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MAESTRO’S “BIONIC MAN” – CALYPSOENS HELT I METAL


I sangen “Bionic Man” forvandler Maestro/Cecil Hume (død 1977) – en af Trinidads store calypsonians – sin egen næsten fatale bilulykke til en fabulerende fortælling om genopstandelse, teknologi og kamp for de svage. Med reference til 1970’ernes tv-serie The Six Million Dollar Man bliver han i sangen rekonstrueret af udenlandske videnskabsmænd og vender tilbage som en karnevalsk superhelt med metalarme og moralsk styrke.

Men bag den legende overdrivelse ligger en dybt alvorlig kerne. I klassisk calypso-stil vender Maestro sin personlige tragedie til samfundssatire og folkelig kraft. Han forkaster rigdom og erklærer sin troskab til de fattige. Hans nye krop er ikke bare et teknologisk mirakel – den er et symbol på folkets overlevelse, på de sortes modstandskraft i Caribien, og på en kunstform, der altid har brugt humor og fortælling som redskaber til kritik.

Calypso har rødder i afrikansk mundtlig tradition og blev i kolonitidens Trinidad en måde at omgå censur og tale magten imod. I “Bionic Man” viser Maestro, hvordan den tradition stadig lever – ikke i form af didaktik, men som dansende poesi med stål i stemmen.

Sangen blev udgivet kort efter Maestros tragiske død i 1977. Det gør lytningen både rørende og profetisk: En kunstner, der overlevede én ulykke – og blev større end livet i sin sidste sang.

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Maestro/Cecil Hume

Her er så teksten:

BIONIC MAN By Maestro

A car crash, a harsh lash, everybody say, man done

A news flash, severe smash, one more calypsonian gone

Scientists from a foreign country sat and planned

To turn me into a bionic man

The doctor ask my mother what she crying for

They bringing me back better than before, better than before.

[Bionic!] I could work all night and keep on working

[Bionic!] No woman would dare tell me I fooling

[Bionic!] I could work and work and never tire

[Bionic!] If you tackle, me you tackle fire

[Bionic!] A tower of power and endurance

[Bionic!] I could keep my speed the longest distance

[Bionic!] A mixture of human and machinery

[Bionic!] Even Steve Austin ent able with me.

[Six million dollar man, six million dollar man]

They curious but cautious to see just how strong I am

Victorious, some heads buss - a good bit of them I slam

And women who underrate me later complain

I sure they ent go tackle me again

When they hear what it cost to patch me up, they roar

They say it cost 'bout six million or more, six million or more.

[Bionic!] I could work and work and never tire

[Bionic!] If you tackle me, you tackle fire

[Bionic!] A tower of power and endurance

[Bionic!] I maintain my speed the longest distance

[Bionic!] I could dance all night and keep on dancing

[Bionic!] No woman would dare tell me I fooling

[Bionic!] A mixture of human and machinery

[Bionic!] Even Steve Austin ent able with me.

[Six million dollar man, six million dollar man]

Too fearless, so careless, they keep saying this of me

Some protest, try their best to get me in custody

And police men always trying to cut me down

They say that I am a secret weapon

And because I discard the rich to serve the poor

Anytime I could knock on any door, knock on any door.

[Bionic!] I could work and work and never tire

[Bionic!] If you tackle me, you tackle fire

[Bionic!] A tower of power and endurance

[Bionic!] I maintain my speed the longest distance

[Bionic!] I could dance all night and keep on dancing

[Bionic!] No woman would dare tell me I fooling

[Bionic!] A mixture of human and machinery

[Bionic!] Even Steve Austin ent able with me.

[Bionic! Bionic! Bionic! Bionic! Bionic! Bionic!....

Og her kan I hører sangen

Litteratur og kilder

- Liverpool, Hollis (Chalkdust). ”Rituals of Power and Rebellion: The Carnival Tradition in Trinidad and Tobago, 1763–1962”. Chicago: Research Associates School Times Publications, 2001.
- Hill, Donald R. ”Calypso Calaloo: Early Carnival Music in Trinidad”. University Press of Florida, 1993.
- Thompson, Krista. ”An Eye for the Tropics: Tourism, Photography, and Framing the Caribbean Picturesque”. Duke University Press, 2006.
- Guardian Media (Trinidad). “In Memory of an Icon.” 2017. https://www.guardian.co.tt/article/in-memory-of-an-icon-6.2.1195308.2f275d61d6
- YouTube: Maestro – “Bionic Man”. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DLyNW1_3zUM