Drama, a Playlist

The type of song that hits the sweet spot of drama and dysfunction. The subject matter may be petty and sometimes trifling, but the lyrics are sung with verve and, tellingly, the song always strikes a nerve. You can't look most of these singers in the eye such are the stories they tell.

I give you Drama, a playlist (YouTube / Spotify version)

• I Feel Like Breaking up Somebody's Home by Ann Peebles
  
  I'm genuinely scared of Ann Peebles, she really is to be feared. Her mixture of ferocity and vulnerability will disarm the most hardened of hearts. And Memphis soul never hurt so bad (that voice, Willie Mitchell's production! Those horns!)
   
   
• If That's Your Boyfriend (He Wasn't Last Night) by Meshell NdegeOcello
  
  Talk about petty. She'll take what she feels is hers and taunt you in the morning. Sexy and attention grabbing, she doesn't care. "Call me what you like", she sings. It may hurt, but those are the breaks; you learn as much on the playground.
   
• Who is he (and what is he to you)? by Bill Withers
  
  Well, is the jealousy justified? Was the look innocent? "When you cleared your throat, was that your cue?" Soul's premier storyteller paints a picture of suspicion with restraint and economy.
   
• The Rain by Oran "Juice" Jones
  
  Cinematic storytelling, he gets down to the sweet business of betrayal. The legendary breakdown is most quoted part of the song but the silky soul setup and refrain make it worth the payoff. "I saw you (and him) / walking in rain / you were holding hands and I'll / never be the same"
   
• Me and Mrs Jones by Billy Paul
  
  The apotheosis of Philly soul is this classic tale of adultery. The poet laureate of human weakness is not ashamed about the "thing" they've got going on. This is grown folks business, matters of the heart must be attended to.
   
• Don't Explain by Billie Holiday
  
  Lady Day shushes the scoundrel she's in love with. "Skip that lipstick, don't explain". The terseness of wounded feeling. Note the slight pause before she sings "right or wrong don't matter". The effort hurts. Talk about battered women syndrome.
   
• If loving you is wrong I don't want to be right by Millie Jackson
  
  I prefer Millie's version of Luther Ingram's opus of longing. The Caught up album is choc full of drama, and with the reversal of perspective, she found the formula that made her reputation: the conflicted soul.
   
• The Rap by Millie Jackson
  
  But then, unrepentant, she added The Rap, a monologue where she revels in being the other woman, outlining the subversive pleasures in wearing the scarlet letter. And society's disapproval can hardly hold a candle to the excitement of the affair.
   
• Yu-ma / Go away little boy by Marlena Shaw
  
  Relationships aren't easy by any measure. When your man quits his job, you can certainly understand why a diva like Gwen Guthrie would sing "Ain't nothing going on but the rent". Here, on the other hand, Marlena Shaw holds court, "Go away little boy", she sings. And how she sings. But, one wonders, does she really mean it?
   
• Creepin' by Stevie Wonder
  
  The departure here is not of betrayal but of sweet obsession. By inclination, our greatest songwriter was more uplifting and personal in his writing. He simply can't get her out of his mind. And the chorus does the same duty as an earworm.
   
• Woman to Woman by Shirley Brown
  
  Dysfunction laid bare, the phone call with the other woman. The song that spawned dozens of answer records. The back and forth with Barbara Mason and others made this the definitive talking piece. The rarefied heights of drama.
   
• Hope she cheats on you (with a basketball player) by Marsha Ambrosius
  
  Bitter, petty, and endowed with a highly specific vindictiveness. Cross her at your peril. If this is what the reaction is like when she's "just a little bitter", god help you. A woman scorned, she sets a new standard for righteous fury.
   

• Down here in hell (with you) by Van Hunt
  
  Genius songwriting. I mean "What would I do if we were perfect? / Where would I go for disappointment?" is hard to top. Messy and complicated. A strange relationship for the ages
   
• Creepin' by Luther Vandross
  
  By this stage, Luther was showing off. First doing the definitive cover of Brenda Russell's If only for one night then outdoing Stevie Wonder, no less, on the very next song. And check out the call and response with Darlene Love on background vocals. Creepin'
   
• Next lifetime by Erykah Badu
  
  The heart desires, but practicalities arise. Timing is everything. Dilemmas of the "awkward situation". In life as in her art, Erykah Badu's entanglements are legendary. Call her the Elizabeth Taylor of the hip hop world, the best rappers were all moths to her flame.
   
