A Review of 90 Mighty Sparrow Songs - Birdie Turns 90!
If you're like a couple billion of the warm blooded humans around the world, you probably use the internet daily, chances are you've probably seen one meme in your life.
There is a meme that depicts a meeting of the musicians on someone's diverse music Playlist of bangers. Johann Sebastian Bach (18th century European classical composer) handshakes with Tupac Shakur (20th century African American rapper). Other memes take the joke further, mixing artists from different generations, continents and genres. It's a crazy world that only exists in fantasy and eclectic music playlists.
“She ugly, yes, but she wearing them expensive dress”. Mr. Walker may be Sparrow's most memorably haunting melody. In this song, he is anxious, tired waiting to marry Mr. Walker's daughter, Rosemary. It's a profile of 20th century courtship in Trinidad and Tobago. Sparrow visited the father to fix the wedding date, and he expresses his unflinching commitment to the bride to be. She was not even involved. But what is the reason he was so invested? He had no real connection with her. While many Sparrow songs express no desire to commit to a relationship, this one does. The real question is whether it's her sweetness or Mr. Walker's money that had the Birdie searching for a nest. The 1986 soca version is my favourite of all of his renditions of this song. The horns are irresistible, bassline bounces down the road, horns blare and the synthesizer solo by Leston Paul to round out the track is dizzying. The almost haunting background vocals include one of the most prolific chorus trios in calypso and Soca - Carl, Carol and Rudder. Kenny Phillip: guitar Junior Wharwood: guitar Roy Cape: alto sax Dennis Wilkinson: tenor sax Lambert Phillip: trombone Fortunia Ruiz: trumpet Enrique Moore: trumpet Michael "Toby" Tobias: percussion
Is this Sparrow's biggest Soca hit? This one tackles polygamy with a healthy share of bacchanal. He plays coy, not wanting to double engage Betty Lou and her sister Mary, who was sweet on him too… but he considers Lord Kitchener’s advice to “do it!”. The 2025 version of this song is “I could only drive one car at a time, but I still want two.”
This is the story of how the Birdie supposedly infiltrated the bedroom of the Queen of England while Prince Phillip was not there and did the unspeakable and unthinkable. What's most daring about this is the audacity of creole creativity. The partnership of writer Winsford Joker Devine and Sparrow produced some immaculate gems. This song recounts and bacchanals a 1982 break in at Buckingham Palace. This may very well be the best soca jam. Let me dispel the notion that a calypsonian is worth less if he has not written his calypso. In every other genre, including Calypso's most famous offspring, Soca, singers deliver and interpret material by commissioned writers. In the context of 1970s calypso, it is understandable why one would be less regarded if they didn't write their own calypso. But let me put this to you... Can you imagine any other calypsonian apart from Sparrow singing and delivering so convincingly, such a ridiculous figment of someone else's imagination? No. Case closed.
Is Rose Sparrow’s sweetest and most enduring melody? It is definitely one of his most sung and covered songs - some of T&T’s best musicians, Boogsie Sharpe, Mungal Patasar and Etienne Charles all have their own versions. For once, we see a sincere and contrite Sparrow who is love struck and begging his woman, the queen of flowers, to come back, as he’s “going staring mad. Darling can’t you see, you mean so much to me…” Then Sparrow runs up and sends down a bouncer… Rose, why did you leave me/Why did you deceive me/Rose you lookin’ for blows.” Huh? This threat of violence is slipped in very casually and delivered so sweetly that it’s easy to miss. Despite the sincerity of the apology, the threat takes away its tenderness. Throughout the song, muted trumpet plays along with the lead vocal, complimentary and harmonic lines. The solo toward the end may be the best trumpet performance on any calypso and soca track.
Sparrow has a particular interest in and talent for composing and choosing songs that speak about the male preoccupation of penis size, and delivering them with enthusiasm and, unchallengeable pitch and bounce. Whereas Jean and Dinah were working for the Yankee dollar, now it’s the Big Bamboo (his?) working for greenbacks. This minor key jaunt features highly orchestrated horns and background vocals that distract you from his take on what women want and what really keeps them happy in relationships. “To make her honest and keep love true/She said Sparrow all I want from you/Is a little piece, baby/Of the big bamboo.” In verse three, he offers her a sugarcane, which despite being very sweet, she threw away, preferring the big bamboo. In 2025, it’s a simplistic take on female pleasure and a male insecurity based opinion on sexual politics, and fidelity. Yet, this position on this phallic theme is likely to be one that transcends all generations and all relations. Interestingly, this song is a traditional song, meaning some of the lyrics and or melody existed before him, a folk song... and verses were composed by each new singer. Early career Sparrow helped bring traditional melodies and songs into popular recordings and preserved their memory. We can’t afford to lose the stories now.
“Mrs White called me up Sunday night. From the tone on the phone, she was tight.” This is Carnival, all formalities go out the window. Sparrow sings about a woman’s urges and deals with her sexual and carnival liberation. She is willing to put on slippers, a sailor hat, look cute and drink her alcohol of choice - play her own mas and be liberated from the dissatisfactory man she had. The sweetness of the melody and brass arrangements belie the raunchy and risque lyrics delivered. Sparrow talks about a rendezvous he and Mrs. White shared in the fete the year before, and are now considering recreating in the band… at the Same Time, in the Same Place. “Try and understand, I leave the honky man and I want a big nigger man to hug up in the band.” This is one of the few songs in this list that the woman takes full control of her desires, ignoring the how-it-go-look and gives Mrs. White full power and autonomy of her affairs. However, as with instances when he gives the woman the power she needs and deserves of her affairs, he throws in the man’s preoccupation with size (big nigger man) and makes her desires seem a bit primitive. For me, the understated theme and message in this song is that Jouvert is the great equalizer of the carnival of carnivals in Trinidad Carnival. A message that people, especially if intoxicated, will break away and respond to their urges. Anything can and will happen.
This is a recounting of the 1972 polio pandemic that derailed carnival and had mas postponed to May… and the washout that occurred. How the hell you go leave February and March and put carnival in May. The history of this song’s popularity is a microcosm of the rivalry between Sparrow and his frenemy Kitchener. This song is beaten squarely by Kitchener’s Rainorama, on the same topic.
In big band calypso style, Sparrow delivers on common words and theme in calypso - needles and jookin’. He witnesses a couple jookin' each other. Slightly embarrassed, but wanting to witness how the scene plays out, it is voyeurism. When a peeping Sparrow fears the situation is getting out of control, he decides to go break it up, until the woman threatens to jook him too!
Sparrow is swearing on the strength of and sharing the secret of bois bande, the tree bark used in Caribbean traditional medicine to restore sexual vigor, to apparently give any man supernatural strength. He relies on the chorus of men from Port of Spain to back him up on the effectiveness of the home remedy in old time calypso style with an uptempo bounce. He says that at 53, men start losing vitality and run after Ovaltine, Guinness and stout or phosphorene. Nothing keeps a woman happy like a man charged with bois bande. Thematically, and maybe unintentionally, this song shows how folk remedies come down through generations and reflects on how men’s health issues are treated in the Caribbean. Take this bush, brew that tea, and boast to friends, rather than going to the doctor.
Sparrow grapples with mind over matter, while the matter of the body is succeeding chronologically. It’s a reflection on how Caribbean men defend their continued physical functioning while ageing… with bravado and big talk. “Old, but not cold; still hot like congo pepper”. It is endlessly melodic with horn and synthesizer punctuations, Errol Ince is the arranger… the soca fever, he claims, is one of the things that keeps him young. That certainly helps keep you young at heart, if nothing else. The cleverest line in the song is probably, “After 68 is over, you could really enjoy 69”. Kaiso!
This is tribute and stereotype of Tobago women, thick with praise, humour and objectification, “like a new sponge ball”. Sparrow rates them as incomparable. It is cultural reflection on the traditional blue food diet of Tobagonians, thick thighs and bums, and girl-next-door-pretty innocence. While there is objectification, there is praise. On this one, he may be able to get a pass. So many Sparrow calypsoes are the spiritual prequels and lyrical inspiration for more modern soca hits. This came before Machel sang Bubblenut and praised a list of women, whose bubblenuts were jumpin’ and “had the man dem in town stalkin, rollin like Tobago dumplin”. This is Bubblenut’s mother.
It is The Birdie’s commentary on polarizing world leaders. Shah of Iran and Idi Amin. He goes from far east and comes all the way back to the region - Nicaragua, Grenada and back home in T&T. “Eric Williams ‘fraid Karl” (Hudson-Phillips)... the first Prime Minister (Williams), fell out with his attorney general (Hudson-Phillips), who went on to form the Organization for National Reconstruction party) . It is a tale of strike, demonstration and war, corruption, horrors, racism, extremism. Sparrow ponders the intoxication of human power and “vaulting ambition which o’erleaps itself”. And guess what? No Sparrow social commentary is complete if it isn’t rhythmic, and wineable.
