay
sung by Louisa Paul
composed by
Steve Neaves
click to listen to
studio
audio
In short it is the lyrical justification with supporting music for our “madness.” Panorama madness, Carnival madness - yes, straight-up madness. But in reflection it is really about the reasoning for the illogical undying love for the Pan and its culture - once local, now seeping across the globe. It is all there through love songs, history lessons, news briefs, comedic relief, shock attack and nonsensical drib, drib. Our collective stories of a fascinating journey and love affair with powerful characters and tales that would turn Shakespeare red with envy, and music that would make Beethoven wish he was a panman. With a lingo, language and tempo of it’s own, it - the ‘Pan Tune’ - is the documented rationalization of an uncompromising, unapologetic, proud defiance in its rawest form by a group of cross-generational, ever-growing, gifted people.
It is the place where calypsonian “Crazy,” that loveable lunatic, is just a normal guy. Remember Band from Space which none of us could not relate to - seeing and understanding these green men from space. Yes, we are all certified loonies indeed. Amrit Samaroo should have been locked up as a mental case for the things he saw and made us all admit to when he wrote that tune.
Let’s face it: while there are many young people dreaming of being like LeBron and Kobe - or as we said in the day “be like Mike [Michael Jordan]” - today there are young people who dream of being in the front line of Phase II - playing Len “Boogsie” Sharpe’s music, rolling with Robert Greenidge in Desperadoes, wanting to be a Trinidad All Star and rubbing shoulders with “Smooth,” dreaming of getting a chance to put that XO jersey from Exodus on their chest while playing a piece from Pelham Goddard, or swinging with Duvone Stewart in Renegades. And there are those who are trying to convince their parents to let them go New York on their own to jam with CASYM, Sonatas, Crossfire or ADLIB for Panorama. We’ve all heard the phrase “I want to play with that band for Panorama!” They dream of being in the Big Yard just like the 2014 song by “Dee Diamond” says -
“Whey Pelham does meet up “Boogsie”
In the Big Yard, in the savannah.
Whey Philmore does bounce up Rodney,
In the Big Yard, for Panorama.”
And when the team of Don Clarke, Gregory “GB” Ballantyne, Junior “IBO” Joseph and Joanne Foster come together to speak of that sacred area On De Drag, who cannot relate to that magnificent experience, be you child or elder? We dare say if Santa Clause had a choice between hanging out on the drag or delivering presents on Christmas Eve there would be a lot of children boo hoo hoo-ing on Christmas morning...
Yes,
we have to admit there is something
such as a ‘Pan Tune,’
and it goes way beyond the music or digital internet warehouse we at WST have
put together on PanOnTheNet.com for these songs on the internet.
Like we said
earlier, it is the putting in words the joy, struggle, annoyances, pain and life
of the steelpan instrument, culture and people.
A language of their very own as we hear in Pan Hurricane-
Thunder and lighting, people running
om pim
pom pom pim pom pom pom
From the cello pan
Lin lo pa lim la pom
lim lo pi lim
The double second jam --
Music all around,
steeldrum tumbling down
Madness in the place (x2)
Iron in your
waist
Over the years WST has stuck to one remaining caveat for ‘Pan Tune’ submissions: that being full lyrics be included with the submission of songs. While some may say that Pan doesn’t play lyrics, it does give breadth and deeper meaning to their song and the story the band will eventual try to tell to the world with their arrangement and performance.
And as such something wonderful has surfaced. Maybe we are getting wiser or have simply matured. In any regard, there is no denying that embedded in these ‘Pan Tunes’ is a wealth of knowledge, history, humor, romance, politics and/or joy, illuminating subtlety and often in not so subtle ways, the story the pan people experience all over the world - on and off the performance tablet. Imagine our surprise when none other than WST for the second time became the focal point of one of this year’s pan tunes, Thanks WST.
More and more the songs are no longer limited to conventional or traditional thinking and expectations. And that’s a good thing. This year Ricardo Drue, the writer and performer of the popular Socaholic, was quite pleased to have his tune included in the family of Pan Tunes for 2014. We readily admit that song has been on permanent repeat. Really, who is not a Socaholic? This expansion into the popular song arena is particularly prevalent in the New York panorama circles. This is all part of the historical steelpan music mix and pan experience.
And how can we not mention Big In De Dance - sung by Anslem Douglas and written by Brian “Bean” Griffith, which captured in song the prominent role women now play in pan. Indeed, many are so well known that we recognize many of them internationally now by simply one name - no “surname” needed.
Woman in the band
Jamming more than man
With a
bang, bang, bang
Bang, bang tradition
Dey ready to go
An put on ah
show ’cause -
Dey nice dey nice __ dey sweet dey sweet
Dey neat dey neat
Dey looking better than we
Who can deny the visuals and captivating spirit Ray Holman’s Sapna (The Dream) evoked among Trinidadians and Tobagonians, or the strategically released Do Something for Pan by Len “Boogsie” Sharpe that will immortalize a concept for some time.
The cementing of any significant person, place or occurrence by song is an expected norm across all cultures. And in this regard there is no shortage of ‘Pan Tunes’ as a testament to the greatness of the art form.
Listen to 2014 Tunes for Panorama
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Click for WST’s Trinidad and Tobago Panorama 2014 coverage
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