• She's got papers on me by Richard "Dimples" Fields
  
  The classic tall tale of the conflicted cad. Dimples's soft voice is perfectly pitched, the voice of a the set-upon. Then Betty Wright walks in on him hearing him pine for someone else and lays down the law. Yes, she's got papers on him. And rightly so!
   
• I Hate U by Prince
  
  Prince goes all-in and even takes it to the courtroom, a funny prosecution of heartfelt jealousy. The breakdown is worth the wait. There's a remix with Eric Leed's flute that leavens the bitterness of the original somewhat. Also: that guitar solo at the end...
   
• You know I'm no good by Amy Winehouse
  
  Confessing upfront her fickleness, she's the very definition of trouble. Guilty as charged, yet you still can't resist the pleasures and turmoil she promises. She's a diva. Well, what did you expect?
   
• Tyrone by Erykah Badu
  
  The reaction of the crowd the first time they heard this song live overwhelms. This was manna for the Essence crowd. Erykah took it to the streets. She's done with you. Surely you know who to call
   
• The girl is mine by Michael Jackson
  
  "Michael, we're not going to fight"
  "Paul, I think I told you, I'm a lover not a fighter."
  
  Even if you thought that the song was syrupy or that MJ had lost his mind, you couldn't help imagining the spectacle
   
• Busted by The Isley Brothers
  
  You really can't avoid R Kelly when it comes to musical drama and this production of Ronald Isley is the prototype for the later Trapped in the closet series. Aimed straight at the chitlin circuit.
   
• I don't want to do wrong by Gladys Knight & the Pips
  
  Decisions decisions. The secret sauce lies in the call and response. The tension in the blues, the interplay with the Pips. "I just can't help myself"
   
• You could have had me, Baby by Esther Phillips
  
  From an album titled Black-Eyed Blues which announces just how problematic things will be. Like Etta James, her subject matter is trouble, love and loathing. The album closes with Tangle in your Lifeline which says it all as far as dysfunction goes.
   
• I am your woman. She is your wife by Barbara Mason
  
  Why do people do this to themselves? Infidelity is an inherently unstable affair (pun intended) but Barbara fully embraces it. "You want your cake and eat it too". Consider also "From his woman to you", her answer record to Shirley Brown's Woman to woman.
   

• Jolene by Dolly Parton
  
  Taking matters into her own hands, begging Jolene to "please don't take my man / even if you can". That she manages to sell the idea that she, Dolly Parton, would play second fiddle to anyone is testament to her ear for drama
   
• After the pain by Betty Wright
  
  She still loves him despite everything. The soundtrack of rationalization. She actually sings "Don't blame Mr. Charlie, Mr. Charlie is just a man. And he's doing the best he can". I mean, we need an intervention here, come on.
   
• If loving you is wrong I don't want to do right by Luther Ingram
  
  1972 was a good year for adultery. Sounding the same theme as Me and Mrs Jones, Luther is not willing to compromise for anything, for she means that much to him. All obligations, vows and responsibilities be damned.
   
• You can have him by Nancy Wilson
  
  Some say Nina Simone, but I go with Nancy Wilson's interpretation of Irving Berlin's song. The delusion is strong with this one. Regret is all, I don't even believe the words for one second. She's stuck on him
   
• The other woman by Nina Simone
  
  Minimalist storytelling, four verses that trace the now familiar arc of disappointment. The bridge?

  And when her old man comes to call
  He'll find her waiting like a lonesome queen
  'Cause when she's by his side
  It's such a change from old routine

• Clean Up Woman by Betty Wright
  
  Featuring the immortal break beat, her's is the cautionary tale of "making it easy for the clean up woman". It's an odd perspective really and quite reactionary too: regret and the blame game for dumping the man.
   
• In My Bed by Dru Hill
  
  Goldilocks and the Three Bears revisited, Sisqó and company made the most of the ubiquity of this club classic. Even today, dance floors fill up immediately at the bass line. "Somebody's sleeping in my bed". Let the bump and grind begin. Drama
   
• Shaniqua by Oran Juice Jones
  
  She turned him out. The player persona couldn't stand contact with this fly girl. Shaniqua got him whooped, turned him into a square and put his pimp days behind him, By the end, The Juice even admits he's "straighter than six o'clock". Big Daddy Kane sympathizes with him.
  
