The Mighty Gabby - Emmerton

Barbadian Calypsonian Anthony Carter a.k.a. "Mighty Gabby" sings the song he's best known for - Emmerton. The song, from his album "Til Now" is a dirge for the village of his birth.

Emmerton, considered at the time to be one of Barbados's worst slums, was adjacent to the capital city, Bridgetown. In the 1970s the government decided to raze the settlement and use the land to build a waste water treatment facility. Most of the nearly 600 residents of the area did not want to leave, but resistance to the government's resettlement plans eventually failed.

This is how the Mighty Gabby explains the origins of his powerful dirge:

"It was a place where neighbours were each other's lookout. In 1978, when I found out that we had to move, I was very hurt. People's houses were torn down and it was very heartbreaking to see the destruction of that community. They also destroyed the environment and ecology of the place. Emmerton meant everything to me. It was my homeland; it was the place I learned to swim. I had to remember it in song. The song took me just 35 minutes to write."

Category:

Entertainment

Tags:

• mighty
• gabby
• calypso
• barbados
• barbadian
• music
• emmerton
• kaiso
• anthony
• carter
• folk
• til now

[blisskilla34]

This Song is the BEST of the BESTEST

[nyser1]

@blisskilla34 LOL! You sure you don't mean the bestest of the best?

[Blue9dragon]

This goes to the very core of all things Bajan.Only a Bajan will understand.

[jalendariusb]

i love

[obialo1965]

You tell me tuh forget dat my granmudah was born right here so All right I say I shall go yuh tell me tuh forget it is there I want my own children to grow All right I say I shall go But I hope yuh understan' how I feel 'bout Emmerton My home land my home land my home land An uh hope yuh know it's true dat I will nevuh fuhgive you Because looka looka wha yuh do to my Emmerton you tell me to fuhget dat yuh bring bull -dozers an push-down de houses so Alright I say I shall go

[WhoUWit1000]

i will never forget my people used to be slaves

[Setokyo]

This is a song of power

[Georgiapie82]

This song symbolizes so much. the words are powerful and truly brings forth emothions of a people that struggled and the generations that it has lost since then to the greed of the world- Thank you Gabby for this touching tribute....

[fergyville]

you dont have to have lived there to interpret the song in a similar intention. i lived in the southern area of Christ church in silversands and we had family and friends in emmerton so the feeling is not as direct as those who were there but we too feel the pain and suffering.

[waynedread]

this is a tribute to all bajan sufferahs... but unless you from chapmans lane ,you cant really overstan the true cultural meaning of this anthem.the family ties that bind us all not only by blood but by community,.de flooding of murphy pasture.the debby on the other side of the canal..miss simon and mr.worrel shop. godfadda motttley .no one who has ever experienced life in emmerton would ever call any other place home...who knows it feels it..rastafari

[waynedread]

this is a tribute to all bajan sufferahs... but unless you from chapmans lane ,you cant really overstan the true cultural meaning of this anthem..de flooding of murphy pasture.the debby on the other side of the canal..miss simon and mr.worrel shop. godfadda motttley .no one who has ever experienced life in emerton would ever call any other place home...who knows it feels it..rastafari