Le Chanson Fait La Force

Jean-Bertrand Aristide returned to Haiti this week from exile in the Central African Republic and South Africa accompanied by a number of political and entertainment figures from around the world. While I have no interest in getting into questions of Haitian politics, I do think it's pretty hilarious that traveling in the company of Danny Glover, an actor known best for playing crotchety veteran Murtough in the Lethal Weapon series 25 years ago, is considered a mark of distinction in the developing world.

Another Aristide supporter is of greater interest to me at the moment though: legendary Haitian singer/songwriter Manno Charlemagne. He's been called "the Bob Marley of Haiti" and any of a number of other superlatives. It's pretty hard to compete with this snippet from Manno's MySpace biography, so just give this a read and you'll get a sense of the esteem in which the artist is held by his fans:

"A soulful yet brazen balladeer, Manno for decades used his acoustic guitar and tender baritone voice as weapons against the brutal Duvalier regime and civilized indifference of Haiti's insulated upper class. A skinny, poor rebel from the slums, he was the little black fly in a cold glass of milk.

Born in 1948, he slipped out of his mother's womb with a clenched fist thrust up in the air; his birthsong was defiance. He picked up his first guitar as a teenager and has been playing, singing and writing songs ever since. In the classic troubadour tradition, he is a teller of truth who disguises his profoundly political messages by placing them inside hauntingly beautiful melodies. Similar to the storytelling traditions of the African griots who passed their history down through the generations from mouth to ear, Manno's protest songs with their caustic lyrics and gentle rhythms documented centuries of abuse suffered by the peasant class in Haiti, and captured the rawness of life in this black republic."

I caught a riveting program on CCTV documenting Aristide's return to Port-au-Prince, and the rabid passion with which his supporters greeted him bordered on the frightening. Part of the broadcast was set to Manno, a longtime Aristide backer and himself the Mayor of the capital city during Aristide's second term. I was moved to share some of his beautiful playing, and it is strictly for the aesthetic value of the music, and with no political implications one way or another, that I offer it up for your listening pleasure. My French Creole isn't really up to par these days anyway, so I can't make out much of what he's saying - though it has clearly not pleased any number of rulers in Haiti's troubled history.

In a country where two of the leading candidates for President were singers (Wyclef and Michel Martelly), listening to Manno and others is a reminder of the power of music to move people and hearkens back to a political tradition in music that has been sadly on the decline in our own country. Au fin en Haïti, peut-être que ça n'est pas l'union qui fait la force - c'est le chanson.

Manno Charlemagne - La Fimen (The Smoke)