CALYPSO: A WORLD MUSIC

Chorus and verse from "Congo Bara." Chorus: Prizonye leve Mete limyè bay Kongo Bara   Prisoners, arise Give Congo Bara some light Verse: Mete limyè bay Kongo Bara Mete limyè bay Kongo, se lewa   Give Congo Bara some light Give Congo some light, he is the king This traditional calypso, with two-line stanzas, is about a nineteenth-century jailor named Congo Bara. The excerpt presented here is in French Creole. A version of the calypso was recorded by Atilla the Hun, Lord Beginner and Growling Tiger in 1935. From Donald R. Hill, Calypso Calaloo: Early Carnival Music in Trinidad (Gainesville: University Press of Florida, 1993), p. 223. Back