  I just discovered that he actually shot a video back in 1990, albeit it's the edited version of the song, without Kane's rap (Kane does make an appearance in the video). Still, who knew?
   
• The Boy is Mine by Monica and Brandy
  
  The ménage-a-trois here is trifling, the stakes are not so high. One wonders if the titular boy is even worth fighting over. The vocal performances are the real battle in this case. Fighting words, perhaps, but I prefer Monica, she has a little spite in her approach. Brandy is all sugar.
   
• Sh*t Damn, Motherf*cker by D'Angelo
  
  It starts with "Why are you sleepin' with my woman?" and devolves from there. Caught, busted. The sound of jealous rage is the old favorite trope of the blues, revived here for the hip-hop age. The last line is genius
   
• Saved by the Bell by Roy C
  
  A very knowing comic masterpiece, a tall tale about the goings on in Infidelity, Georgia. The Wife would complain when I used to play this song in front of the kids. I demurred, the humour is universal even if racy. Effortless storytelling.
   
• Just be good to me by The S.O.S. Band
  
  The things we do for love, the things we'll put up with. I'll end with this vintage Jam and Lewis soul concoction. Problematic lyrics. Drama:

  People always talking 'bout reputation
  I don't care about your other girls
  Just be good to me

  And so forth.
   

Drama, a playlist (YouTube / Spotify version)


See previously: Love, a playlist

File under: music, storytelling, appreciation, culture, observation, perception, humour, relationships, life, humour, obsession, whimsy, Comfort Suite, toli

Writing log: March 28, 2024

The Fabric of Memory

Dense knots at times but often barely woven in the main
The textures of memory laid out haphazardly
For humanity could survive on their bed of frayed blankets
The well worn patches were not essential to protect
Their comfort rather came from the sheen of nostalgia
Its gauzy patina born of approximation and careful neglect
Attention wanders and the details are fuzzy
Who needs deep inquiries into imprinted testimonies

Lossy then, this fabric,
Full of improvised identities
Extra premiums are due for error correcting
Recall, the claims adjuster works for the insurance company
The duty of care is yours alone,
As is the responsibility

...

The burden of restraint, and the avoidance of pain too pertains
Such is our compulsion for storytelling
The necessity of inventing those good old days
The wax prints celebrating what were minor victories
Decorations of faded traditions rather than the famines
Rather than the droughts that brought hunger season
Rather than the bush fires that caused an exodus
The painful lessons learned. And the knowledge lost in the migration

Indigo fades over time,
it is said to be a repository of wealth
The dye procedures passed down across the ages, it seems like forever
Occasionally, however, the warnings of the perils are overlooked
But later generations can extract the solutions with a little work
Encoded as they are in the stitching of those famed cloths

...

The ancients were prescient when they sewed
And in their designs, they built in redundancy,
Keen treatments for the fabric of memory

Fabric of Memory, a playlist

A soundtrack for this note. (spotify version)

• Forget me Nots by Patrice Rushen
• Under a Blanket of Blue by Ella Fitzgerald & Louis Armstrong
• Do you Remember by Jill Scott
• Blanket by Jeff Beck & Imogen Heap

See previously Memory Islands. Cultural memory is my enduring theme.

File under: memory, culture, observation, strategy, perception, Buyer's Remorse, Observers are worried, poetry, toli

Writing log: September 10, 2022

The Incident Is Under Review

The incident is under review

...

The Israeli military said
There had been a "technical error"
With a strike targeting an Islamic Jihad "terrorist"
That caused the munition to fall
Dozens of metres from the target

...

An initial inquiry
Regarding injured individuals
Suggests fragments from a shell
Fired during operational activity in the area
Hit the church mistakenly

...

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said
It was aware of the "claim
Regarding casualties in the area as a result"

...

The IDF "regrets any harm to uninvolved civilians"

...

Israel deeply regrets
That a stray ammunition:
Hit Gaza's Holy Family Church

...