Natasha from Nigeria… this is a spiritual prequel to Bahia Girl. It is a story of lust, love, romance, music, dancing, cultural appreciation and pan-African pride, and connections. Calypsonian meets a fascinating African beauty, she dances and calypsonian goes crazy. He sings, dances and swoons, she teaches him a few words in her native language.The rhythm arrangement is not typical calypso, there is some West African influenced drumming. The horns lead a beautiful band chorus and the sax decorates the melody, just behind the voice during the verse. Arranger Art DeCoteau did a fantastic job.
How You Jamming So Sparrow is in his element at jouvert, general commotion, fights breaking out in the band, music jammin’, and women, who run for his protection and his moves. As they dance, Miss Pam is taken aback by his forwardness, and she asks him, “How You Jammin’ So?” This is foundation soca - arranged by Ulvin Belfast.
Sixty-three years after Trinidad and Tobago became independent, this song criticizing English colonial styled education, is still relevant in 2025! Doctor Bird bemoans the fact that British nursery rhymes were so prominent in education in T&T. It is witty social commentary, and the popularity of colonial and post-colonial nursery rhymes makes this immediately singable to people a certain age. Humour and ridiculousness of lyrics meet long horn lines in the arrangement.
This one wraps up fear of “defeat” by women in sexual encounters, double entendre mastery and misogyny into a memorable hook. It is a common theme in calypso double meaning songs. The lyrics don’t add up very sensibly for the non-hidden meaning, but the double meaning is very clear. This is one of his risqué songs that won’t fare well with modern consciousness, but the rudeness, arrangement, vocal performance and easy memorability of the melody make this one a favourite of many.
This one is literally a ’Nansi story in song, and as those typically go, there is underlying meaning. It is a story of brain vs brawn in the animal kingdom, who is king in the jungle… Lion and Donkey. You have to listen and think to uncover the themes of corruption, default support for traditional thinking and the power of mob mentality.
Before there was hip hop beef, decades before the Machel and Bunji cold war, Mighty Sparrow and Lord Melody had their feud. But this was mostly for entertainment. Even in their publicity stunt, Sparrow managed to have a few choice insults for Melody’s choice of woman as a partner, contributing badly to his general treatment of women in lyrics.
Sparrow, Dr. Eric Williams and the PNM is a genre by itself that requires serious analysis. This is a pre-independence kaiso celebrating and defending the man who became T&T’s first prime minister. He defended him from rumours and other calypsonians who were critical of him.
This was a crown-winning calypso. One that all people of a particular generation can relate to as they reminisce on lessons, teaching styles, riddles and pedagogies. Some of the same things he was critical of in Dan is the Man in the Van are celebrated in this song. “Dem was happy days, school days was happy, happy days.”
He craftily uses the children’s nursery rhyme to sing about the decline of Britain’s imperial power and the happenings of the British royal family.
Sparrow chronicles and gives an early draft of history. This is the story of the internationalization and spread of carnival, calypso and soca culture to big cities outside of the Caribbean. It is detailing how Caribana came to be such a colourful and celebrated festival, so much so that “All dem white woman boongie in the street”.
Here is an exploration of how Trinidad interacts with its closest neighbour, Venezuela, and how T&T carnival has influenced carnivals in Venezuela - steelbands, competition and calypso. It is a sample of how coastal Venezuela and T&T have interacted, forever. With cultural, linguistic and human exchanges, and a fair dose of competition and suspicion. This is a musical, socio-cultural study of Calipso y Carnival del Callao (Venezuela’s most famous carnival that is unique in its mestizo heritage) - a “soca parang” history fusion told in a Spanglish song.
This is an early example of fusions of calypso/soca and popular music of the time. He uses the story of how “a big fat mama from Mississippi” taught him to dance the boogaloo, and its fusion with calypso. The 1960s big band jazz and dance music arrangement, instrumental soloing and vocal shrills and extempo vocalizations (jazz improvisation) blend so easily with calypso. It is a showcase of how creole cultures connect from South America <> Caribbean <> to the Mississippi. The arrangement is by Ron Berridge and the horn section includes Roy Cape, Collins Dennis, H Boucaud, Jerry Cooper, Nev Oxley, and Ron and Clem Berridge.
Before theories about love languages were popular, Sparrow clearly expressed his preference to have his partner tell him how much she desired him and what a handful he was. On top of a percussion heavy and wide arrangement, he pleads for his lover to shout words of affirmation, about his physical touch, and to tell him that he had “too much wood in the fire”.
King of Collaborations, Machel Montano works with King of Calypso and introduces Sparrow to a new generation of soca and carnival lovers. This reimagination of the 1964 hit opens with Sparrow’s playful, decades-unanswered question, “Yuh want me talk the truth?” (About whether or not the Congo man had ever eaten white meat). Sparrow and Machel then wail and whoop like the 1964 cannibalistic Congoman who supposedly devoured two white tourists. The rest of the lyrics by Montano make the remake far more politically correct, talking about the enjoyment of the 2008 Congoman enjoying revelry and mas. It is still slight pepper in its political incorrectness and Sparrow showcases his trademark vocal dexterity… He still had it in his 70s! Ooooo deeey!
“And now, presenting His Excellency The Honourable Dr. Slinger Francisco, better known as the Mighty Sparrow!” Thematically this one is a little incoherent. Sparrow does one of his illustrious self-introductions that he does live. He then delivers the Congo Man “Oooo dey!”, and goes onto sing about violence, pain and sorrow and says that “Slinger come to cool it dong”. This was a riddim and project by Montano and his band Xtatik that put a long list of calypso icons on the same modern soca beat - Calypso Rose, Lord Blakie, Roy Cape, along with moderns Treason, KMC, Bunji, Onika Bostic, RIkki Jai and others. The best part of this song is a live performance that you can find of it on Youtube. Machel, Farmer Nappy, Peter C Lewis and the Xtatik band look and listen on in awe and laughter, as Rose and Sparrow have an R-rated extempo battle on the rididm (that Rose wins). The crowd goes wild, it is chaotic - screaming, jumping and waving. If you ever needed proof that Calypso is Soca and Soca is Calypso, this is it.
This is a crazy story about the relationship Elaine, Harry and Elaine’s mother shared. Instead of analyzing and spelling it out for you, I will just quote it. If you’ve read this far, you’re invested enough to figure out the meaning yourself. Elaine complains to her mother about Harry: “Harry always pulling at meh clothes, Wake up, get up, And the son of a gun is so crude, Ma, in the middle of the night, Harry only beggin’ for food. Well, well, well, Girl I envy (falsetto) you! I wish that your Daddy will do what Harry does do! I will be happy to (falsetto) feed him, whether he begs me or not, And if I ever feed him, he could even put his head in the pot!” 😕 You big and you have sense. P.S. Sparrow once said that he wished he had the falsetto that Lord Melody had. His falsetto performance on this song and its subsequent remakes, to distinguish between the omniscient narrator, Elaine and Mama, makes this track extremely comical.
This number is the story of the impact calypso was having on the world in the 1950s and 60s. Following Harry Belafonte’s 1956 album Calypso, which was the first album to ever sell over one million copies, calypso was experiencing popularity in the USA and worldwide that it had never experienced before. “Calypso was sweeping the place” and was challenging early rock and roll to be the dominant sound of US pop music. It included a line that was popular and somewhat cliched in calypso of the time, and became emblematic of the danceability of calypso and how it was viewed: “Jump in the line and shake your bodyline”.
This is, as with so many Birdie songs, shockingly and comically rude. “Playing in class, With a lizard in a glass, The lizard got away from Ruth, And run by the teacher foot…” The lizard was under Teacher Mildred’s dress, making a mess. The storyline uses childhood innocence and mischief to cover the subplot of female self pleasure. In a classroom. Wild!
The scene is a group of friends visiting someone’s house at Christmas time. The visitors then toast to the host, using nice-sounding, but wrongly used big words. Sparrow wants to scramble those who insulted him. Malapropisms in full flow, Sparrow delights in using big words. This was the blueprint for Trinidad Rio’s Big Word Man.
This is one of his best double entendre calypsos! He takes up a job as a gardener and Lucy, the woman for whom he was working, immediately puts him to water the garden. He describes how he unreels the hose to complete the job. Sparrow got in a tiff with Lucy when she grabbed the hose and fought him for it. Later in the evening when her husband arrived home, he ordered Sparrow to “water she garden”. If you’ve been following the trial of Sean Diddy Combs, this sounds almost like a tropical freak off. The sweet female background vocals add to the comic ludicrousness of the scenario. 10 Outta 10 for double meaning.
One big party tonight! Ramajay, breakaway and dingolay. He sang this one to celebrate his 60th birthday in carnival, wining, calypso and soca style. It acknowledges all of his communities, from steelband to Petit Valley where Sparrow’s Hideaway, the famous Bird nest and nightclub (now a storage facility) is located. One of the best parts of this song is the enticing list of “Calypso Soul Foods” that he sings out on the menu for his party, including shrimp in lobster sauce, roti and curries, Chinese food, wild meat, and creole delights. Happy birthday Sparrow!
