Spinning Chester; He Spins Stronger

[ablackfoot]

Spinning Chester; He Spins Stronger

King Chester declares ya':
[tab][/tab]All of you Manhattan Absaloms,
[tab][/tab]lift your hands up high.
[tab][/tab]Surrender to the low end.

[tab][/tab]It is the switch,
[tab][/tab]it is the scripture.
[tab][/tab]All the nape is in my fingers.

[tab][/tab]Bring you movin to the riddim
[tab][/tab]with my toast
[tab][/tab]I've got you singin.

[tab][/tab]The first strike,
[tab][/tab]the skins break.
[tab][/tab]80 casualties the beat takes.

[tab][/tab]I have the heavy;
[tab][/tab]have grown men floating
[tab][/tab]for my tactics, like horses

[tab][/tab]around the corners
[tab][/tab]of a chess set, entering
[tab][/tab]the Arab smoke.

[tab][/tab]I am a scion of the Scientist,
[tab][/tab]I bless the chanting scepter's hiss,
[tab][/tab]his groove the gift of many magi's

[tab][/tab]mood. Sing of Black Peace,
[tab][/tab]let music heal the paralysed!
[tab][/tab]Bring praise to Africa.
Africa is lions.

[Suzanne]

You need to crit two and post one.
Just saying.

[ray miller]

I can't make head nor tail of it. Just saying.

[ablackfoot]

You're right Suzanne. Sorry for the oversight. I have done them now.

Ray, this is a poem done as a kind of imitation of the Jamaican dub DJ - such as Scientist, or King Tubby.
A toast in this context is the speech/rap over the dance track.
A riddim is the dub dance track, which is mostly free of sung vocals.

Not meant to be an exact replica or co-opt anybody's culture. Just a hybrid culture song.

[brianedwards]

I am a scion of the Scientist,
I bless the chanting scepter's hiss,
his groove the gift of many magi's

mood.

Quite like the sound of that stretch, though no idea what it means. I'm with Ray really, feeling pretty perplexed on the whole.
Out of interest, are you of Jamaican heritage?

B.

[Mic]

I liked it.

Mic

[ray miller]

Spinning Chester; He Spins Stronger

King Chester declares ya':
[tab][/tab]All of you Manhattan Absaloms, - I'd love to know what a Manhattan Absalom is. Not a cocktail, I bet.
[tab][/tab]lift your hands up high.
[tab][/tab]Surrender to the low end.

[tab][/tab]It is the switch,
[tab][/tab]it is the scripture.
[tab][/tab]All the nape is in my fingers.

[tab][/tab]Bring you movin to the riddim
[tab][/tab]with my toast
[tab][/tab]I've got you singin.

[tab][/tab]The first strike,
[tab][/tab]the skins break.
[tab][/tab]80 casualties the beat takes. - I like the first 4 verses. Wouldn't 80 hits the beat takes be better?

[tab][/tab]I have the heavy;
[tab][/tab]have grown men floating - gets well weird from here on, floating for my tactics? Maybe my son will know.
[tab][/tab]for my tactics, like horses

[tab][/tab]around the corners - ditto this verse
[tab][/tab]of a chess set, entering
[tab][/tab]the Arab smoke.

[tab][/tab]I am a scion of the Scientist,
[tab][/tab]I bless the chanting scepter's hiss,
[tab][/tab]his groove the gift of many magi's

[tab][/tab]mood. Sing of Black Peace,
[tab][/tab]let music heal the paralysed!
[tab][/tab]Bring praise to Africa.
Africa is lions.

Growing on me. Is Spinning Chester a real person? I shall google.

[Arian]

It's like a collection of random words to me, I'm afraid.

Oddly, though, a collection of random words with a rather nice feel to them. Must be a poem!

Cheers
Peter

[ablackfoot]

Thanks for the comments, I appreciate the feedback.

Admittedly there are some parts more abstract. (I find it to be a great challenge to read my own stuff without the associations that got me there in the first place.)
Disjunctions mostly from comments:
Ray - "Manhattan Absaloms" here is a pejorative term for Jewish men who live in New York. (I'm Jewish) The DJ is telling the crowd to lift their hands up and "surrender to the low end" - that is, feel the bass. He is talking to Jews partly because I thought it was funny and a good sounding phrase, but also possibly because a third of New York is Jewish and he could be playing a show there. But more importantly because I imagine there could be a bit of rivalry over the Hebraic lineage and legacy, especially with the rise of the Black Hebrews.

I think I will take your tip on "hits" Ray, thanks.

As for the last four verses, it is basically all about the music they are playing.
"I have the heavy" refers to bass again, and just serious music
grown men floating around corners - the dancers go where the music calls, especially as he is toasting
entering the arab smoke - really not sure if I like this because the soud slows down so much
scion of the Scientist - this you really have to know. Scientist is world famous in Jamaica. It is like saying I am the only son of John [tab][/tab]Lennon.
the scepter - the mic
many magis - the producers of the music, or the rastas who were so important in the culture
let music heal the paralysed - let them get up and dance
Africa is lions/black peace - just very "nationalistic"

But it's not the Wasteland so maybe it shouldn't need a crib sheet. I don't know.