The IDF directs its strikes solely at military targets
And makes every feasible effort
To mitigate harm to civilians and religious structures,
And regrets any unintentional damage caused to them

...

Every innocent life lost is a tragedy.
We share the grief of the families and the faithful

...

The IDF works to mitigate civilian harm "as much as possible"

...

Israel remains committed to protecting civilians and holy sites

...

Children Among at Least 10 Killed in Israeli Strike in Central Gaza, Officials Say

The victims were gathered near a water distribution point, health workers said

July 13, 2025

...

Israel says it regrets deadly strike on Catholic Church in Gaza

July 17, 2025

...

Israeli Strike on a Gaza Church Kills Three

...

Israeli forces killed at least 27 people in attacks in the Gaza Strip on Thursday, including the three killed in the church strike, according to medics and church officials.

...

The cause of the incident is under review

...

Israel is investigating the incident

...

The incident is under review, the military added

The incident is under review, a playlist

A soundtrack for this note (spotify version)

• Under review by Master Planned Music
• War by Bob Marley & the Wailers
• Can't buy soul by Hebrew Rogers
• Eastern incident by Sonny Clark
• Under review by Fabrice Ravel-Chapuis
• Geneva Convention by John Sloman
  

  You can kill them all / But just kill them nicely

• War by Edwin Starr
• Ain't it the truth by Catalyst
• Isn't it a pity by Nina Simone
• Geneva convention by BYU Synthesis
• Under review by Luuccid Dreamur
• Geneva convention by Peter Wiberg
• Geneva convention by Dow Brain

After a few news reports this past week

See also: On a Man who was Protected by Another Man by Hilaire Belloc

Perhaps we can file these expressions of regret under the banner of The Rough Beast which asks: who is writing the script?

File under: outrage, blood, language, war, obfuscation, misdirection, Israel, military, Palestine, hatchet job, rogues, atrocity, culture, observation, perception, The Rough Beast, poetry, toli

Writing log: July 17, 2025

The Memorial Lectures

In a time, then, of intense ferment and revolutionary fervor
When bishops were imprisoned, and judges were being murdered
Amidst vituperous outbursts, obscenities, from the leaders of the junta
Who would set upon any opposition their cadres, commandos, and militias

It took personal bravery from this eminent historian
More inclined to dusty archival work than the realm of the politician
But everyone had to play their part, not just the journalists
The man on the streets, even the poets and the satirists

The call still resounded after six years to stand up and be counted
For, even in those days of despair, the challenge had to be mounted
In the face of random, yet purposeful, terror and violence
To confront head-on the prevailing culture of silence
Up stood the good professor to give those memorial lectures

Political parties were banned, so they were couched as educational sessions
Our intellectual life in those days reduced to Green Book study lessons
Featuring long-winded missives from our friends in Cuba and Nicaragua
East German ideologues too gave input, as did theoreticians from Romania

It's fair to say that this minor act of defiance prompted a revival
A reappraisal, in many ways, of Ghana's philosophy of survival
Methodically and deftly explained with his customary sensitivity
What we choose to remember and forget, the workings of cultural memory

He stepped up to outline the essence of these fraught histories
Provided the background to give strength to quiescent identities
We owe him a debt of gratitude, this mild mannered man of qualities
For laying out the Ghanaian context of the sphinx modalities



In memoriam, Professor Alfred Adu-Boahen

Memorial Lectures, a playlist

A soundtrack for this note. (spotify version)

• Think by Curtis Mayfield
• So Much Things to Say by Bob Marley
• Sorry Ain't Enough by SAULT
• Culture of Silence by Jhelisa
• It's Enough by Lenny Kravitz
• Le Silence n'est pas un Oubli by T.P. Orchestre Poly Rhythmo
• Had Enuf by Al B. Sure!
• In a Silent Way / It's About That Time by Miles Davis

Part II of Sphinx Modalities, putting a human face to Sphinx

Further reading: The Ghanaian Sphinx: Reflections on the Contemporary History of Ghana, 1972-1987

I nominate this piece for the Things Fall Apart series under the banner of Social Living

File under: Ghana, appreciation, resistance, dissent, courage, politics, coup, dictator, strategy, culture, history, oppression, observation, perception, Africa, values, social, Social Living, poetry, toli

