Veteran singer Georgie has a kaiso for the times

You may be hearing plenty of new soca tunes on the airwaves recently, but a veteran calypsonian is doing his part to make sure that the kaiso artform is not left out.

Although there is still no official word on what a Crop Over 2021 would look like given the pandemic, Leroy “Georgie” Straker has released the aptly titled single De Coronavirus.

It is the second song he has released so far for year. The first was called Change.

Georgie, whose name has been synonymous with performing in tents such as Romans in 1984, Soca Explosion in 1985, Alien Forces in 1986 and Contenders in 1993, has recorded music every year between 1986 and 1993. Since then he has written articles and been on radio programmes dealing with the kaiso artform.

The singer explained how the concept for his newest song came about.

“As you know the coronavirus has significantly affected Barbados from March 2020 when we had our first case. Fifteen months hence the pandemic is still raging and it has caused havoc on lives and livelihood not only on this island but the world over. Our economy has taken a beating and has virtually come to a standstill under the weight of this invisible monster virus.”

The song, which took Georgie about two hours to write, was produced by Terrence Griffith of Koliajah Studio. The background vocals were done by Suzette Goring.

Georgie said when he witnessed how lives were disrupted he gave some thought to writing a song about its impact on society.

“Initially, I wanted to write a reggae tune since reggae is a more recognised international genre of music and the pandemic is also worldwide. Then I considered that our Crop Over festival is just around the corner even though the likelihood of a fledgling Crop Over festival looks dim so I decided to resort to doing a kaiso version of the song for the festival.

“The song speaks to the origins of the virus and how it has impacted all the islands of the Caribbean.

“All of us are in the same boat. We are all fighting the same battle. Hospitals and medical staff overwhelmed, the procurement of PPE’s and vaccines and a whole myriad of other issues confronting the private sector and Government.”

Georgie continued: “Unemployment has skyrocketed, businesses have closed, schools have been vigorously disrupted, mental health issues have surfaced bigtime and suicides are on the increase, food prices have risen and there’s a sense of apathy that has engulfed our Caribbean population.”

One verse goes: “The coronavirus has crippled many a country. It has left the entire globe feeling empty. No planes, no travel, no movement, no ships. No entertainers to play live music. Hotels and churches all closed down. Praise and worship gone underground. Curfews and lockdowns got we all sick. That’s the pressure from de pandemic. Unemployment at an all time high But the wealthy still getting by.”

The writer is hoping that the deejays on the various radio stations will lend some airplay to the song. He has also done a music video to the song.

“I have produced a nice video portraying the effect of the virus on our homeland Barbados and how we have to make the necessary adjustments to our lifestyle because we as a people will have to live with the virus.”

Georgie is hoping that near normal social life can return to Barbados.

“We recognise we are all social beings, we love to hug and shake hands and chat and congregate. That element is missing from our interaction and we are becoming less social.

De Coronavirus video is on YouTube and Julianspromos and a short version is on Instagram. (IMC)