Pan Plummets
The following poem won first place in the National Day poetry competition almost two decades ago. Pan . There was a slight resurgence among schools and through the work of the Division of Culture, the late Eddy Andre and Allan Jno Baptiste. However over the past decade one could feel that apart from the 26 year old Phase Five Steel which fuses electronic bass guitar as part of its offerings, pan is again endangered as it was then, when this poem was written. Enjoy"
"IS DE PAN"
"All you can hear a sweet sound
From over these hills eh
Listen good……
Well dat is the sound of de pan
That use to run tings in de land
Is the pan on the streets
use to mek we jam and jam
But you can't hear the pan
Because you doe feel de pan
Because de pan is now a rubbish can
All you remember Asto Cats and Chocolate eh?
Man dat was mass in de city
When reveler come from east and west
And Dominica Mas was at its bess
Yes is de pan
It was de pan dat mek we prance down
Queen Mary Street
Is de pan mek we tramp
Nonstop on we feet
Night and day, rain or heat
It was heaven child cause god was in those pans
Masquarade was an easy chip
Not a slap in de face or a kung fu kick
Those days it was sensi round de corner
Give dem big room
With five hundred revelers strong
Singing "Ma doe suck it to me
Look my water falling down"
Yes it was pan
Was de pan was de pride of de lan'
And there was no confusion because god was in de pan
And so de devil get vex and take
a hammer and un-tune de pan
and he beat de pan until
de pan become useless
cursed, instead of blessed
the pan became a machine
an de devil put his own beats on de machine
and gave it to a man from Antigua
so de man leave hell and come down with his flames burning
and he deposit all his ash
and de yout de got a scratch
and is so the problem start
Somebody put on de machine
and the drum beat began
de devil had finally succeeded in his plan
Bottle, knife, and stone came on the scene
as soon as the machine beat begin
Pan try his beat to compete
but everyday it was more licks
all around the notes used to rome
but they standardize it and call it chrome
still today the pan man ketching his tail
'cause no one decide to stan' him bail
But is the pan
Is only the pan alone could mek things right
Is only de pan could mek we carnival clean an tight
Pan a dn lapo
Is like farine and coco
Is only pan could give you road march
Because you know when the tune end
And where it start
You see in Trinidad all in school
Band or hi fi
The Pan rule
Is the sweetest instrument on the entire earth
And is we in the Caribbean that give she birth
Ah …hear that sweet tune
Must be Allan or some chocolate county man
All you listen well
Is de Pan, Is de Pan"
PS: A Pan Association has been formed recently and the return of "Pan by de Bay" is one of the activities for carnival this year. I hope this can ignite a spark once more.