Last night, my mom sent a You Tube link to a song that she says she and my father used to dance to — presumably in their home country of Guyana (which is in South American, and NOT Africa. The country in Africa with the similar sounding name is Ghana).
Anyway, she thought I’d get a kick out of the lyrics – which for soca/calypso song isn’t hard to do. Why? Well, many of the songs have funny lyrics that involve monkeys, lizards, eating pepper (as in the hot stuff), and an unusual amount of focus on a woman’s butt (“batty” as the slang goes). What can I say? People find musical inspiration in the most interesting places.
Now, according to the Internets, “Dove & Pigeon” by Lord Nelson came out in 1965 — which is odd because my folks were living in Canada at the time. Maybe it was released in Guyana (where they lived before moving to North America). Maybe some other record label bought it for wider distribution after it became a West Indian hit. Whatever the case, I think you’ll enjoy listening to the song.
“Dove & Pigeon” is pretty funny in that it’s about two birds, who through jealousy, challenge each other to a pepper eating contest. Have a listen and let me know what you think.
4 thoughts on “My Parent’s Crazy Music”
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That was sooo long ago, but I can still dance to it! Brings back so many good memories of the old country. There is no place like Guyana.
Do you remember what year that song came out? Like I said, all the info I've been able to see says 1965, but that can't be right if you were dancing to it in Guyana.
My source says 1963.
That is so nice, lets all go back to Guyana and dance the night away to calypso, and in the morning eat some pepper pot.