A tribute to the chaotic cacophony and eternal action in the city that he made his main home for several decades.
Another track on Sparrow’s experimental soca album Sweeter Than Ever that allows the musicians to ramajay. Synthesizers whizz, with high pitched tones that sounded experimental at that time. Birdie boasts that his musicians could make them jam until the fete over. Guitars with wah pedals dance in unison with synthesizers, traditional calypso rhythm arrangements and programmed drums.
A rock and roll record with blues lyrics by Sparrow, searching for Mary Jane. Vocal versatility is on display here as he bends the pitch of notes to hit the entire melody line. Technique on point!
Calypso as the newspaper of the people. The assassination of President John F. Kennedy and praise of his political and personal qualities are at the forefront as Sparrow talks about the political behaviour of the USA South West. The shock of his killing forces the hyperbole (is it, really, as footage of the assassination was seen around the world) out of Sparrow that no one who had been killed was missed as tearfully since the death of Christ.
Sparrow is firmly on the woman's side and encourages her to leave the man if he's no good. Byron’s bass playing on this is mixed heavy and the Dragonaires have a horn arrangement to kill! The musical interludes between breaks are a thing of beauty. The lyrics encourage the woman to take charge and hold the power reigns in the relationship. But guess what, after she leaves her man, Sparrow swoops in and places himself as the best potential replacement . He just couldn't resist. LOL!
A naturalized citizen of the United States of America for many decades, this was Sparrow’s contribution to the election of the first African American president. Although it was not as impactful as his political commentary in Trinidad from the 50s - 70s.
Two vastly different songs with the same title. Same topic. Two different angles. One is a people approach, this is the political approach. It's a history in song of the collapse of the short lived West Indian Federation. Despite a quick willingness to involve in insular bickering, yet preach togetherness, full economic and political integration will always be almost unattainably difficult. “Tell the Doctor you not in favour/Doh behave like a blasted traitor/This is no time to say you Eh federating no more!” Reincarnated as CARICOM, the region's political structure acknowledged Sparrow’s position as a strong Defensor Fortis of a united Caribbean.
The Mighty Sparrow is all those artists in one person. He has touched dozens of genres, styles, rhythms, eras and shaped sounds of Caribbean musics for decades. Yet, everything he recorded and performed was and is Calypso. Sparrow was already performing while Bob Marley was a little boy. He's still singing (when health allows) now that Marley has grands who are adults with hits on the US charts.
This is a review like none other. Many of the references and much of the language, feature current day references. They are desperately needed because of a sobering reality. While as older folks and or calypso enthusiasts, we may consider some of his hits timeless, reality is: Sparrow music is hardly played publicly nowadays. Many people in their mid thirties and under can't sing a Sparrow chorus if you put them on the spot. We don't regard the King of the genre of Calypso highly in 2025.
The selections are an eclectic mix. Sparrow classics, songs that need to be revisited and analyzed with more enlightened opinions, some flops, some songs that are unique for their lyrical or musical content, some of my personal favourites. You may not see your favourite Sparrow song or a popular hit on this list. He has recorded and released over 70 albums, and well over 1,000 songs. The only T&T artists who probably come somewhat close are Machel Montano, Kitchener, and David Rudder.
These are only 90 songs, and it was quite a task to listen to hours and hours of music, make decisions and write small and micro reviews.
Sparrow is a constant presence that links seven decades of Calypso evolution. His thematic arc reflects almost every topic imaginable. If one or a dozen Sparrow songs are not your cup of tea, there is surely at least an album’s worth of material that could make you tap your feet or listen carefully. His material is insightful, bawdy, analytical, journalistic, comical, danceable, wineable, and so much more. He has lived long enough to see his breakout hit (Jean and Dinah) turn from a chart topping road march to a folk song. A song that once caused revelry, that is performed nowadays accompanied by djembe drums and the voices of children learning the pop songs of the ancestors.
This review is written by a massive Sparrow fan, who is also an equal opportunity critic. Yes, I can be and am the two at the same time. It allows me to see his greatness, his weakness, his range and his longevity. It allows me to see how some of the material is no longer as acceptable as it used to be. The most common complaint is that he is a dirty old man, with songs that are chauvinistic, promote sexual violence and disrespect women. But he did not start as an old man. Think of Yung Bredda, he is on his way up, and much of his success, especially before mainstream crossover is built on explicit songs. He is now expanding his repertoire, but will always be known as the rude boy of Steam. Artists change, their relevance and perception changes too, especially if you've had a career for over seven decades. Sparrow is Calypso and Calypso is Sparrow. 🐐
1. Lying excuses (1987)
This is a lesson from Sparrow. If you don't want to gaslight (or if you want to) your partner when found in a compromising situation, listen to this song. If you want to learn the perfect tone for a romantic apology, listen to this song. If you want a lesson in Caribbean magical realism, listen to this song.
Sparrow's lying excuses for infidelity are so outlandish that you're tempted to believe them. He offers bed, psychological and physical repose to a woman freshly out of job. Then gives another woman, whose husband kicked her out, 2000 dollars for a “sangwij” and a coffee. He citizen arrested an earring thief and searched her bosom, and under her dress for a gun. It was rumored that he "and Ms Leach, was seen making love on Maracas Beach". His alibi is that she was attacked by Africanized bees, so he bravely covered her with his whole body. While in the middle of the brave and heroic feet, a bee stung him on his behind so he had no choice but to wine.
Any modern calypsonian who thinks an extended narrative song should automatically be boring, unmelodious and not catchy should listen to this on repeat and take note. The song's structure is interesting and memorable. The only chorus is the refrain after each Nansi story "of that's all, that is all, that is all", followed by a band chorus. The arrangements and production by Sparrow and Richard Mayers are impeccable. It has a melodic and rhythmic bassline, superbly arranged brass, tasteful synthesizer and organ hits, and driving percussion.
His vocal performance on this track is dazzling. It reflects almost the entire range of his capabilities: from the sweet "Maggie darling", to the rambunctious laughter after delivering all verses, a reflection on the outrageous absurdity of the lying excuses. This song is sweet bacchanal. It is definitely a top ten banger that has been revived in recent times by performances from jazz musicians, comedians and young kaiso enthusiasts. Testament to its lyrical and musical sweetness. Dat is all, dat is all, dat is all!
2. Willie Dead
If someone tells you that Francisco has covered the full range of topics possible, you best believe them. Erectile dysfunction, ageing, men and rejection. A serious topic in male health, which is usually an issue of banter between men. He begs his member, who has been laying down for over a month, once "strong like a post", to allow him one last salvo.
“Weelee fall dong dead, cyah raise he head!”
Once again, the power of this narrative is incredibly catchy and memorable. This is Sparrow at his ridiculous best.
3. Jean and Dinah (1956)
In 2026, the almost immortal 1956 Road March, Sparrow's breakout hit, turns 70. There's not too much I can add to the seven decades of discussion about this song. What we can analyze is its place in calypso and soca history. In 2024, Scorch Radio listed it among their 101 best soca songs of all time. The selectors were willing to and did overlook the fact that this song pre-existed the "invention" of soca, according to the commonly accepted timelines. That shows how much Jean and Dinah is part of the fabric of soca music. It also shows Sparrow's impact on everything in calypso and soca, whether it is conscious or just embedded in what we perceive calypso and soca to be. Nowadays, the song isn't really played in fetes or on the road at carnival. But that's not Sparrow's fault. It’s a timeless hit.
4. Obeah Wedding (1966)
Its power is in the longevity of the melody and the strength of the protagonist, Melda. Mical Teja named a song after the character in his 2024 hit soca, Melda. Her qualities are significantly different to the ones Sparrow sang about. This is tribute to Sparrow, and the song popularly referred to as Melda.
What's shocking about this song is not the fallout of Sparrow's once sweet relationship with Melda. Nor is the supposed obeah she had worked on him. The insults that he dishes out to her are terribly mean, and are not limited to this song, they form a clear pattern.
In reflecting on these lyrics decades later, one might ask:
Where does Sparrow stop and Slinger begin? In my couple interactions and interviews with the Birdie, he was always in character, so it’s hard to tell. A quick talker, joker and 75year+ rude boy, prone to break out in song and wine with little to no provocation. That is to say that these lyrics are not necessarily a reflection of the man, what he subscribes to and how he treats women.
5. Smart Bajan (1962)
Probably the first Sparrow song I ever heard... On Radio 100.1fm as a child under 10. The chant, "All is Mine", in a thick, exaggerated Barbadian accent hooked me and tuned me into the story.
