Calypso Kings: how David Rudder created the West Indies' anthem

Wed, Jun 10, '20

“Caribbean people have a tendency to complain,” Rudder told me from his home in Toronto, Canada. “Maybe that’s human nature, generally. But we were winning for years – total domination – then suddenly the team began to get a bit older and we looked like we might start to lose a bit.

“People who had become far too accustomed to winning all the time began grumbling. I was listening to all the things being said, their mouths running off, and thought: ‘That’s enough! I’m going to write a song to answer all that.’ And I just wrote what I felt inside.

Now they’re making restrictions and laws to spoil our beauty. But in the end, we shall prevail. This is not just cricket, this thing goes beyond the boundary. It’s up to you and me to make sure that they fail.

“Kitchener always told me every song should be an editorial,” Rudder explained. “That verse was about the world being afraid of our fast bowlers and bringing in rules about the number of bouncers per over. It was a deliberate attempt to humble the West Indies and struck a note with Caribbean people; we saw that change for what it was.”

Read more at The Guardian