This is a chapter from my third book called Love letters
Music can take us back to a time and place and period. I am a child of the eighties. Imagine me trying to record a mixtape on a cassette player. Imagine me being hyper to the sounds of Apache Indian. I remember watching Madonna music videos on the old black and white TV at my uncle's place in San Fernando. I remember being pounded by the dub music in the maxi taxi that was customarily loud back in the day on my trips to and from school. Once I was hospitalized and found myself singing Jean and Dinah much to the displeasure of the nurses.
Music moves you. There is music for our different moods. I remember it perfectly. I was in my aunt's dance studio and the music came on and Red Red Wine started playing. I immediately took to their style. I eventually found out who UB40 are and the different songs. I have vibed to whole UB40 concerts in my room. Cheb Khaled is another that resonates with my personality and who can resist that awesome smile of his.
I love music from around the world. I love music with a positive message. I love songs that tell a story. My current playlist includes Bakermat, Ahmed Spins, Ed Sheeran, Dan Balan and SOJA. Take a song like "Favorite Song" by Toosii. The mellow flow of the instrumentals, the soulful mood and the lyrics that tugs at the heart strings and gives the feels. Such is the beauty of music. Music was an escape route from his issues as a youth and this is imbued in his creations.
Our Trinbagonian accent is described as sing song and Trinbagonian music is rich and diverse. From the social commentary of calypso to the river lime vibes of chutney to the colorful sounds of soca to the roots rock crossover fusion songs of Orange Sky. Pablo Casals has said that, "Music is the language of the soul." The soca was coined by Lord Shorty and is a portmanteau of soul and calypso. Soca was originally spelt "sokah" to reflect the East Indian influence. Such is the richness of music. My love for music are the drums of my heart.
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