Obeah win de war
A Jamaican advice to Britain on how to win the war - not by bombs and guns, submarines or propaganda but by obeah (Jamaican witchcraft)! Hitler's racism was well-known to Jamaicans who can be sensitive about the issue "Him (Hitler) really have a heart fe true, Fe want kill naygaman",...
Koo yah! Tap, tap! But tan!
Dis yah man deh do fe mo'
Him musa teck all o' de King
Fe a bunch o' pappy-show.
Him sey him eena powah, an
Him have a pot o' ile,
An every naygaman him ketch
Gwine go een deh fe bwile.
Him really have a heart fe true
Fe want kill naygaman,
Ef dem so ugly wen dem live
Guess ow dem duppy tan!
De fus black man wat Hitla kill
De war wi haffe dun,
For nayga duppy neida fraid
Fe submarine nar gun.
Po' Englan dah-meck bomb
Atta she noh undastan
Say is ongle lickle obeah
Kean seckle dat-deh man.
Ef dem gi me one airplane
Fe fly ovah Germany,
Yuh hooda see ow war stop brap
An de whole worl' go free.
Me hooden haffe drop bomb
Nor leaflet deh at all,
Jus shillin ile-o'-kill-him-dead
An shillin buck-pon wall.
Den everybody hooda shout
An spread it near an far
Ow battleship an U-boat fail,
But Obeah win de war.
Six Nil
Few sports-loving Kingstonians will care to remember the soccer match between Trinidad and Jamaica in 1947. The latter was no match for the former and score was six nil, with Jamaica "hanging on to the nil".
"Souce" and "Pellow" are two famous Trinidadian dishes.
Six-tree noh good, six-two bad
Six-one wussars still!
Six-four hooda console me heart
But lawd missis, six-nil!
Cho Jamaica too determin,
Tell yuh how dem got strong will!
Trinidad kip awn a-change score
But we heng awn to de nil!
Lawd ha massi, po Jamaica,
As dem go fe kick dem drop,
As dem se a ball dem fall dung
Biff, buff, biddin, buddun, bap.
Wile Trinidad dah-play foot ball,
Dak-kick an pass an gole,
Jamaica dah-play ripe-breadfruit
Dah-drop, an split an roll.
Ef it only was a circus match
Jamaica hooda win,
For dem bwoys can really
slip and slide
An teck headers an spin.
But wen it come to football,
careful!
How yuh tumble dung!
For is hard fe run an dribble, wid
Yuh belly pon de grung!
Me feel it to me soul-case, for
Me know wha meck dem fall,
Dem bwoy naw pay attention to
Dem duckoonoo an saal.
All dem good banana pot soup
All dem tings fe meck dem strong
Dem cow-foot an flour dumplin,
Dem bulla an serve-me-long.
As yuh look pon Trinidadian
Yuh can se dem don't allow
Not a ting fe come between dem
An dem Souce an dem Pellow.
So Jamaica feed up, for yuh know
'Omuch man yuh wi kill
Ef anada lickle islan
Ever gi oonoo "Six Nil!"
Jamaica Patois
The war brought to Jamaica many refugees from Europe, particularly Gibraltar, and a rehabilitation camp was established at Mona (the present site of the University of the West Indies). Miss Liza, in the quest for status, assimilates some of the speech habits of the foreigners.
Is wha Miss Liza she dah-form,
Dah-gwan like foreigner!
Because her sister husban get
One job up a Mona!
You want hear her cut Spanish, like
She jus come from sea!
So till dem bwoy start fe call her
De dry-lan-refugee!
Toder mornin me go ask her
Wat she tink about de war,
She gi out "Ah tink de war is
Muyee malo me amar".
Me did a-dead fe bus out laugh,
But me tun me y'eye look round',
An as a me one ben deh-deh,
Me dis 'queeze me foot a groun'.
Dis is how she greet me wat day,
"Manana coaraseng,
How is you Granmadre? Ah hope
She keepin muyee beng"
Me go eena her shop, an call
Fe tree gil wut o' saal,
An some oder tings wat come up
To mack-an-tup in all.
Wen she sell me done she say,
"Add dem up sinorita,
For is hard fe intiendeh,
Jamaica diniera!"
Me did know how much it come to,
But me start fe add i' up,
An wen me done me tell her say,
Is jus two bit-an-tup!
De wud never outa me mout'
Before she grab me han
An bawl out pon top o' her voice
Fe tief an policeman!
Is a good ting say de policeman
Was somebody me know,
Leah husban outside darta son
Wha dem call knock-knee Joe.
Wen him ask her how much
me owe,
Missis it frighten me,
Fe hear Miss Liza bawl out
"Is shillin an quatty".
So Liza she cant form no more
Pon dis Senorita,
For me know say she undastan'
We Jamaica Patois.
