Tony Deyal | Where do we go from here?

Zeno Obi Constance is by far the best in the Caribbean and beyond. This article is part of an attempt to reach, teach and increase our knowledge and commitment of our development.

We are a fast developing nation

Bomber get to know

After viewing the situation

In Trinidad and Tobago

You see the cost of living rising

Guerrillas organizing

Upliftment of high sublime

More children more schools more limers more fools

And a steady increase in crime

The crime wave - Ah say me dear people

The crime wave - Ah say too much trouble

The old and the young in the country and town

The crime wave - Only looting and shooting down

The crime wave - Too much sorrow

The crime wave - Ah say think about tomorrow

It shameful it sad

And it looking so bad

The crime wave in Trinidad

(Crime Wave – Bomber 1971)

While the great Mighty Bomber (Clifton Ryan) was a Grenada-born calypsonian, he ended up in Trinidad and Tobago. There, he realised that the “Crime Wave” was almost totally in Trinidad and getting much worse:  

There is a high percentage of murders

Highway robberies and violence

And ah hear that some top notch offenders

Hiding behind the law as defence

So is raping and seduction illegal abortion

Homosex and lesbianity

Good lord put a hand to save our land from bloodshed and cruelty

(Crime Wave – Bomber 1971)

Now, as we have reached May 2026, there is an attempt to remember the great calypsonians and their views of what we now see as “Police”, “Thief”, and, as many of my colleagues add, “Both Together”. Again, we think about the early days, between 1959-1960, when the great Mighty Sparrow (Slinger Francisco) sang Gunslingers; about the rise of violent Bad Johns (street gangsters) in Trinidad, often influenced by American Western movies.

Ah selling guns nowadays

That what really pays 

Sparrow selling guns nowadays

That what really pays 

Nearly every young man is a gunslinger

With his razor and steel knuckle on his finger

Doh mind they dress in suit and bow tie

All of them looking for guns to buy

We young and strong

We eh fraid a soul in town

Who think they bad

To meet them we more than glad

We got we gun and partner we aint making fun

If you smart clear the way

And if you think you bad make you play

(Gunslingers- Sparrow)

While I followed Sparrow from 1959-1960 and “setting guns” he didn’t realise that the Police and Prisoner hit the road in 1961 like a two for the price of one. Looking back at now when we have MORE POLICE GUNS DO MISSING, “Guns Missing from Penitence Street Municipal Police Office”, “Lawy, relatives tide up in home invasion”, and all part of Trinidad (much, much more in Tobago if at all) ranks at the top for crime among the English-speaking Caribbean, with a high crime index driven by gang-related violence, kidnappings, and home invasions. Like the Police and Prisoner sang, 

Is ah shame Is ah shame on the Police force 

Trinidad going from bad to worse 

Is ah shame on the Police force 

Trinidad going from bad to worse 

I am sure you read the collusion 

It took place at the Police station 

Despite the laws in the book

I think every policeman is a crook

CHORUS:

Ah woman was arrested and charged 

With obscene language drunk and disorderly

Taken to the station and sabotaged assaulted, and treated cruelly 

Ah fraid to fall in the hands of the law 

Cause ah don’t know what they go do 

Them women police they bad like beast 

They may do me the same thing too

(Police and Prisoner)

Now, as I sit here worrying about what would happen if any of my family, children and I leave the house or worse, having some coming into our house to get all we have and worse, I’m wondering that we already have a violent crime with over 122 murders recorded by mid-March this year. The crimes: gang violence, targeted killings, and brazen attacks in public spaces. In ending this article, the best person is Lord Caruso (Emmanuel Pierre) with his 1959 Road March-winning hit, the Run the Gunslingers.  

My father told me long time wasn’t so 

You could of walk in peace anywhere that you had to go

Whether day or night

They never had fight

And nobody never used to be in fright

But nowadays well it aint so

They would knock you down for a green mango

And when they do these things then they go around

And call themselves famous men in town

 (Run the Gunslingers by Lord Caruso)

Tony Deyal just heard that “Cops kill 4 in home invasion” and believes maybe there will be less “famous men” in town. Send feedback to [email protected]