Mighty Sparrow, 'Capitalism Gone Mad'

West Indian Oral Poetry refers to the influences of the past experiences which determines the ways writings and events from past could have an impact in the form and performance of poems which tells stories that the poets shapes from the historical experiences to form a sense of resemblance to the present times and deepen our future knowledge of terms, events and concepts that we are unaware of by expressing the new experiences. The poems from Voiceprint entitled, “Capitalism Gone Mad” by Slinger Francisco also known as the Mighty Sparrow, “Isms/Schisms” by Leroy Calliste famously called Black Stalin and “Sea Water and Sand” by Hollis Liverpool known as Mighty Chalkdust would be analyzed to illustrate how the themes of Frustration, Depression

The persona is pleading to God to solve this problem. This draws a parallel with today’s society. The prices of goods have increased drastically and the West Indian Oral Tradition have influenced writers of Caribbean poetry and they have been encouraged in structuring and giving their poems meaning by adopting British, European and American traditions. “Capitalism Gone Mad” also reflects the oral traditions since Sparrow’s main message was to illustrate how only a few fortunate individuals were given opportunity to obtain upward social mobility and move up the social ladder. Therefore, Sparrow’s reference to the prices of television, motor cars and sneakers. These material things helps reflect how in the old time days only the wealthy was allowed these things. Sparrow’s reason for highlighting these lines in his poem or his calypso was to showcase his levels of frustration and displeasure. Hanna Garth she wrote, “ His calypso reflects internal contradictions between the “pressure” to express one’s identity and increase one’s social standing through material culture, on the one hand, and the reality of capitalist dependencies, on

The speaker wants to unite the Caribbean islands so that they could cooperate effectively and productively. From the third part and the first stanza, the speaker is stating how people in power are the ones who have all the benefits. They use up all the country’s money to enjoy themselves and they have no regard or concern for others once they are enjoying. One is allowed to see this from the lines, “And after they drink their whisky the treaty dead already, Lots of talk, but no action ever commence.” In the last verse of the calypso or the first stanza from the last part of poem the speaker mentions how easily Caribbean leaders could change and be swayed just to get US dollars. They could forsake their own people for money from an outsider. Critic Tetras claimed, “The oral tradition constitutes the main element of transmission and coverage of oral literature and history, music and dancing. This tradition begins with internal context of the group and the communication through interaction which brings forth a folkloric process.” This is exactly what the Mighty Chalkdust does he sings and creates an awareness about the turmoil that aroused and existed in society especially among Caribbean countries. Liverpool wants to educate individuals about important occurrences of the past so