An advantageous entrepreneur from Barbados preys on superstitious people who make wishes and throw gold coins in a fountain in north Port of Spain. As they leave to make the trek back down the hill, he dives in to take every cent. The story telling is fascinating. It covers a hot topic that flares up every decade or two in Southern Caribbean affairs... Rivalry between Barbados and Trinidad and Tobago. Smart Bajans and Trickydadians. Vocal delivery on this is one sublime, and he imitates and interpolates the Frank Sinatra song, Three Coins in the Fountain. You hear the 60s American ballad tone and delivery moving smoothly into Sparrow’s bacchanal grunge... Each voice weaving listeners through an interesting stream of consciousness and narration... The Bajan, the narrator, Sparrow himself, and his girlfriend. Listen to this one for a good laugh.
6. Saltfish (1976)
Sparrow sings about his favourite dish with such verve... If he didn't start it, he is certainly the northern star in Soca artists and calypsonians of today, who use the euphemism of salted cod to disguise oral sex in song. This is in stark difference to the macho declaration of many Jamaican artists sing that they "nah bow". The song finds great pleasure in making sure the woman is pleased.
7. Only a Fool Breaks his Own Heart (1978)
Sparrow’s hit single with Byron Lee and the Dragonaires. This is Sparrow's best performing hit when it comes to album sales. Not a calypso, but is any song sung by a calypsonian a calypso? That was the secret sauce in the arrangement and production. Trinidadians and Jamaicans have long exchanged ideas, inspiration and musicians to produce unique musical creations and genres.
Only a Fool Breaks His Own Heart (1966)
A big seller. A big hit. A Sparrow hit for the ages. Another record with Byron Lee and the Dragonaires. This cover of the 1964 ballad remains one of Birdie's biggest and most commercially successful songs. Only a Fool Breaks HIs Own Heart sold over 2 million copies in the Caribbean and Europe. In 1969, it received gold certification and was in the top 10 hits in the Netherlands. It was reissued in 1977 to the European market and spent 27 weeks on Dutch charts, and grew to #2 by 1978. But why was this such a hit? It is a 1960s ballad in inimitable Sparrow style. Apart from his calypso abilities, at core, Slinger is a coroner, and boy, does he croon on this track. Byron Lee and his band deliver in a style that was indicative of the Caribbean’s placement between the two Northern music markets - it sounds US, it sounds UK, but it sounds Caribbean. Interesting in Sparrow’s delivery is how he reduces the intensity of his Caribbean accent.
Do stronger accents and non-English languages reduce a song’s potential for crossover and international appeal? Modern Reggaeton and Afrobeats answer that question no. Back then, however, and even in Calypso and Soca discussions of today, it is commonly proffered that accent, language and “islandness” of delivery hamper the genre from becoming international. Those discussions aside, Sparrow showed that he was able to mix various worlds and deliver an international hit.
8. Extempo Ending on the Band Exit
I'd never heard this one before I started listening to Sparrow music for these reviews. The Birdie ends a show by having a little Extempo fun. Before he starts, he warns that what he's about to deliver is all in jest and fun...then dishes out impromptu verses of insults to the audience. Nothing is off limits. His quick observations of people and unique or noticeable traits are fodder for 8 minutes of insulting, flirtatious and hilarious extempo on the Rum and Coca Cola chord progression. The verses do sound rehearsed; at worst, he manipulates and delivers prewritten verses well. At best, prime extempo Sparrow could rival Gypsy or Bunji Garlin, the undisputed king of lyrics of Trinidad and Tobago.
8. El Reloj (1978)
Sparrow is a ventriloquist extraordinaire. El Reloj shows some of those skills and how he was able to phonetically, at least, learn different languages to sing and deliver convincingly with feeling. There is tender reflection and reminiscing about how quickly moments of love pass. In a Sparrow concert at Pier1 at the turn of the millennium, Sparrow related that he learned the song from famous Chilean singer Lucho Gatica at the “Festival de Canción” in Brazil in 1965. The details are a little unsure. The first Festival Internacional de Canção took place in Brazil in 1965. My surface-level research revealed that the Birdie was carded to perform at the festival in 1966, but was apparently stricken from the cast for having arrived late. Either way, this one is interesting because it is one of Sparrow’s forays into the Latin American market, and an attempt at becoming popular in different markets apart from the North American music scene.
9. Memories (1974)
How often have you heard Sparrow sober, sweet and reflective? This is one of the few tracks on which Slinger emerges. He ponders life, legacy, human mortality, contributions of carnival legends (designers, musicians and the average Joe masquerade) and how they can best be remembered... Sugary, peppery, with a jump and chip in their honor. This is one of Sparrow’s best songs written by Winsford Joker Devine. He wrote it after the passing of his son. Death in carnival is a fairly common theme - from Kalinda chants to Rupee in the early 2000s, then in 2025 Machel and Skinny Fabulous.
10. Bang Bang Lulu (1969)
Bang Bang Lulu is one of those folk songs that has been sung for so long that the origin is unclear. It's almost like a childish limerick, that people take and put their own rude and derogatory lyrics on. Of course Sparrow couldn't let the centuries old fad pass without his take on it. He sings some pretty bad things about Lulu's boyfriends in four line verses.
11. Carnival Boycott (1957)
This song, although nowhere near as popular or obviously memorable as Jean and Dinah, is the chronological sequel to Jean and Dinah. It could, however, be considered more significant. It created a key, transformational moment in Trinidad and Tobago, calypso and Soca culture. Machel Montano is a millionaire because of this song and its twin, Lord Superior's Brass Crown.
It's probably Sparrow's most significant action against colonialism, independence and development of indigenous cultures.
Context: when he won the Calypso Monarch as a 21-year-old, he won 40 TT dollars a bottle of rum, and had a brass crown placed on his head. Is that how calypso kings should be treated? The young star then stayed away from the competition until he considered it worth his effort, and the prize money was raised, and treatment improved. But his music dominated the road and fete. The competition had to come up to scratch.
12. Mr. Walker (1959)
“She ugly, yes, but she wearing them expensive dress”. Mr. Walker may be Sparrow's most memorably haunting melody. In this song, he is anxious, tired waiting to marry Mr. Walker's daughter, Rosemary. It's a profile of 20th century courtship in Trinidad and Tobago. Sparrow visited the father to fix the wedding date, and he expresses his unflinching commitment to the bride to be. She was not even involved. But what is the reason he was so invested? He had no real connection with her. While many Sparrow songs express no desire to commit to a relationship, this one does. The real question is whether it's her sweetness or Mr. Walker's money that had the Birdie searching for a nest. The 1986 soca version is my favourite of all of his renditions of this song. The horns are irresistible, bassline bounces down the road, horns blare and the synthesizer solo by Leston Paul to round out the track is dizzying. The almost haunting background vocals include one of the most prolific chorus trios in calypso and Soca - Carl, Carol and Rudder. Kenny Phillip: guitar Junior Wharwood: guitar Roy Cape: alto sax Dennis Wilkinson: tenor sax Lambert Phillip: trombone Fortunia Ruiz: trumpet Enrique Moore: trumpet Michael "Toby" Tobias: percussion
13. Sparrow Dead (1974)
This is a real life example of how the community newsline works in Trinidad and Tobago. How unconfirmed rumours with unknown origins can gather so much steam that they slip into media reports and spread wide. This was fake news before the term existed. This was Twitter before the internet.
This is another example of the vivid magical realism intertwined in Sparrow's work, so well done that it's difficult to distinguish the fact from the fiction, in this dramatized recounting of an occasion on which The Trinidad Express newspaper reported Sparrow's death. The story is so colorful with real and fictional characters - Patrick Chokolingo, Chester Morong, the real editor and reporter responsible for the story and the invented Big Belly Angie and company. Rumors of his death were largely exaggerated. “Sparrow just land in Piarco”. The characters rival Naipaul's Miguel Street. The song has an irresistible air of bacchanal. You're immediately transported to 1970s Port of Spain.
14. Both of Dem (1992)
Is this Sparrow's biggest Soca hit? This one tackles polygamy with a healthy share of bacchanal. He plays coy, not wanting to double engage Betty Lou and her sister Mary, who was sweet on him too… but he considers Lord Kitchener’s advice to “do it!”. The 2025 version of this song is “I could only drive one car at a time, but I still want two.”
15. Phillip My Dear (1983)
This is the story of how the Birdie supposedly infiltrated the bedroom of the Queen of England while Prince Phillip was not there and did the unspeakable and unthinkable. What's most daring about this is the audacity of creole creativity. The partnership of writer Winsford Joker Devine and Sparrow produced some immaculate gems. This song recounts and bacchanals a 1982 break in at Buckingham Palace. This may very well be the best soca jam. Let me dispel the notion that a calypsonian is worth less if he has not written his calypso. In every other genre, including Calypso's most famous offspring, Soca, singers deliver and interpret material by commissioned writers. In the context of 1970s calypso, it is understandable why one would be less regarded if they didn't write their own calypso. But let me put this to you... Can you imagine any other calypsonian apart from Sparrow singing and delivering so convincingly, such a ridiculous figment of someone else's imagination? No. Case closed.
