Requiem Mass for death of calypso

THE EDITOR: It was literally stressful listening to the Calypso Monarch final.

Prof Selwyn Cudjoe had pontificated that calypso was an art form of social commentary and double entendre. Social commentary did not exist nor was there a semblance of double entendre.

True calypso in its story has the audience anxiously waiting to hear the next verse, as is characteristic of extempo.

The only true calypso that I have heard for the season was performed by a young woman of Naparima Girls College, whose repertoire was on the Paria tragedy in which four men lost their lives. An event of national importance, which was not on the radar of our seasoned calypsonians.

The Calypso Monarch final was in fact a requiem Mass for the death of the art of calypso. Instead of a car, the winner should have received a hearse in which to sing Hallelujah.

IQUBAL HYDAL

Felicity