Behold the great literature of Tanya

The late October announcement of American songwriter/singer (and I am placing them in that order for good reason) Bob Dylan as the 2016 Nobel Prize for Literature awardee "for having created new poetic expressions within the great American song tradition" naturally stirred some interest in Jamaica.We not only have a tremendous songwriting tradition which thrives despite our determination to put out too many songs in too little time, but have also created dub poetry, which formally spans music and poetry.

We could go on at length and inconclusively about which Jamaican singer or deejay merits serious consideration for their song text as literature. Among the names that are likely to come up (if I am involved) as the debate gets heated, recordings are plucked from vinyl sleeves and CD cases, recovered from hard drives or streamed from YouTube are Lady Saw, Jimmy Cliff, Damian 'Jr Gong' Marley, Dave Kelly, Assassin, Spragga Benz, Grub Cooper, Bob Andy, Bob Marley, Buju Banton, Vybz Kartel, Peter Tosh, Bunny Wailer, Pluto Shervington, Ernie Smith and Mikey Bennett.

And Tanya Stephens.

Why leave her for last? Or, better yet, why set her apart? Not because of an unstated hierarchy by song quality or gender, but because the Stephens songs that I am going to suggest we read as text come from an album that may not have found as much general popularity as those from Gangsta Blues (2004) and Rebelution (2006).

FROWNED UPON

So while It's a Pity, These Streets, Cherry Brandy, Can't Breathe, Boom Wuk, Little White Lie, and After You, are among the Tanya tracks that come readily to mind, the lines that got me hooked on Stephens come from her 1998 album Ruff Rider. The short track (more an interlude) is Man Ah Fraction, in which she concluded that she should not be frowned upon if she has three men because "one a dem a half an two a dem a quarter/So dem add up to one." (Forgive me for any misquotes, it has been a while.)

And I said, now this is my kind of writer. Humour, contradicting the norms of gender imbalance, putting us men who believe we are all a woman needs firmly into our places and a basic school math lesson in five or six lines. And this was after songs like Yu No Ready fi Dis Yet.

When she did the Infallible album 12 years later, I reported on the April 2010 launch performance at what was then Christopher's inside The Quad, New Kingston. That included a post-performance interview, one of the two or three times I have spoken with her. Infallible was (and still is) free and is worth many listens, as I personally testify.

LITERARY MERIT

However, in terms of literary merit, I invite you to read the lyrics to a couple songs from Infallible, including the title track, especially relevant to those of us who are trying to be decent parents. Analysis is up to you, I won't try to tell you what to think:

I don't always know what's best...

I make mistakes too

And I'm not tryin' to mess with your happiness

I just don't want life to break you

And you're probably smarter than I've ever been...

But you never seen the things I've seen, no

And you've never been as low as I've been

I don't always know what's right,

I'm playing this by ear child

And I'm not trying to dictate your life

To say that would not be fair child

You're the last person on this earth I'd ever lie to

You should know, every time you're hurt,

I'm gonna cry too cry too

You should know, every time you're hurt

I'm gonna cry too cry too

And let me say in my defence,

That it's all love

And sometimes Mama don't make no sense

But it's all love

I know you thinkin' I'm getting old

And I'm a little bit out of touch

And you hate the way that I cling

You try to get out of my clutch

But it's because I care so much

All of life will come in time

Just wait till you're older

I'll do my best to stick around

I'll have your back and you'll have my shoulder

Cause I can't stop things going wrong

And, innocence don't last too long

Maybe I'm not infallible

I'm only human

I used to frustrate your grandma too

That much is true, man

So maybe I might fail to tell you which way to go

But can I please share the things that I know

Please, let met share the little I do know...

Then how about I'm Still Alive, in which she reverses the accustomed tale of HIV transmission in a committed partnership, from male to female. We only have space for the narrative, opening verse and the chorus:

Johnny was a good man

Had two kids and a beautiful wife

Johnny was a good man

Had two kids and a beautiful wife

He loved her very much, she was the pride of his life

He would never do anything to cause her pain

Unfortunately for him though, she never saw it quite the same

Johnny was busy giving her everything he had to give

And in return she gave him a test that came back positive

The news spread like wildfire and pretty soon

Johnny would walk through the door and he would empty the room

His boss said I want to keep you Johnny but my hands are tied

God knows I've tried but nobody wants to work by your side

And you've been an asset to us Johnny I'm indebted to you

So tell me, what would you have me do?"

And Johnny said

Why don't you empathise?

Walk a mile in my shoe

What you want me to do if I were you

How can you watch me live in pain if your love can heal me?

Touch me every day, how can you not feel me

After everything I gave

I can't believe you're digging my grave

There is more. Much more. Look up the lyrics or listen to the caustic look at supposed success in, Itty Bit O Money; a neglected but still loving wife's plea in Try Me; Train of Thought (Get On It); the hilarious Luv at First Grind; and don't leave out Siddung pon It (that one is for Adults only). For good measure, look back at the Rebelution album and Do You Still Care?, a song about discrimination which should be required listening at the high-school level (I suspect Ms Stephens and I have differing views on homosexuality, but I did not say I agree with her entire world view. Her skill is superb).

Tune of the week: take a listen to, Do You Still Care? at www.youtube.com/watch?v=2SsaGqeGoVg.

melville.cooke@gleanerjm.com