16. Jane (1959)
Soca version (1974)
The best part of this song is the driving rhythm arrangement and bounce of the bass. It feels like a steelband rhythm section with iron was behind the microphone, alongside a whirring guitar. The chorus is worded… "I eh ready yet, I now begin to fete. I having a good time, doh break up the lime. Go way, go way, I intend to stay. Preach, bawl I eh going home at all!" A walking bassline is chipping all over town, dancing merrily. Timbales roll for the breakaway, it’s easy to understand why Jane didn’t want to go home. This is an interesting shift in power in relationships, and it appears as early as 1959. Sparrow tries to get his partner to leave the jammin', but she asserts her independence and insists that the fete is to sweet to leave. He threatens to do things that will clip her wings - to take away her shoes, but she stands her ground. Jane embodies the spirit of some of the original movers and shakers of carnival and calypso. The jammettes, whose present day reputation has been reduced to being prostitutes, but in actuality, they were the women who stood for their rights. The right to express themselves, oppose colonial authorities and to challenge those who stripped the enslaved and formerly enslaved Africans of their culture. Jane builds the template for women whose presence and actions in current day soca are bold. Jane said "let go mih damn hand" and "go way, go way" so that women today could show off their 6:30s and other feats of wine-ology.
17. Rose (1963)
Is Rose Sparrow’s sweetest and most enduring melody? It is definitely one of his most sung and covered songs - some of T&T’s best musicians, Boogsie Sharpe, Mungal Patasar and Etienne Charles all have their own versions. For once, we see a sincere and contrite Sparrow who is love struck and begging his woman, the queen of flowers, to come back, as he’s “going staring mad. Darling can’t you see, you mean so much to me…” Then Sparrow runs up and sends down a bouncer… Rose, why did you leave me/Why did you deceive me/Rose you lookin’ for blows.” Huh? This threat of violence is slipped in very casually and delivered so sweetly that it’s easy to miss. Despite the sincerity of the apology, the threat takes away its tenderness. Throughout the song, muted trumpet plays along with the lead vocal, complimentary and harmonic lines. The solo toward the end may be the best trumpet performance on any calypso and soca track.
18. Big Bamboo (1961)
Sparrow has a particular interest in and talent for composing and choosing songs that speak about the male preoccupation of penis size, and delivering them with enthusiasm and, unchallengeable pitch and bounce. Whereas Jean and Dinah were working for the Yankee dollar, now it’s the Big Bamboo (his?) working for greenbacks. This minor key jaunt features highly orchestrated horns and background vocals that distract you from his take on what women want and what really keeps them happy in relationships. “To make her honest and keep love true/She said Sparrow all I want from you/Is a little piece, baby/Of the big bamboo.” In verse three, he offers her a sugarcane, which despite being very sweet, she threw away, preferring the big bamboo. In 2025, it’s a simplistic take on female pleasure and a male insecurity based opinion on sexual politics, and fidelity. Yet, this position on this phallic theme is likely to be one that transcends all generations and all relations. Interestingly, this song is a traditional song, meaning some of the lyrics and or melody existed before him, a folk song... and verses were composed by each new singer. Early career Sparrow helped bring traditional melodies and songs into popular recordings and preserved their memory. We can’t afford to lose the stories now.
19. Same Time Same Place (1973)
“Mrs White called me up Sunday night. From the tone on the phone, she was tight.” This is Carnival, all formalities go out the window. Sparrow sings about a woman’s urges and deals with her sexual and carnival liberation. She is willing to put on slippers, a sailor hat, look cute and drink her alcohol of choice - play her own mas and be liberated from the dissatisfactory man she had. The sweetness of the melody and brass arrangements belie the raunchy and risque lyrics delivered. Sparrow talks about a rendezvous he and Mrs. White shared in the fete the year before, and are now considering recreating in the band… at the Same Time, in the Same Place. “Try and understand, I leave the honky man and I want a big nigger man to hug up in the band.” This is one of the few songs in this list that the woman takes full control of her desires, ignoring the how-it-go-look and gives Mrs. White full power and autonomy of her affairs. However, as with instances when he gives the woman the power she needs and deserves of her affairs, he throws in the man’s preoccupation with size (big nigger man) and makes her desires seem a bit primitive. For me, the understated theme and message in this song is that Jouvert is the great equalizer of the carnival of carnivals in Trinidad Carnival. A message that people, especially if intoxicated, will break away and respond to their urges. Anything can and will happen.
20. Mas in May (1973)
This is a recounting of the 1972 polio pandemic that derailed carnival and had mas postponed to May… and the washout that occurred. How the hell you go leave February and March and put carnival in May. The history of this song’s popularity is a microcosm of the rivalry between Sparrow and his frenemy Kitchener. This song is beaten squarely by Kitchener’s Rainorama, on the same topic.
21. Soca Man (1984)
A changing of the guards in song. The women beg him, but Sparrow swears that he'll never be caught singing a soca… On a soca beat by Frankie McIntosh. If that isn't a smart marketing tactic, I don't know what is. “This may sound strange that I can't change at this age. I am not a soca man”, he claims. In fact, I'd argue, Sparrow was one of the first soca men. Today, the debate on who created soca has picked up steam… There’s the Lord Shorty and the sole inventor theory vs the evolution theory, involving several people… I'd argue that Sparrow’s Jean and Dinah was one of the first songs, all the way back in 1956, that ushered in changes and sound experimentality into calypso. He, Kitchener and others were at the head of the melodic expansion of calypso, from chants on the same stick fighting and working melodies. It gave people like Shorty, Nelson, Maestro, Merchant, Ed Watson, Pelham Goddard, Clive Bradley and Leston Paul the non-judgmental creative freedom to evolve the music into soca with popular acceptance and commercial appeal.
A changing of the guards in song. The women beg him, but Sparrow swears that he'll never be caught singing a soca… On a soca beat by Frankie McIntosh. If that isn't a smart marketing tactic, I don't know what is. “This may sound strange that I can't change at this age. I am not a soca man”, he claims. In fact, I'd argue, Sparrow was one of the first soca men. Today, the debate on who created soca has picked up steam… There’s the Lord Shorty and the sole inventor theory vs the evolution theory, involving several people… I'd argue that Sparrow’s Jean and Dinah was one of the first songs, all the way back in 1956, that ushered in changes and sound experimentality into calypso. He, Kitchener and others were at the head of the melodic expansion of calypso, from chants on the same stick fighting and working melodies. It gave people like Shorty, Nelson, Maestro, Merchant, Ed Watson, Pelham Goddard, Clive Bradley and Leston Paul the non-judgmental creative freedom to evolve the music into soca with popular acceptance and commercial appeal.
22. Capitalism Gone Mad (1982)
An infectious critique of inflation, big business exploitation and control of the market, price gouging and capitalist set to a socalypso beat. The brassline provides the band chorus repeating the melody of the verse to great effect. Sparrow talks about how hard money is to get and his list of goods and services that have gone up is wide ranging, so as to connect everyone with his critique. He touches on basic consumer items, from food, fruit, to primary school books, panties, coffins, grave plots, cars and televisions. In 2025, the song is as relevant as ever.
An infectious critique of inflation, big business exploitation and control of the market, price gouging and capitalist set to a socalypso beat. The brassline provides the band chorus repeating the melody of the verse to great effect. Sparrow talks about how hard money is to get and his list of goods and services that have gone up is wide ranging, so as to connect everyone with his critique. He touches on basic consumer items, from food, fruit, to primary school books, panties, coffins, grave plots, cars and televisions. In 2025, the song is as relevant as ever.
23. Jook for Jook (1968)
In big band calypso style, Sparrow delivers on common words and theme in calypso - needles and jookin’. He witnesses a couple jookin' each other. Slightly embarrassed, but wanting to witness how the scene plays out, it is voyeurism. When a peeping Sparrow fears the situation is getting out of control, he decides to go break it up, until the woman threatens to jook him too!
24. Bois Bande (1968)
Sparrow is swearing on the strength of and sharing the secret of bois bande, the tree bark used in Caribbean traditional medicine to restore sexual vigor, to apparently give any man supernatural strength. He relies on the chorus of men from Port of Spain to back him up on the effectiveness of the home remedy in old time calypso style with an uptempo bounce. He says that at 53, men start losing vitality and run after Ovaltine, Guinness and stout or phosphorene. Nothing keeps a woman happy like a man charged with bois bande. Thematically, and maybe unintentionally, this song shows how folk remedies come down through generations and reflects on how men’s health issues are treated in the Caribbean. Take this bush, brew that tea, and boast to friends, rather than going to the doctor.
25. Age is Just a Number (1994)
Sparrow grapples with mind over matter, while the matter of the body is succeeding chronologically. It’s a reflection on how Caribbean men defend their continued physical functioning while ageing… with bravado and big talk. “Old, but not cold; still hot like congo pepper”. It is endlessly melodic with horn and synthesizer punctuations, Errol Ince is the arranger… the soca fever, he claims, is one of the things that keeps him young. That certainly helps keep you young at heart, if nothing else. The cleverest line in the song is probably, “After 68 is over, you could really enjoy 69”. Kaiso!
