The Canal Builders by Julie Greene

Author:Julie Greene [Greene Julie]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
ISBN: 9781101011553
Publisher: Penguin Publishing Group
Published: 2012-11-17T16:00:00+00:00

The song suggests the importance of women in producing good food for their husbands and families. A woman would help weed the crops so that bad grasses (“bayma,” or Bahama grass) ­couldn’t kill the yams (“nyams”). “Man go da groung da bwoil bun pan” refers to the fact that men would cook themselves some lunch in the field near where they were working. As they ­couldn’t carry a proper pan all that distance, they would have to use an old, burned one for the job. Having a woman in one’s life would ease this burden as well, because she would prepare and pack a lunch for her man.

Another song recognizes women’s potential power in their relationships with West Indian men, and the role played by negotiations over money and income:

WOMAN A HEAVY LOAD

Woman a heavy load, hi

Woman a heavy load, hi

Woman a heavy load.

O wen Satidey mornin’ com, hi

Wen de money no nuff, hi

Wen de money no nuff, hi

Wen de money no nuff, hi

Wah dem neva go out com back.

Wen de money nuff, hi

Wen de money nuff, hi

Wen de money nuff, hi

Den dey call you honey comb, hi

Wen de money nuff, hi

Why dey call yo sugar stick, hi.

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