Writing log: September 11, 2022

Sphinx Modalities

Docility is much prized by parents and tyrants alike
A double edged sword, however, for the former
For independence and agility of thought are also to be imparted
Lest raising lemmings ends up being one's enduring legacy

Thus the dilemma of the sphinx modalities
The puzzle of how we readily yield to authority
The virtues of critical thinking, prized, yet only obtained with difficulty
Weighed against the duty of protecting one's neck, raw survival's necessity

Organizations too, confront the question, albeit from a different viewpoint
Marx, it was, that wrote of the narcotic effect of all religions
Seeking to explain the evident acquiescence to oft imprudent authority
The silence in the face of privation and, worse, this baleful docility

Outlining the process that leads to overvaluing the herd mentality
The masses' suffering, the false consciousness of conformity
The shackles that bind our traditional respect and shame cultures
The surplus value that opportunists can extract and capture

Juvenal would lambast the enduring appeal of bread and circuses
The dulling of the senses, leaving one prone to domestication tendencies
The suppression of the iconoclast, our embrace of convenient fictions
Perception is everything, such are the dangers of the cattle inclination

The sphinx is an awesome beast, typically lying in repose
But terrifying when it moves, with suddenness and exacting purpose
Mythical in its grandeur, it plainly traffics in concealment
Opacity and judicious revelation, keeping close its terms of discernment

And yet, force majeure, in times of emergency
We see what lies simmering beneath the surface
When societies erupt and break the mask
And tyrants are destroyed and taken to task

In the heat of moment, when they face the inevitable comeuppance
The warnings unheeded, the memory of their unbearable arrogance
From those earlier days when all we could do was to bear witness
Came the silent message: don't mistake my kindness for weakness

He who tests the depth of a stream with both feet must be prepared to swim.

— Ewe proverb, Ghana

Sphinx Modalities, a playlist

A soundtrack for this note. (spotify version)

• The Next Movement by The Roots
• You've Got to Move by Omar
• Beneath the Surface by GZA
• Eruption by Van Halen
• Now's the Time by Charlie Parker
• Beneath the Surface by Incognito
• Don't See Us by The Roots

see previously Nothing to See Here and All Available Indignities

File under: culture, observation, perception, strategy, tyrants, rogues, dissent, anger, revolution, groups, organization, crowds, social, poetry, Observers are worried, toli

Writing log: September 11, 2022

We Don't Talk Politics

I saw him once in person, Eyadema père
Must have been a few months before his death
At ease in his dark suit and sunglasses, standing there
The big man, unsmiling as ever, impassive and stern

Almost forty years deep into his rule by then
His éminence grise was attending the gentle giant's inauguration
He stood out, sour minded, even as others were celebrating
The hard earned lessons fully learned by his subjects

None of my Togolese friends have ever discussed politics

No surprises, however, about his exercise of power
At that point, he was the longest serving African ruler
Everything had to pass through him, it was all about the money
Contracts, wives and daughters, all tributes to his authority

My Togolese friends don't talk politics, they won't be drawn

Still, unlike some of the others, he wasn't too flashy
The trappings of the personality cult weren't too ornery
Funeral minded however, there was no chance of a smile
A quick death for his enemies instead of a show trial

They laugh and cry like everyone but my Togolese friends don't talk politics

Favored client of Françafrique, pal of Jacques Foccart
All respect due to the Knight of the Legion of Honour
The indomitable son who received the Order of the Yugoslav Star
During our lost decades, he would even play the role of mediator

Sports, relationships, religion even, but my Togolese friends never mention politics

But the many prizes couldn't launder his reputation
The curdled bloodstains at the heart of a tyrant's reign
Lingering, the squalid and tawdry murders underneath it all
Worse still, the dynasty continues apace, his son succeeded him

Almost thirty years now
The silence of my Togolese friends weighs
Never once have they slipped
And so we discuss the weather

We Don't Talk Politics, a playlist

A soundtrack for this note (spotify version)

• I keep forgettin by Michael McDonald
• Weather by Amel Larrieux
• I don't want to talk about it by Rod Stewart
• Don't mention my heartache by Nathalie Cole
• No politics by Amp Fiddler
• Talk about the weather by Yves Paquet
• N'bo Eyadema Mobutu by Napo de mi amor
• Murderer by Barrington Levy
• Talking about the weather by Tess Parks
• Don't talk about it by Culture Club
• Let's talk about the weather by Michael Hill's Blues Mob
• I don't want to talk about it by Rita Coolidge

See previously The Conqueror's Catechism


There was a touch of poetic license if not despair when I wrote the above in 2023, I hoped then, and hope now, that a new generation would prove me wrong; 58 years should be enough, right?

