Christmas Lyrics and Laughs From the Caribbean

Like all good Christians, Caribbean people worship God in Christmas services and celebrate Jesus as the reason for the season. They also engage in secular festivities in keeping with the joy of the season, and in keeping with their cheerful, ready-to-laugh temperament.

They have their share of problems, but even as they struggle up the ladder of economic progress and deal with all their personal issues, they find reasons to laugh heartily—not forgetting to laugh at themselves. They manage to carry this easy-going disposition through the Christmas holidays. The American singer, Jimmy Buffet, adds his two cents cent on their behalf in Christmas in the Caribbean:

We don't live in a hurry
Send away for mistletoe
Christmas in the Caribbean
We got everything but snow.

The following excerpts from lyrics by Caribbean singer/song writers are from the secular part of their celebration. The common theme is contentment, and pride in what is distinctly Caribbean. The complete songs are all available on YouTube.

Everybody sings There’s No Place Like Home for the Holidays written by Al Stillman (lyrics) and Robert Allen (music). Although Christmas is not mentioned in the lyrics, the song is listed among the greatest Christmas songs; and in the media, its visual settings display snow and Christmas lights around the house.

So would Caribbean folks want to sing this song? The Mighty Sparrow (born Slinger Francisco), the Trinidadian Calypso King of the World fixed it so that they would. Thanks to Sparrow, the Caribbean people sing their own version.

The Sugar Mill Kids** from the Federation of St. Kitts and Nevis sing the dilemma of many island children who long for toys but receive none, or not as many as they would like. Their parents may give them the excuse that Santa did not come. The disappointment does not last very long, for they soon begin to laugh at their plight -- and at Santa.

Why didn’t Santa come for Christmas?
Why didn’t he ever pass our way?
The richest girls and boys
They get lots of toys;
We the poorest ones ain’t getting none.
. . . . . .
Maybe he’s [Santa's] just feeling sick or in the hospital,
For he’s so fat he must be ill from high cholesterol.

^{**Their names are not mentioned.}

Apparently, Mrs. Claus has never made it to the Caribbean, so Bindley Benjamin of Trinidad and Tobago is rooting for Santa to find a wife who can help him with his universal task. Where would he find a suitable wife? Here is the singer's suggestion.

So much work to do, ah sorry for Santa,
He gettin down in age, and he want a helper,
So he lookin for a wife, de ideal companion,
And he know the best woman [is] from de Caribbean.

Santa pass through Jamaica; he pass through Antigua
He pass through St. Lucia, then he went to Grenada,
In Trinidad and Tobago, Santa confuse for so
So much ah nice woman throughout de Caribbean.

Refrain: Santa looking for a wife (from the Caribbean).

Without the cold of winter, there is no meed for the fireplace mantle and the chimney. So where would Caribbean people hang their stockings? And where would Santa enter?

The Merrymen of Barbados is a musical group which started in 1962 and continues to the present with great popularity in Barbados, the United Kingdom and Canada. They figured out the chimney substitute in their Caribbean imagination.

How'd you like to spend Christmas on a Caribbean island?
How'd you like to spend a holiday across the sea?
How'd you like to spend Christmas on a Caribbean island?
How'd you like to hang your stocking on a great, big coconut tree?

How'd you like to stay out late like the islanders do?
Or wait for Santa to sail in with your presents in a canoe?

Caribbean Christmas dinners are not complete without black cake on the menu. Amanda Marstellar on Honest Cooking describes it as "a richly-hued improvement on standard fruitcake, sticky with rum-soaked fruit and scented with island spices." She shares the recipe and some interesting details about the popular Caribbean dessert.

Sugar Aloes (born Michael Anthony Osuana) also a prominent calypsonian from Trinidad and Tobago, sings about his desire for black cake and the drinks that are usually served with it at Christmas. His lyrics state that black cake with a glass of sorrel on Christmas morning makes Christmas delightful and bright.

Ah doan like sponge cake at Christmas,
Ah find it does be too dry . . .
But it’s not so with a black cake; it melts away in you mout
And give you dat Yuletide feelin; you know what I’m talking bout.
It’s de black cake ah love; it’s de fruit cake ah want;
It’s de black cake ah love wid punch a creamer;
It’s de fruit cake a want wid sorrel or ginger beer.

Jamaicans, probably the most popular group of Caribbean people, consider themselves the representatives for the region, and in these lyrics they earn the title. Most Caribbeans would nod their approval for the sentiments expressed by their Unique Vision Band. Names of the individuals are not available, but the men can be seen on the accompanying video. Here, they also represent the region in sound.

They tell me snow is pretty, well maybe;
What I know for sure--it's mighty cold.
I would never never never be caught
Playing a cricket match on ice;
In or out of form, I would be bowled.

In the West Indies every Christmas is
A time for all to smile;
There's no winter time,
There's just sweet sunshine
At Christmas Jamaican style.

Their invitation to "Come on over" is not only Jamaican; it is Caribbean. If you ever pack your bags and fly to a Caribbean Christmas, you will find that the lyrics are true.