Hot on the heels of the excitement generated by her poems ‘Usain Bolt and Mi Marriage’ and ‘A Yuh Name Lightening Bolt’, Joan Andrea Hutchinson has just released the song 'You Fill Us All With Pride'.
The song, a tribute to the bold spirit and the ‘JaZwing’ (confidence and ‘in-yuh-face’ pride) of the Jamaican athlete was written by Hutchinson amidst the swell of revived nationalism and pride brought on by Jamaica’s recent Olympic success in Beijing. JaZwing was evident in Bolt’s pre and post race antics, and in the way in which Jamaicans blocked the streets, danced, banged dutch pot covers and preened themselves. It is a sense of ‘Mi boasy and who bex a fi dem problem’.
The lyrics and the composition of the music for You Fill us All With Pride are by Hutchinson, with arrangement by musical genius Sidney Thorpe, keyboard player for Fab Five. The lead vocals on the song are by Andrew Lawrence and Sherando Ferril, with nine year old Grant Lawrence doing the deejay sections. Backing vocals are done by a group of school children.
According to Hutchinson “I wanted to do a ‘national song’ which spans time and genres of sports”. As a result, the song does not mention Beijing, does not mention Olympics, as the goal is to be able to use it for Olympics, bobsled, netball, football, swimming … in short, anything which fills us with a sense of national pride.
This also informed the style of music, which Hutchinson describes as ‘epic ballad mixed with soft core dancehall’. “I want this song to live”, she said, “so I did not want to go hard core dancehall, because the appreciation of current rhythms will shift in short order.”
What’s the next step? Hutchinson hopes to shoot a video with about 100 children in Jamaican colours and hopes that the song will have national appeal. “So far the response has been very positive”, she said, adding that it is singable, danceable and memorable.
For more information or review copies contact : Joan Andrea Hutchinson
Tel : 8246428 bumpyhead@cwjamaica.com