...

Timing is everything
Observers are worried


File under: fear, rogues, dictator, gremlins, Eyadema, Togo, Africa, humour, culture, blood, observation, perception, huhudious, hatchet job, violence, Fallen Angels, Observers are worried, poetry, toli

Writing log: October 23, 2023

This Fourth

This Fourth of July
Tariffs and a trade war
Inflation rising

Calls for regime change
The folly of wars of choice
The sound of bombs dropping

Rogues and damn scoundrels
Doing their worst, unrestrained
God bless America

But they got their tax cuts
And Supreme Court justices
The spoils of the feast

Big, beautiful bombs, then,
And bills signed in blood
And fraught with impunity

The half-life of dreams
Decay by design
A body drained of integrity

This Fourth, a playlist

A soundtrack for this note courtesy of Sault (spotify version)

• Glory
• Sorry ain't enough
• Why why why why why
• Warrior
• Living in America
• Fear no one
• Threats
• Valley of the ocean
• Free
• Wildfires
• God in disguise
• Masterpiece

Bonus beats: There will be no crying by Cleo Sol

...

The Strait of Hormuz
Motherhood and apple pie
Time for a ceasefire

...

No nation sinks to greater depths than when its government is obliged to listen silently to moral sermons preached by obvious scoundrels

— Marie von Ebner-Eschenbach

See previously: A Very Beautiful Thing!, Facilitate, You Voted For This (And Other Songs), and An Abundance of Caution

File under: hatchet job, humour, satire, rogues, politics, USA, culture, observation, perception, values, displacement, Observers are worried, Buyer's Remorse, poetry, toli

Writing log: June 23, 2025

Not in the System

It's not going through; her look, understanding
She sees it all the time, the denials, the rejections
Could I see your insurance card again?
Yes... Please. So I can double check again
Would you happen to have an updated card?
This one might be revoked… possibly
At least that's… at least that's what they're telling me
Yes, uh-huh, it was rejected by the system

Yes sir, I entered everything
Check, perhaps, a summary of your benefits
Sometimes there's... there's a ... discrepancy
A field, yes... one field... once a field is missing...
You know, these things... these things happen
You may want to check with them
But it's not in the system

If you want to continue at this time
You'll have to pay out of pocket
And file a later claim for reimbursement
If you were in the system it would be automatic
But the choice is yours, do you still want the shot?
Or you can try again when you're in the system

...

She'd seen it all before, it was written
A veritable shell game, this healthcare system
Some make profits, the rest of us are victims
One day, one day, you'll have a seat at the table
One day, one day perhaps, you'll be in the system

Not in the System, a playlist

A soundtrack for this note on the reggae side of things (spotify version)

• Babylon System by Bob Marley & the Wailers
• The System by Zion Albert
• Babylon System by Linval Thompson
• The System by Michigan & Smiley
• You are in my System by The System
  Counter-programming some synth pop-funk to switch things up. Don't disturb this groove.
• The System Dub by Zion I Kings

I didn't get my flu shot that day, I was not in the system.

See previously: Default Deny

File under: insurance, USA, health, shell game, culture, observation, perception, strategy, bureaucracy, friction, economics, poetry, Observers are worried, toli

Writing log: September 20, 2022

Near the Weeping Trees

Poetic license, a grove of weeping trees
Is said to mark the spot where Babatu's wife perished,
Abandoned by his retreating raiders

Vitellaria paradoxa, the botanists would precise
The creeping shea tree takes 15 years to start to bear fruit
The site of her execution, an arboreal memorial of resistance

The historians would argue about the accuracy of oral history
Questioning how these stories have come down through the ages
That the battle of Sandema most likely took place
Somewhat at a remove from where we now celebrate it
That the invention of tradition prevails

That, yes, Babatu was the prime slave raider in those times
But that the invocation of Samory was a touch of artistic license
Embellishment by the griots,
Born of his fearsome reputation
For the record shows he confined his empire's reach
To the west of the coast

