By Mel Cooke, Freelance WriterWESTERN BUREAU:
THE REGGAE righteousness of Ziggy Soul and the dancehall divinations of Goddy Goddy brought a spiritual end to 'Children's Expo 2004' on Sunday night.
The joyful noise from the stage had to compete with the unqualified noise from those who were not interested in what was taking place on the bandstand, but working with recorded tracks, the two held the attention of those who sat and stood before the stage.
"Mek me see de han' of all who love Jesus, de ongly name wid truth," Ziggy Soul said, before going into a guitar-led track which advised:
Do not let your heart be
troubled
In my father's house there
are many rooms
And if it were not so I
would have told you so
Drum and bass came in to complement the guitar as the dreadlocked singer continued:
All I ask is that you love
one another
Respect your brother
Love your sister
"Jesus Christ himself sey don' judge nobody. If someone do suppen, try talk to dem quietly. Not even mek nobody hear. But no judge," Ziggy Soul said, going into a song which asked:
How can you say to your brother
Let me take a speck out of
your eye
When all the time there is a speck in your eye?
Ziggy Soul ended on that non-judgemental note, making way for deejay Goddy Goddy.
GODDY GODDY TAKES THE STAGE
Goddy was, like Ziggy Soul, casually dressed, but the deejay added a pair of shades. He used an uptempo backing track to do a series of lines from popular choruses, coming back to a refrain of 'go Goddy Goddy go'.
A Little More Oil and I Feel Good were illustrated with some dancing while Hands Up And Tell Me If You Love My Jesus was met with several raised hands.
The yellow wave sticks which proliferated in the Arena came in handy for obedience to the request "get something and wave it for Jesus", the chorus with which Goddy ended, with a final 'hallelujah' underscoring the praise and worship.
"Anywhere we go is spiritual warfare, cause we come to tear down all demonic forces," Goddy Goddy said, calling on his son Little G for the next song. Little G provided a high pitched refrain "I ain't afraid of no ghost", as well as a series of skanks, as his father launched into verbal warfare.
"Yu have some people, tru de likkle money whe yu have yu spen it pon yu pickney, like come a 'Children Expo', dem grudge yu. So dem tek fi dem money go obeah man go try mash dung yu pickney. If yu know sey yu na go obeah man, sey naa!" Goddy said, eliciting a chorus of the same from the audience.
The deejay said he had a new name for those who visit the obeah man; he dubbed them 'Obeah man poppy show' and launched into detailed lyrics about their practices and the folly thereof:
Some a dem gone a obeah
man a read up palm
But a Bible me read up instead.
There was laughter as he chanted that "some a light candle and no light no gone" and, after he had affirmed that "a one protection Goddy Goddy recommend an' a de blood a de Lamb", many voices joined in for the closing "hey-ya-hey-ya-haw" refrain with which he ended the song and his performance.