26. Tobago Girls (1980)
This is tribute and stereotype of Tobago women, thick with praise, humour and objectification, “like a new sponge ball”. Sparrow rates them as incomparable. It is cultural reflection on the traditional blue food diet of Tobagonians, thick thighs and bums, and girl-next-door-pretty innocence. While there is objectification, there is praise. On this one, he may be able to get a pass. So many Sparrow calypsoes are the spiritual prequels and lyrical inspiration for more modern soca hits. This came before Machel sang Bubblenut and praised a list of women, whose bubblenuts were jumpin’ and “had the man dem in town stalkin, rollin like Tobago dumplin”. This is Bubblenut’s mother.
27. Wanted Dead or Alive (1979)
It is The Birdie’s commentary on polarizing world leaders. Shah of Iran and Idi Amin. He goes from far east and comes all the way back to the region - Nicaragua, Grenada and back home in T&T. “Eric Williams ‘fraid Karl” (Hudson-Phillips)... the first Prime Minister (Williams), fell out with his attorney general (Hudson-Phillips), who went on to form the Organization for National Reconstruction party) . It is a tale of strike, demonstration and war, corruption, horrors, racism, extremism. Sparrow ponders the intoxication of human power and “vaulting ambition which o’erleaps itself”. And guess what? No Sparrow social commentary is complete if it isn’t rhythmic, and wineable.
28. PAYE (Pay As You Earn - 1959)
This is the name of the income tax system, Paye was a critique of the system, and tongue in cheek gives the edict of the Doctor (Eric Williams, premier then prime minister) to pay as you earn. It’s a criticism that the working class was bearing the brunt of taxes, while the rich found ways to evade. In 2025, we are still fighting the same issue. Big business people evade taxes, the Revenue Authority start-stopped and the Board of Inland Revenue still isn’t able to collect all that it is due. “It's a shame, it's a shame, but we have ourselves to blame!” Check out the sax and guitar solos on this track… a pure kaiso jam!
29. Keep the City Clean (1959)
Before Port of Spain’s drains were filled with countless thousands of plastic bottles, Sparrow sang about the civic duty to keep the capital clean, the government’s responsibility to place bins all over. But the story not-that-behind the story is that he was actually singing about well-known jammette Marabunta Jean and company, encouraging the authorities to detain them to “keep the city clean”. Once again, he is insulting a group of women who had to do what they had to do to make a living. Not too long before, he had used the name Jean to help him win the monarch with “Jean and Dinah”.
30. Du Du Yemi (Black Beauty) (1978)
Natasha from Nigeria… this is a spiritual prequel to Bahia Girl. It is a story of lust, love, romance, music, dancing, cultural appreciation and pan-African pride, and connections. Calypsonian meets a fascinating African beauty, she dances and calypsonian goes crazy. He sings, dances and swoons, she teaches him a few words in her native language.The rhythm arrangement is not typical calypso, there is some West African influenced drumming. The horns lead a beautiful band chorus and the sax decorates the melody, just behind the voice during the verse. Arranger Art DeCoteau did a fantastic job.
31. How You Jammin’ So (1976)
How You Jamming So Sparrow is in his element at jouvert, general commotion, fights breaking out in the band, music jammin’, and women, who run for his protection and his moves. As they dance, Miss Pam is taken aback by his forwardness, and she asks him, “How You Jammin’ So?” This is foundation soca - arranged by Ulvin Belfast.
32. Dan is the Man (1963)
Sixty-three years after Trinidad and Tobago became independent, this song criticizing English colonial styled education, is still relevant in 2025! Doctor Bird bemoans the fact that British nursery rhymes were so prominent in education in T&T. It is witty social commentary, and the popularity of colonial and post-colonial nursery rhymes makes this immediately singable to people a certain age. Humour and ridiculousness of lyrics meet long horn lines in the arrangement.
33. Ah Fraid Pussy Bite Me (1967)
This one wraps up fear of “defeat” by women in sexual encounters, double entendre mastery and misogyny into a memorable hook. It is a common theme in calypso double meaning songs. The lyrics don’t add up very sensibly for the non-hidden meaning, but the double meaning is very clear. This is one of his risqué songs that won’t fare well with modern consciousness, but the rudeness, arrangement, vocal performance and easy memorability of the melody make this one a favourite of many.
34. Lion & Donkey (1973)
This one is literally a ’Nansi story in song, and as those typically go, there is underlying meaning. It is a story of brain vs brawn in the animal kingdom, who is king in the jungle… Lion and Donkey. You have to listen and think to uncover the themes of corruption, default support for traditional thinking and the power of mob mentality.
35. Cowboy Melo (1959)
Before there was hip hop beef, decades before the Machel and Bunji cold war, Mighty Sparrow and Lord Melody had their feud. But this was mostly for entertainment. Even in their publicity stunt, Sparrow managed to have a few choice insults for Melody’s choice of woman as a partner, contributing badly to his general treatment of women in lyrics.
36. Leave the Dam Doctor (1958)
Sparrow, Dr. Eric Williams and the PNM is a genre by itself that requires serious analysis. This is a pre-independence kaiso celebrating and defending the man who became T&T’s first prime minister. He defended him from rumours and other calypsonians who were critical of him.
37. School Days (1973)
This was a crown-winning calypso. One that all people of a particular generation can relate to as they reminisce on lessons, teaching styles, riddles and pedagogies. Some of the same things he was critical of in Dan is the Man in the Van are celebrated in this song. “Dem was happy days, school days was happy, happy days.”
38. London Bridge (1980)
He craftily uses the children’s nursery rhyme to sing about the decline of Britain’s imperial power and the happenings of the British royal family.
39. Toronto Mas (1972)
Sparrow chronicles and gives an early draft of history. This is the story of the internationalization and spread of carnival, calypso and soca culture to big cities outside of the Caribbean. It is detailing how Caribana came to be such a colourful and celebrated festival, so much so that “All dem white woman boongie in the street”.
40. Mas in Brooklyn (1969)
In many instances, Birdie tended to explore a repeated theme in a trilogy, or using three different examples. He explores Carnival in Brooklyn and how with calypso and a carnival resembling T&T, that Brooklyn could and did easily turn out to be his home.
In many instances, Birdie tended to explore a repeated theme in a trilogy, or using three different examples. He explores Carnival in Brooklyn and how with calypso and a carnival resembling T&T, that Brooklyn could and did easily turn out to be his home.
41. Mas in Caracas (1980)
Here is an exploration of how Trinidad interacts with its closest neighbour, Venezuela, and how T&T carnival has influenced carnivals in Venezuela - steelbands, competition and calypso. It is a sample of how coastal Venezuela and T&T have interacted, forever. With cultural, linguistic and human exchanges, and a fair dose of competition and suspicion. This is a musical, socio-cultural study of Calipso y Carnival del Callao (Venezuela’s most famous carnival that is unique in its mestizo heritage) - a “soca parang” history fusion told in a Spanglish song.
42. Calypso Boogaloo (1968)
This is an early example of fusions of calypso/soca and popular music of the time. He uses the story of how “a big fat mama from Mississippi” taught him to dance the boogaloo, and its fusion with calypso. The 1960s big band jazz and dance music arrangement, instrumental soloing and vocal shrills and extempo vocalizations (jazz improvisation) blend so easily with calypso. It is a showcase of how creole cultures connect from South America <> Caribbean <> to the Mississippi. The arrangement is by Ron Berridge and the horn section includes Roy Cape, Collins Dennis, H Boucaud, Jerry Cooper, Nev Oxley, and Ron and Clem Berridge.
43. Wood in the Fire (1968)
Before theories about love languages were popular, Sparrow clearly expressed his preference to have his partner tell him how much she desired him and what a handful he was. On top of a percussion heavy and wide arrangement, he pleads for his lover to shout words of affirmation, about his physical touch, and to tell him that he had “too much wood in the fire”.
44. Congo Man 2008 revisit with Machel Montano
King of Collaborations, Machel Montano works with King of Calypso and introduces Sparrow to a new generation of soca and carnival lovers. This reimagination of the 1964 hit opens with Sparrow’s playful, decades-unanswered question, “Yuh want me talk the truth?” (About whether or not the Congo man had ever eaten white meat). Sparrow and Machel then wail and whoop like the 1964 cannibalistic Congoman who supposedly devoured two white tourists. The rest of the lyrics by Montano make the remake far more politically correct, talking about the enjoyment of the 2008 Congoman enjoying revelry and mas. It is still slight pepper in its political incorrectness and Sparrow showcases his trademark vocal dexterity… He still had it in his 70s! Ooooo deeey!