Thus, while Samory's troops did overrun Bole,
They never made it to Sandema
No, Babutu was the prime mover
In what is now northern Ghana

The Zabarima depredations he led
The forced marches, the trail of dread
Spilling over from the East and North - Niger
Shackled, back to the market at Salaga

It follows; the dread that the Gonja faced
Was in the same vein as what the Bulsa bore
The specter of their adversaries
Commingled in the tales of the griots
For it was the same threat, the same suffering,
And the same wounds

And, yes, Bulsa children should run
At the mere mention of either foe
The griots had it right:
What is 200 miles in the grand scheme of things?

So, Salaga market
Or Kasana market near Tomu
Ominous since their founding
The former now a tourist site a century later
With a few exhibits

The footpaths trod by captives,
Marched from Bulsa and Kasena areas
And shackles, so many shackles, symbolic,
And other items that bear reflection
Earth shrines in modern times,
Northern doors of no return

...

We leave faint traces in our stories,
Signposts of intimate legacies
Fumes marking cautionary tales,
The touchpoints and the villains
And heroes too.

Years later, we gather and celebrate the victories
Feok they call the annual festival,
Harvests, and a "time of plenty"
Where warriors gather in performance
And recount the shared memories
And it all happens - historians may debate,
Not too far from the weeping trees

Near the Weeping Trees, a playlist

I recall when the then 3 year old entered the daycare center singing Burning Spear's refrain: "Do you remember the days of slavery?". The looks from the front desk, of those proper, Southern Texas ladies... I decided to keep things light with my playlists going forward. Still, these are living histories, the legacies of men.

A soundtrack for this note (spotify version)

• Slavery days by Burning Spear
• Wolves and Leopards by Dennis Brown
• The Invasion by Burning Spear

Bonus beats: a few live and dub versions of these joints

See previously Running Away, my first piece on the tales of Northen Ghana and, just to confuse things, Samory's Old Camp

This note is part of the Things Fall Apart series under the banner of The Bulsa Way.

File under: slavery, Bulsa, Ghana, Africa, culture, memory, history, observation, perception, fear, dislocation, escape, griots, Things Fall Apart, poetry, toli

Writing log: September 10, 2022

An Abundance of Caution

What is there to say?
Security theater
Newspaper headlines:

- Mahmoud Khalil returns home after release on bail from federal detention after 104 days

- Pakistan to nominate Trump for Nobel Peace Prize

— The U.S. enters Israel's war against Iran

- "One Earth, One Health": International Yoga Day provides respite in a tumultuous world

- The U.S dropped bombs on three nuclear sites, President Trump said on social media

Congratulations to our great American Warriors.
There is not another military in the World that could have done this.
NOW IS THE TIME FOR PEACE!
Thank you for your attention to this matter

...

In the US, New York's police department says it is deploying additional resources to religious, cultural, and diplomatic sites across the city "out of an abundance of caution"

What is there to say, a playlist

A soundtrack for this note (spotify version)

• Ishafan by Duke Ellington
• Redemption song by Bob Marley
• Reflection by Prince
• Peace piece by Bill Evans
• Jarabi by Toumani Diabaté

After this query

File under: language, huhudious, war, USA, hatchet job, rogues, Israel, Iran, power, politics, culture, observation, perception, humour, satire, Observers are worried, The Rough Beast, poetry, toli

Writing log: June 21, 2025

Juneteenth

Today is Juneteenth
Yay! A public holiday
Now we can forget

Parades and marches
Especially in Texas
How about a t-shirt?

The old slavery days
A questionable legacy
How soon we forget

The seeds of conflict
Uncomfortable memories
Buried in fine print

And if we must pay lip service to unease to save face
Recall that in earlier arrangements, everyone knew their place

Juneteenth, a playlist

A soundtrack for this note (spotify version)

• Slavery days by Burning Spear
• Celebration by Kool & the Gang
• How soon we forget by Colonel Abrams
• Holiday by Madonna
• Life can be so nice by Prince
• I keep forgettin' (every time you're near me) by Michael Mcdonald
• Forget regret by The RH Factor

