Jamaican Festival Songs Enjoy Lively Spirit of Freedom Island to Island
Goodbye, Helsinki
by Ralston Blair

The world’s biggest track and field event, the IAAF World Athletics Championship in Helsinki, Finland, came to a close last weekend. Most Jamaicans, at home and abroad, were satisfied by the achievements of their athletes once again. With eight medals (one gold, five silver, and two bronze) won by the country, we couldn’t have asked for more. A new athletic star emerged, 29-year-old Trecia Smith, who has made Jamaican history as the first Gold Medal field competitor the island has ever produced with her stunning 15.11 leap in the women's triple jump event.

As a people, Jamaicans love to give credit where credit is due. There was a lot of respect here for the outstanding performances by the U.S. athletics team. One such moment grabbed our attention. This was the U.S. Men’s 200 meters team sweeping a consecutive first, second, third, and fourth-place win in that single event for the first time in the history of the competition. Put that with the blistering run by Lauryn Williams in the Women’s 100 meters and the 4x100 Women’s Relay, and it became easy to see why the U.S. came out on top with an amazing 25 medals (14 of which were gold).

World competitions of this nature hold a much broader significance than it seems on the surface. They highlight a sense of sportsmanship and friendly competition. The athletes get to view themselves as part of something much bigger than just their own concerns and abilities. Yet, it remains a case in which individuals are fairly judged on their own merit, irrespective of their personal class, color, creed, or country.

Down in Jamaica

Jamaica’s main telecommunications company, in a move that is bound to appeal to scores of teenagers, is staging a concert at the end of August with a lineup of U.S. Hip Hop/ R&B artists combined with Jamaican dance hall stars. Teens are bound to turn out in droves to see the likes of Mario, Fat Joe, Kip Rich, Wayne Marshall, and the popular dance hall group, Voicemail. Winners of a text messaging contest stand to gain prizes ranging from book vouchers, school uniforms, and one year payment of school fees.

The Irish recording artist, Sinead O'Connor, has spent time in Jamaica recording an album CD of reggae cover-version songs titled “Throw Down Your Arms and Come,” in praise of reggae music and Rastafarianism (the faith of which Bob Marley was a member, with the use of Jamaica's indigenous reggae music as his vehicle).

A partnership agreement was signed between Special Olympics International and the government of Jamaica, making Jamaica the voice for the Special Olympics in the Caribbean Region at CARICOM (the Caribbean Common Market). The ceremony took place at Jamaica House and the signing was between the new President and CEO of Special Olympics, Bruce Pastanach, and Portia Simpson Miller, Jamaican Minister of Sports. Jamaican Prime Minister P.J. Patterson was also in attendance. Mr. Pastanach praised Jamaica in leading the way in Special Olympics in the Caribbean.

Jamaican Festival Songs

This week, I would like to highlight one enjoyable festival, which in the years that followed independence, has been a strong patriotic reminder of the mood of jubilation of freedom coming from the relief of slavery and colonialism, the Jamaican Festival Song Contest (renamed the Popular Song Contest).

This national contest has encouraged singers and songwriters to put together patriotic, catchy song lyrics set to the most lively and energetic music.

The first of such songs was recorded by a young reggae artist named Toots Hibbert and his group The Maytels with the song “Bam Bam” in 1966. The mood in Jamaica, since then, took on a religiously jovial and lighthearted feel every year around “festival time,” as the nation waited with great anticipation to hear the annual new festival songs. One song among them would be deemed the most appealing for the nation to joyfully revel in. The songs had taken on the role of the patriotic voice of the people.

Since winning the country’s first festival song, Toots Hibbert went on to win two more in following years. First, he won in 1969 with the song “Sweet and Dandy,” then again with the song “Pomp's and Pride” in 1972. A new voice in the competition went on to dominate the winning spot for seven years. The winning streak of Eric Donaldson was so popular with the masses (and so feared by his competitors) that he became known as “Mr. Festival.” A list of his winning songs include: “Cherry oh Baby” (1971), “Sweet Jamaica” (1977), “Land of my Birth” (1978), and “Proud to be Jamaican” (1984).

The 60s, 70s, and early 80s can be considered the heyday of the festival song. By the mid 80s and 90s, however, the realities of a changing nation also found change in the beloved songs. There were peaks and valleys in the quality of the lyrics and melodies, and many controversial discussions took place about the merit of the songs. The contest was renamed in 2000 to Popular Song Contest.

Fast forwarding to 2005, the Popular Song Contest may not create the wide excitement that it once garnered, but it still has its place among the cultural events that Jamaicans expect to hear about each year as they celebrate independence. The Popular Song Contest gave way to the birth of the National Gospel Song Contest in 1987. This year’s Gospel Song Contest winner was Omar Barrett with the song “Bless Me Lord” and the Popular Song Contest was won by Kaleel and the group Pure with the song “Poverty.”

(Thanks to the Sav-la-Mar offices of JCDC-Jamaica Cultural Development Commission for assistance with background information).

Place and Profile:

Port Antonio

This small, sleepy, picturesque resort has a deceptive charm and magical air to it. Quite possibly, it was this quality that lured a glittering array of Hollywood stars and celebrities, way back in the 30s, 40s, and 50s. Influential names such as William Randolph Hearst, Clara Bow, Rudyard Kipling, Bette Davis, Ginger Rogers, and J.P. Morgan (once the world’s richest man). The celebrity most closely associated with the town was silver screen swashbuckler Errol Flynn, who built a home on Navy Island, in the town’s harbor. He described the town, saying, “Never had I seen a land so beautiful. Everywhere there is a blanket of green so thick that the earth never shows through.”

The town’s early fortune came from the banana trade, which began to flourish in the 1880s. Along with the banana boats came the first tourists, followed by the glittering, expensive yachts transporting the rich and famous.

Since then, the town has been much renovated, but you can still find some of the finest examples of Victorian gingerbread architecture there. Its best known landmark is the ruin called “Folly,” built in 1905 and so named because the structure, which was intended to be a vast classical-style villa by Connecticut millionaire Alfred Mitchell, became, instead, the folly of poor planning and faulty construction, and so was left as an incomplete ruin.

Today, Port Antonio has a host of scenic spots, including Somerset Falls, two appealing beaches, San San and Boston Beach, Nonesuch Cave, Athenry Gardens, rafting down the Rio Grade River, and deep-sea fishing. If you take a charter, you can most likely catch blue marlin, tuna, kingfish, or Wahoo.The clear waters are ideal for water skiing, windsurfing, scuba diving, sailing, and snorkeling.

I hope that this cozy little Jamaican town sounds inviting enough for you to want to try it sometime in the future.

An Old Jamaican Saying

“Wha sweet nanny goat, ah go run im belly.”

Translated meaning: Whatever sweet fruits the nanny goats overeats will surely give her running belly. This is a warning not to overdo anything or it will surely have unfavorable repercussions. Do all things in moderation.

Although I’m far away from you here in sunny Jamaica, as usual, you can send your comments or suggestions to me by e-mail to blairnyou@hotmail.com.

Until next week, Stay Irie!

Ralston Blair is a Jamaican writer and journalist who has worked the past several summers on Mackinac Island. He is writing this year from Jamaica. Ideas and comments about his column can also be delivered in care of the Town Crier.