45. Slinger Come (2003)
“And now, presenting His Excellency The Honourable Dr. Slinger Francisco, better known as the Mighty Sparrow!” Thematically this one is a little incoherent. Sparrow does one of his illustrious self-introductions that he does live. He then delivers the Congo Man “Oooo dey!”, and goes onto sing about violence, pain and sorrow and says that “Slinger come to cool it dong”. This was a riddim and project by Montano and his band Xtatik that put a long list of calypso icons on the same modern soca beat - Calypso Rose, Lord Blakie, Roy Cape, along with moderns Treason, KMC, Bunji, Onika Bostic, RIkki Jai and others. The best part of this song is a live performance that you can find of it on Youtube. Machel, Farmer Nappy, Peter C Lewis and the Xtatik band look and listen on in awe and laughter, as Rose and Sparrow have an R-rated extempo battle on the rididm (that Rose wins). The crowd goes wild, it is chaotic - screaming, jumping and waving. If you ever needed proof that Calypso is Soca and Soca is Calypso, this is it.
46. Elaine Harry and Mama (1967)
This is a crazy story about the relationship Elaine, Harry and Elaine’s mother shared. Instead of analyzing and spelling it out for you, I will just quote it. If you’ve read this far, you’re invested enough to figure out the meaning yourself. Elaine complains to her mother about Harry: “Harry always pulling at meh clothes, Wake up, get up, And the son of a gun is so crude, Ma, in the middle of the night, Harry only beggin’ for food. Well, well, well, Girl I envy (falsetto) you! I wish that your Daddy will do what Harry does do! I will be happy to (falsetto) feed him, whether he begs me or not, And if I ever feed him, he could even put his head in the pot!” 😕 You big and you have sense. P.S. Sparrow once said that he wished he had the falsetto that Lord Melody had. His falsetto performance on this song and its subsequent remakes, to distinguish between the omniscient narrator, Elaine and Mama, makes this track extremely comical.
47. No More Rockin’ and Rollin’ (1959)
This number is the story of the impact calypso was having on the world in the 1950s and 60s. Following Harry Belafonte’s 1956 album Calypso, which was the first album to ever sell over one million copies, calypso was experiencing popularity in the USA and worldwide that it had never experienced before. “Calypso was sweeping the place” and was challenging early rock and roll to be the dominant sound of US pop music. It included a line that was popular and somewhat cliched in calypso of the time, and became emblematic of the danceability of calypso and how it was viewed: “Jump in the line and shake your bodyline”.
48. The Lizard
This is, as with so many Birdie songs, shockingly and comically rude. “Playing in class, With a lizard in a glass, The lizard got away from Ruth, And run by the teacher foot…” The lizard was under Teacher Mildred’s dress, making a mess. The storyline uses childhood innocence and mischief to cover the subplot of female self pleasure. In a classroom. Wild!
49. Xmas Moppers/Well Spoken Moppers (1965)
The scene is a group of friends visiting someone’s house at Christmas time. The visitors then toast to the host, using nice-sounding, but wrongly used big words. Sparrow wants to scramble those who insulted him. Malapropisms in full flow, Sparrow delights in using big words. This was the blueprint for Trinidad Rio’s Big Word Man.
50. I’ll Be Home For Christmas
Every western artist who has been around for any length of time has at least one Christmas song. Sparrow’s version of the Christmas classic is endlessly sweet, the muted trumpet and strings in the arrangement hold it together and place it firmly in the era it was recorded. There is a recording of Sparrow singing a piece of the song and accompanying himself on guitar. It is my favourite performance of this Christmas classic. It showed that he was more than capable on the six strings (guitar).
51. No Place Like Home
Another classic Christmas cover impeccably delivered. Like a parrot, in these Christmas songs, Birdie almost perfectly imitates the popular American style and accent of the time, yet he localizes it with mentions of Port of Spain, San Fernando and Maracas Bay. It is still widely played at Christmas.
52. Caribbean Style Christmas Medley
One thing Francisco has done well over the years is re-record and repackage old hits and throw them into medleys for easy reproduction. This was a long held tradition of famous singers from previous generations, Aretha Franklin, Frank Sinatra and even Taylor Swift today. They do it to modernize songs or maybe own their masters. Once you’re around long enough, this testament to longevity takes place. This Christmas medley has everything from Joy to the World to I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus and We Wish You A Merry Christmas. It is the quintessential Christmas Calypso.
53. Stag the Recession Fighter (1986)
Sparrow’s career kicked off with Jean and Dinah - originally a jingle for a dry goods company in Port of Spain Salvatori, Scott & Co. Ltd., then used for the airline KLM. It should be no surprise that he could deliver a great jingle. Birdie made a classic for the Trinidad beer Stag, that was popular as a song by itself and as an advertisement. This was during the economic bust of 1986. The television advertisement is Sparrow in Michael Jackson Rock With You video attire and dance style, while the cold lager is poured and advertised to still be $2.50 or less in most bars. Sparrow paved the way for soca artists like Bunji to be endorsed by Stag and for the beer to have a firm place in live soca entertainment of today, sponsoring free street concerts during carnival season.
54. Ten to One & To Life - (Guardian Life Advertisement Version of 1960 & 1994)
Ten to One is a song that tells the real story of Sparrow’s dabbles in “badjohnism”. Ten criminals attacked him and he managed to flee with his life. The advertisement music video he recorded for Guardian Life in 1994 is worth a placement as its own piece! It visualizes the classic song of the calypsonian taking on 10 badjohns after a chicken dinner. Slinger slings and deals a few blows to some of the gangsters, then Birdie flies and escapes a licking. The scene then changes to Sparrow the businessman insurance agent, in a peach suit with matching briefcase. “To life!”
55. Sparrow Water De Garden
This is one of his best double entendre calypsos! He takes up a job as a gardener and Lucy, the woman for whom he was working, immediately puts him to water the garden. He describes how he unreels the hose to complete the job. Sparrow got in a tiff with Lucy when she grabbed the hose and fought him for it. Later in the evening when her husband arrived home, he ordered Sparrow to “water she garden”. If you’ve been following the trial of Sean Diddy Combs, this sounds almost like a tropical freak off. The sweet female background vocals add to the comic ludicrousness of the scenario. 10 Outta 10 for double meaning.
56. Mother’s Love
Advice for the party loving and womanizing man to appreciate and take care of his mother, and appreciate her while she’s around. This is a favourite on Mother’s Day.
57. Sparrow Birthday Party (1995)
One big party tonight! Ramajay, breakaway and dingolay. He sang this one to celebrate his 60th birthday in carnival, wining, calypso and soca style. It acknowledges all of his communities, from steelband to Petit Valley where Sparrow’s Hideaway, the famous Bird nest and nightclub (now a storage facility) is located. One of the best parts of this song is the enticing list of “Calypso Soul Foods” that he sings out on the menu for his party, including shrimp in lobster sauce, roti and curries, Chinese food, wild meat, and creole delights. Happy birthday Sparrow!
58. Carnival Jam Back (1995)
Sparrow takes a jab at 1990s instructional soca, with the story of a man who was a patient at the St. Ann’s Psychiatric Hospital, giving directions of carnival choreography and enjoyment. While the story is funny, it shows an artist in transition. By the mid 1990s, he was quickly losing contemporary relevance with popular sounds, and firmly in the legend phase of his career. The production is dated in comparison to some of the music of that era.
59. Marajhin (1982)
Marjhin is Sparrow’s biggest chutney soca record, arranged by Art De Coteau. It is infectious as it is rhythmic and endearing. It is a genuine love song that doesn’t slip in any insults, but pays tribute to an Indian woman who has captured his attention. He lists all of the cultural and social changes he is willing to make to live with and create a family with this woman. On a bed of tassa drums, dholak, layered with multiple guitars, synthesizer, horn lines and mandolin give this recording a real Dougla flavour. One of the guitarists on this record is Jeff Medina, the musician who toured with the Commodores for years.
60. Isolate South Africa (1983)
Another number that displays his willingness to tackle matters of international politics. Sparrow unambiguously calls for total isolation and embargo against apartheid South Africa.
61. I Love New York (1983)
A tribute to the chaotic cacophony and eternal action in the city that he made his main home for several decades.
62. Rock Your Body (1982)
Sparrow’s soca beats, horns and rhythmic words were an early forecast of how the topics of calypso/soca would evolve and be significantly reduced in scope. There is a lot of wine, jam, and roll de bumcie… This is an important point to note, in case any older generation Sparrow fans are quick to bemoan the fact that wine and bumcie have only come into the music in the last 30 years. Listen out for the timbal drum breaks on this one! Pelham Goddard plays a mean synthesizer on this song and many of the songs on this album (Sweeter Than Ever - Charlie’s Records). This style of 1980s soca is one of the points of reference for the arrangement of 2025’s Tilden Hall Riddim.
63. We Are the Musicians (1982)
Another track on Sparrow’s experimental soca album Sweeter Than Ever that allows the musicians to ramajay. Synthesizers whizz, with high pitched tones that sounded experimental at that time. Birdie boasts that his musicians could make them jam until the fete over. Guitars with wah pedals dance in unison with synthesizers, traditional calypso rhythm arrangements and programmed drums.