Bonus beats: Remember the time by Michael Jackson

They played Fight the Power
As if to remind everyone
That the struggle continues

The firemen and city workers dispensed candy
My son had borrowed my hat for easier collection
Before long, his belly was full

The black cowboys would come later
Deftly riding their brown horses
The soundtrack was Maze, Before I Let Go

My daughter's school principal
Was giving out candy
We stopped for the marching band

The grocers touting their flour tortillas
HEB was founded by Charles Butt
On the float, they danced to Cameo's Candy

Concealed carry state
The Central Texas Gun Works
A grim reminder

Oakland meets Texas
Too Short dog: Blow the Whistle
The aunties got loose

The old Cadillacs
The newfangled sound system
Nightmare for the ears

Good competition
Battle of the marching bands
Cell phones were pulled out

The heat of midday
The scent of marijuana
Think about the children

The cowboys arrived
It's hard to be cynical
God bless America

The red, black and green
The colors of memory
In God's own country

Juneteenth 2025

See previously: The Last Holdouts and Bloodbath, South Carolina


File under: culture, observation, perception, race, memory, USA, history, slavery, hatchet job, Buyer's Remorse, poetry, toli

Writing log: June 19, 2025

Urban Renewal

High intensity
Low impact
Sloganeering

Mission possible
Curated profiles
Instagrammable

Menus with truffles
Plant based delicatessen
Crypto bandwagon

Ethical living
Bio fuels
Renewables

Locally sourced
Recycling
Durables

Contactless payment
Sensors, amenities
Modern conveniences

Look, creature comforts
Signs of urban renewal
Progress is the rule

Renewal, a playlist

A soundtrack for this note (spotify version)

• We can be new by Amel Larrieux
• Revival by Martine Girault
• Confection by Omar & Mica Paris
• Crystal clear by Howard Hewett
• Welcome to changes by Carleen Anderson
• Dream on dreamer by Brand New Heavies
• Nouveau western by MC Solaar
• Chameleon by Jazz Warriors
• Feelin' Alright by West Coast Revival
• Groove conclusion by Carleen Anderson
• Infinite possibilities by Amel Larrieux

File under: culture, observation, perception, urban, poetry, toli

Writing log: September 7, 2022

Contraction

"Can I help who's next?"

The mantra of the person at the service counter
An aggravation. A provocation to this grammar pedant

For the question always sounds awkward to these ears
As it appears to be a contraction of "Can I help whoever's next?"¹
A contraction born of the sheer number of times the question is uttered every day

Mind you, I too would seek to minimize the number of syllables I have to say
I too would pay lip service to the corporate overlords that write my welcome script

It struck me, however, that a little syntax could come to the rescue
That my naysaying can be remedied with some punctuation
For, if rendered as "Can I help? Who's next?"
The insertion of a question mark would solve the concern

The only problem is that, in practice, it never sounds like two questions
And so my ears continue to screech at the damn contraction²:

"Can I help who's next?"

Contraction, a playlist

A mostly dance soundtrack for this pedantic note (spotify version)

• Can I help you? by Amnesty
  From the crate digger's soul/funk holy grail album
• Can I help you by Dani Hageman
• Who's next? by Neighborhood Kids
• What can I help you with now? by Slick Stomp
• Contraction by Dxstxnce
• Can I help you by Adam Veldt
• Can I help you by Notches
• Contraction by Copy
• Next! by NCTS
• Contraction by Pau viguer
• How can I help you by Riverlabs

Bonus beats Excuse me Miss by Jay-Z

...

1. A former linguist pointed out that "Can I help the person who is next?" might be a better source for the contraction. I concur, although like the service industry invocation of Can I help the next customer? (or client, guest or whatever term The Company's service manual recommends), it is quite the mouthful. ↩
2. A political scientist harkened to the more salutory New York City contraction "Next!" which, with its conscision and emphatic declarative stance, minimizes the demands on the speaker, clarifies the intent to the bearer, reframes the mooted question as an exclamation, serves the proletarian interest being amenable to be uttered by a grunt while still paying lip service to the transactional demands of capital. I heartily recommend the practice. ↩

See previously Public Nuisance Number 64 and Ode to the word nuisant

File under: Small Things, language, syntax, grammar, bureaucracy, culture, observation, perception, humour, poetry, toli




Writing log: May 31, 2025