Post​-​Colonial Blues

from Comfort Food by The Rhythm & the Flavor

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about

This was the first song we wrote together from scratch. We’ve had a couple of other songs that started as one person’s idea and then we adapted the song together, but this was our first creative baby together. We wrote the song when I was in graduate school learning all kinds of social theories, including post-colonial theory. Of course, critical reflection of the ways one’s own hegemonic culture has co-opted and appropriated cultural expressions from other non-dominant groups comes up a lot in those conversations. Those conversations are designed to make us uncomfortable – to question our own privilege. This was a first step for me to acknowledge that and try to both admit my complicity and also forgive myself for past transgressions. I use as a mantra the words of a scholar, Antoine Vitez, from the field of Translation Studies: “To translate is a sin. Not to translate is a worse sin.” The song itself is part of a current solo performance in progress called “Sympathy for Exú” and is a critical autoethnography about my experiences as a researcher in Brazil studying Afro-Brazilian culture in small town coastal Bahia. The title is based off the Rolling Stones song “Sympathy for the Devil.” Exú is the Yoruba trickster and is often mis-identified as a “devil” (due to a long history of complicated syncretism). So the idea of having sympathy for a much maligned and misunderstood figure seemed apropos. We are all fumbling through the world doing the best we can and we are all on different journeys at different points along the journey. I hope you all find your pathway in a way that minimizes the harm caused to our fellow humans.

lyrics

Post-Colonial Blues
From the solo performance piece: “Sympathy for Exú,” by Laurelann Porter

Não me diga, I’m like a chili verde
So/Sou picante, but also saborosa
Não me diga that I’m a colonizer
Just because I love your virgin forest.

‘cause you’re sweet, but not too sweet.
The deeper I go the deeper I know that you are
Sweet but not too sweet.
I’m just an outsider looking in.

Não me diga my chocolate is/es branco
If you cleave me, my sangue is vermelho
Não me diga mestiçagem é morto
Please believe me, I’m on the periphery of something buried in me

‘cause you’re sweet, but not too sweet.
The deeper I go the deeper I know that you are
Sweet but not too sweet.
I’m just an outsider looking in.

Não me diga my privilege precludes me
Não me diga my privilege excludes me
I will say I’m not my father’s keeper.
All I want is to go a little deeper.

‘cause you’re sweet, but not too sweet.
The deeper I go the deeper I know that you are
Sweet but not too sweet.
I’m just an outsider looking in.

credits

from Comfort Food, released September 4, 2020
Music by Laurelann Porter and Mike Anderson
Lyrics by Laurelann Porter

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The Rhythm & the Flavor Mesa, Arizona

Laurelann Porter and Mike Anderson are, collectively, The Rhythm and The Flavor, a musical duo with a bluesy folk pop sound. Stripping songs down to their essentials they combine socially conscious lyrics with sultry vocals.

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