U.S.: The Bull

Kitchie's dead and gone, but he left a body of highly memorable calypsoes. There was a time in T&T when Kitchie was synonymous with Road March. That was when pan ruled the streets at Carnival, when people knew how to chip to steelband music, before the era of boom boxes and jump up and wine. The early days of steelband was also the days of clashes between steelbands. Big fight with bottle and stone pelting, chains, cutlass. Kitchener's The Bull is a story of that era. Regrettably, I don't remember all the lyrics to this magnificent song, but here's the chorus.

This bull in my hand,
I go kill a steelband man.
Licks in the band,
Tell them, stop me if they can.
Since they have no kind of behavior,
I go lick them till they surrender.
They getting on awful,
So I bring back the bull

For those who don't know what a bull is, it's an abbreviation of bull pistle, which is the preserved penis of a bull. This bull pistle is used as a magnificent weapon in T&T. You get hit with a bull, whap! and you'll run from San Fernando to Point Fortin and back without stopping. Don't ask me why. That's the legend. I figure the ones who pass/receive the bull ought to know.