To me Sparrow is many things. He feeds our conscience; the conversations we have with ourselves about life and the opinions we form to shape our values and actions. He is also an escape from the stress of life, as we sing the words of Education or Melda or any of his hundreds of songs, we temporarily forget everything else. He makes us laugh, dance, celebrate and sing and will continue to do so for a very long time.
“Calypso has always been a narrative about Caribbean life,” says professor of literature and calypso expert Gordon Rohlehr. ”Grenadian-born Slinger Francisco, known as the Mighty Sparrow, transformed calypso in the 1950s with outrageous performances that challenged the sexual mores of the day. Sparrow used his performances, as well as cleverly crafted lyrics (written by others), as a weapon against colonialism. In “Dan is the Man in the Van”, he criticised the colonial education system for turning Caribbean children into fools spouting nursery rhymes that had nothing to do with their culture. In “Federation”, Sparrow lashed out at Jamaica when it pulled out of an agreement for the islands to unite under one government. Sparrow injected a sense of bravado into calypsoes such as “Jean and Dinah”, reclaiming Caribbean women – even prostitutes – for Caribbean men when the Americans pulled out of their naval bases in Trinidad.”
No one captured the narrative about Caribbean life better than Sparrow. This boy who started off as David became Goliath while not losing touch with the issues of the common man. God bless you Sparrow, you are irreplaceable.
