Colleen Ella: “ Johnny ”
Posted: August 31, 2011 Filed under: English: Trinidadian Comments Off on Colleen Ella: “ Johnny ”
“Johnny”
Trinidadian Soca song from 1987,
composed by Pelham Goddard,
S. Bartholomew and R. Imamshah.
(As sung by the irrepressible Colleen Ella
with the band Taxi)
_____
Johnny, ah come inside at dis pahtee,
Ah pay meh money to get on wassy,
So why de Hell yuh holdin’ meh damn hand?
Ah mus’ be tell you: Ah lookin’ for man !
Boy, leh meh tell you flat: Ah ain’t a girl like dat,
Ah duz always be-have mehself.
But when ah hear music play,
Ah duz feel to “break a-way”,
Ah don’t intend to stay on de shelf !
*
Come, leh we go and dance,
And leh we live to prance,
We go wine dong dis fete,
Till ah soakin’ wet.
Ah’m a music lover,
Havin’ Soca fever,
There is music inside me – drivin’ meh crazy.
Go and dance,
And let me live to prance,
We go wine dong dis fete, John-neee !
*
Johnny, ah walkin’ home, wicked hard-hard,
Ah come to pahtee to get on real bad,
When you see ah drink up meh joy-juice,
Leh meh tell yuh, all Hell duz break loose.
Dis mood ah in right now, we go have a big big row,
Cuz yuh behavin’ like a little boy.
Like you doh know what to do,
It would seem as though you bound to,
You going tuh stop meh spreadin’ meh joy !
*
Come, leh we go and dance,
And leh we live to prance,
We go wine dong dis fete,
Till ah soakin’ wet.
Ah’m a music lover,
Havin’ Soca fever,
There is music inside me – drivin’ meh crazy.
Go and dance,
And let me live to prance,
We go wine dong dis fete, John-neee !
*
Johnny, ah getting’ drunk in dis pahtee,
Not a ol’ man like you could stop me,
Ah come tuh drink and “garden” meh whole head,
It’s dat what have meh actin’ so weird.
Ah comin’ here to dance,
Come on, give me a chance,
Cuz ah fed up hearin’ pop songs.
When you see ah in dis mood,
Ah doh even feel fuh food,
All ah want is Soca to get on dong !
*
Come, leh we go and dance,
And leh we live to prance,
We go wine dong dis fete,
Till ah soakin’ wet.
Ah’m a music lover,
Havin’ Soca fever,
There is music inside me – drivin’ meh crazy.
Go and dance,
And let me live to prance,
We go wine dong dis fete, John-neee !
*
Johnny, ah stayin’ inside de pahtee,
Cuz ah love de ban’ dey call “Taxi”,
Ah like de way dem fellas duz real jam,
Make meh feel to shake up meh bam-bam !
When ah come out to fete,
Any man ah could get,
Leh meh tell yuh quite frankly:
Neveh need no tampeh fuh tuh make me frien’ly,
Ah jus’ have tuh buss up on he !
*
Come, leh we go and dance,
And leh we live to prance,
We go wine dong dis fete,
Till ah soakin’ wet.
Ah’m a music lover,
Havin’ Soca fever,
There is music inside me – drivin’ meh crazy
Go and dance,
And let me live to prance,
We go wine dong dis fete, John-neee !
_____
Trinidadian glossary:
wassy – spirited and uninhibited
break a-way – to cut loose on the dancefloor, solo
leh we go – let’s go
wine dong dis fete – wind down this party/celebration,
stay right till the end (sunrise)
Ah doh – I don’t
tampeh – marijuana
buss up – go crazy on (in a good way), bust up
Zócalo Poets 