Lord Shorty’s “Endless Vibrations” (1974)

Garfield Blackman
(“Lord Shorty”, later “Ras Shorty”, 1941 – 2000)
Endless Vibrations (1974)
.
(Hey!)
(Hit the horns!)
(Sexy.)
.
Change the accent of Carnival
to a groovy, groovy Bacchanal.
Wailing, expressing – de old feeling do needs changing.
Wake up, people, examine your minds –
get with it, get with it, the change of the times.
It’s a new generation, endless vibrations
– right on, right on, right on, right on!
.
Lay lay lay lay lay lay lay lay lay (Hey!)
Lay lay lay lay lay lay lay lay lay – (Hit the horns!)
.
Come baby, oh baby, dance with me.
Come baby, oh baby, rock with me.
Wine! It’s Carnival time! Make Bacchanal!
(Groovy.)
.
Change your musical structure, make it super sweeter.
J’ouvert morning, when we wailing, bring on this funky feeling.
Uptight, uptight, feeling so fine
– come on, come on, come on, let the music take your mind.
Get with the feeling, it’s so exciting
– right on, right on, right on, right on!
.
Lay lay lay lay lay lay lay lay lay (Hey!)
Lay lay lay lay lay lay lay lay lay – (Hit the horns!)
.
Come baby, oh baby, jump with me.
Come baby, oh baby, rock with me.
Wine! It’s Carnival time! Make Bacchanal!
(Right on.)
.
A new musical expression to ease today’s frustration.
Move it, come on, groove it.
Endlessly let me feel it.
Come on, people, check out de scene.
Take a side, take a side, de music is mean.
Can you dig it, brudduh? Get it all together?
Right on, right on, right on, right on!
.
Lay lay lay lay lay lay lay lay lay (Hey!)
Lay lay lay lay lay lay lay lay lay – (Hit the horns!)
Wine! It’s Carnival time! Make Bacchanal!
.
Fêtin’ Carnival Sunday night, don’t dig no blues, don’t dig no fight.
Eh, we winin’, lord we prancin’.
Rock your baby, rock your baby, kungfu fightin’.
Music so bad, fuss your hip,
rock your boat, rock your boat, rock your ship.
It’s really outta sight, makes you feel like dynamite
– right on, right on, right on, right on!
.
Lay lay lay lay lay lay lay lay lay (Hey!)
Lay lay lay lay lay lay lay lay lay – (Hit the horns!)
.
Come baby, oh baby, jump with me.
Come baby, oh baby, rock with me.
Wine! It’s Carnival time! Make Bacchanal!
. . .

“Lord Shorty”, born Garfield Blackman in Lengua Village, Princess Town, Trinidad, is credited as one of the innovative calypsonians who modernized the music, picking up the tempo and adding more propulsive rhythms and instrumental arrangements – giving us Soca. During the same period (the mid-1970s) he also experimented with fusing Calypso and Indian music in Om Shanti Om. Though the song lyrics above (Endless Vibrations) may seem dated to us now – with their Hippy-&-Black-American-‘speak’ mixed in with the Trini – the overall sound of this song was fresh and inventive in its day.

A musical blast from the past on this Monday–J’ouvert–of Carnival 2016!

Another innovator from the 1970s: The Mighty Shadow

https://zocalopoets.com/2013/08/31/classic-kaiso-bass-man-by-the-mighty-shadow/

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