64. She’s Been Gone Too Long (1964)
A rock and roll record with blues lyrics by Sparrow, searching for Mary Jane. Vocal versatility is on display here as he bends the pitch of notes to hit the entire melody line. Technique on point!
65. The Death of Kennedy (1964)
Calypso as the newspaper of the people. The assassination of President John F. Kennedy and praise of his political and personal qualities are at the forefront as Sparrow talks about the political behaviour of the USA South West. The shock of his killing forces the hyperbole (is it, really, as footage of the assassination was seen around the world) out of Sparrow that no one who had been killed was missed as tearfully since the death of Christ.
66. My Way (1975)
Think of Sparrow as a TikTok trendsetter and follower before social media. If there was a popular song globally, you could bet your bottom dollar that the Bird would tweet it in his own style. Viral. His partnership with Byron Lee and the Dragonaires was prolific x fruitful x successful. Together they shaped the sound of Caribbean slows - a mix of calypso, ska/reggae/ and traditional ballads.
The song kicks off with a sax interlude, strings and piano runs,
Sparrow shows off his delicate singing abilities on this one. If you thought calypso and soca singers can't do vocal runs and belt, listen to this. From about 1:10, at the end of the first verse, he does a five note chromatic slide down on the single word “my” to finish the line, on “way”, one of the lowest notes of his reach. Wow!
Sparrow's influence on Byron Lee’s success as a calypso and soca bandleader is also important.
He helped Byron and his band get musical chops and acceptance in Trinidad, while Byron was influencing the sound of Ska back at home. If they didn't have their futile ground for musical and rhythmic exchange, would there have been a Tiny Winey or Nani Wine (Crazy) or Talk? (the hit Groovy Soca dancehall instrumental), Dancehall Soca - the song and the genre? Would the Dragonaires be accepted as a top calypso band? Would there have been collaboration between Trini (Soca) and Jamaican (Dancehall) artists of today? Jamaica carnival? (Byron Lee was one of the main instigators)? Even the album Art on the LP record, Sparrow Dragon, is iconic. two Caribbean rudebwoys in fine threads, looking off into the distance. I argue that Sparrow and Byron Lee’s impact and influence are undoubtedly there in all of it.
67. No Kind of Man At All (1975)
Sparrow is firmly on the woman's side and encourages her to leave the man if he's no good. Byron’s bass playing on this is mixed heavy and the Dragonaires have a horn arrangement to kill! The musical interludes between breaks are a thing of beauty. The lyrics encourage the woman to take charge and hold the power reigns in the relationship. But guess what, after she leaves her man, Sparrow swoops in and places himself as the best potential replacement . He just couldn't resist. LOL!
68. If (1975 Cover of a US Billboard hit song)
The sweetest love song he ever sang? “If a picture paints a thousand words, why can't I paint you?” Don't let anyone tell you Caribbean pop music is only dagger, dagger, dagger dagger. Sparrow Dragon is an album of pure sweetness, organs, flutes, strings, piano, acoustic guitar, and an orchestra full of winds and horns.
69. Martin Luther King (1969)
So many of the songs on this list are party tunes or have rude lyrics. But Sparrow is arguably calypso’s most noted social and political commentator. He acknowledges MLK’s impact in the USA, and on all African, black and colored people globally, referring to him as “our champion”. He declares boldly that segregation must be destroyed. Sparrow sang about King’s martyrdom before Stevie Wonder’s 1980 hit, Happy Birthday, which was a key piece in the campaign to have MLK Day declared as a US federal holiday.
70. Martin Luther King for President (1963)
In an earlier song from 1963, he even called for King to become president! This song is African American Spiritual in Calypso breakaway.
71. Barack De Magnificent (2008)
A naturalized citizen of the United States of America for many decades, this was Sparrow’s contribution to the election of the first African American president. Although it was not as impactful as his political commentary in Trinidad from the 50s - 70s.
71. Barack De Magnificent (2008)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y69TFGJlbbU&list=RDY69TFGJlbbU&start_radio=1
A naturalized citizen of the United States of America for many decades, this was Sparrow’s contribution to the election of the first African American president. Although it was not as impactful as his political commentary in Trinidad from the 50s - 70s.
72. I'll Be Around (1963)
On the 1963 album Outcast, Sparrow has a Bossa Nova track! It's definitely not strictly Bossa Nova, but more what's referred to as Tropical music. It's a cover of the Tony Bennett song.
75. Tour of Jamaica
Many prominent calypsonians, politicians and integrationists have spent influential time in Jamaica. From Simon Bolívar and Caribbean Prime Ministers of the 1990s to Kitchener and Sparrow. This is his jazzy tribute to the enjoyable time he spent in the land of wood and water.
76. The Outcast
The often told story of how calypsonians and steel and musicians were treated with scorn in T&T. “Calypsonians really ketch hell for a long time, to associate yourself with them was a big crime.” What a long way we've come in accepting our ingenuity and creativity, but there's still work to be done.
77. Please Tell Me Why
Ever thought you'd hear Sparrow use the vocal special effect autotune? This shows a continuing willingness to experiment with new sounds in his 70s and 80s. This is so even though it doesn't sound like a high quality production like so many of his hits from the past. It's on the album Fyaah and Fury, released at age 83 in 2019.
78. Teachings of Jesus (Wisdom of Christ)
So many popular artists turn or return to their religious roots coming to the end of career and life. One of Sparrow’s octogenarian gospelypso records calling for good human qualities.
79. Document Pan
Sparrow’s contribution to the genre of “Pan Songs”, calling for documentation of the history of the Trinidad and Tobago national instrument.
80. Ah Fraid de AIDS
A warning of the potential health effects of “tiefing a lil romance” and the epidemic of HIV/AIDS in the Caribbean in the 1990s/2000s. His treatment is not acknowledging of HIV’s non-discrimination like The Shadow’s song on the virus. But he chronicles the early uncertainty of its spread and common stigmas. He delves into non-scientific and eschatological theories about “de AIDS”.
81. Invade South Africa
Sparrow returns to the topic of Apartheid South Africa, this time a little more radically. This time he talks about world powers, multilateralism, militarism and Mandela.
82. No Money No Love
The old adage that there must be financial and material sustenance to maintain a loving (happy?) relationship. Sparrow is observing Ivy and Johnny’s relationship. This is another much-loved and covered Sparrow + Byron Lee classic. Johnny gets violent and Ivy rightfully threatens to put him in place with a call to the police. The eternal question won't ever be universally answered: Can love really be made and sustained on a hungry belly? Based on this story, the answer is no.
83. No Money For Dat
Sparrow sings about the lack of foreign exchange and how the lack of greenbacks affects Trinidad and Tobago’s import tastes and inability to produce needed and wanted goods.
84. Federation
Undoubtedly, Sparrow is a Caribbean integrationist. He sings “we all is one” and calls for a big celebration. At the same time, he acknowledges and makes light of the stereotypes we have of each other. “Whether you're a damn Trinidadian… smart Barbadian… greedy Grenadian… bad Jamaican, We all is one born! Even New Yorkers born to West Indian parents.
Check out this excerpt from his citation on receiving the Order of the Caribbean Community in 2001.
““Celebrant, chantwell, warrior, prophet, satirist, and purveyor of joy, delight and elation: raconteur of the folk tales of our daily grass-rooted life.” The OCC Awardee to whom such adulations belong is the Caribbean’s most celebrated and renowned entertainer, social commentator and ambassador extraordinaire, Dr. Slinger Francisco, whom the world knows as “The Mighty Sparrow”.
His cross-national Caribbean identity is born out of Grenada, his birthplace, and Trinidad and Tobago, his homeland since the early age of two.”
85. Federation (Original 1959)
86. Witch Doctor (1976)
A profile of Caribbean African Creole spiritualism, Obeah. It's perceived and commonly associated with evil, dark spells and love potions, rather than as a tradition and practice of spirituality and healing remedies.
87. English Diplomacy
How do Caribbean people, men and women perceive English language, accent and coquetry? In a postcolonial society do we still think that polished delivery of British English is a sign of erudition and superiority, allowing you to “get through” with a woman or man? Have a listen and self examine.
88. Sweet Pan
Sparrow sings a Kitchener-styled “pan song”, personifying two, then more steel drums and the conversation they had to become friends and develop the orchestra of instruments known as steelpan.
89. Village Ram
A macho boast of sexual prowess and power. Sparrow becomes the metaphor of the ram goat and displays the chauvinism of the era. While this song is no longer politically correct, these same themes of machismo and male sexual dominance over women are undertones in modern soca and calypso.
90. Mango Vert
Overtly, it’s about the sweetness of this elongated mango, and how eating it against the grain of the fibrous flesh can cause dental discomfort. A local woman gave her Yankee man a sweet fruit to eat. She teaches him to eat it right, once, then twice. But it’s a Sparrow song, by now you don’t need my help to figure out what he’s really talking about. While Sparrow gets a bad rap for sexual violence against women, the mango woman tries “to rub de ting in he mouth and then threatens to push it straight down in yuh throat”.
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