Roberts was born in Arima, Trinidad, the son of a blacksmith, Stephen, and housewife, Albertha. He was educated at Arima boys' government school until he was 14, when his father died. His father had encouraged him to sing and learn to play the guitar, and he became a full-time musician. He won the Arima borough council's calypso competition four times between 1938 and 1942.
He moved to Port of Spain and had his first commercial success in 1942 with the calypso song "Green Fig" (also known as "Mary, I am Tired and Disgusted"). By 1945, he was known as Lord Kitchener. He toured Jamaica for six months in 1947-8 with Lord Beginner (Egbert Moore) and Lord Woodbine (Harold Philips) before they took passage on the Empire Windrush to England in 1948. Upon his arrival, Kitchener improvised a short song titled "London is the Place to Be", which he sang live on a report for Pathé News
He found further success in the UK in the 1950s, building a large following in the expatriate communities of the West Indian islands. His fame continued throughout the 1950s, when calypso achieved international success. Kitchener became a very important figure to those first 5,000 West Indian migrants to the UK. His music[4] spoke of home and a life that they all longed for but in many cases couldn't or wouldn't return to. He immortalised the defining moment for many of the migrants in writing the Victory Calypso with its lyrics "Cricket, Lovely Cricket" to celebrate West Indies cricket team's first victory over England in England, in the 2nd Test at Lord's in June 1950. This was one of the first widely known West Indian songs, and epitomised an event that historian and cricket enthusiast C. L. R. James defined as crucial to West Indian post-colonial societies. The song, later recorded by Lord Beginner, is rarely credited to Lord Kitchener although Tony Cozier and many who attended the Test at The Oval can attest that it was a Kitch composition.[citation needed] In England, Kitchener started out working in London pubs. At first there were difficulties with English audiences who did not understand all the words, but that did not deter Kitch, and after the BBC gave him a chance to broadcast, he moved on to club bookings, and was soon performing in three clubs every night.
Kitchener returned to Trinidad in 1962. He and the Mighty Sparrow proceeded to dominate the calypso competitions of the sixties and seventies. Lord Kitchener won the road march competition ten times between 1965 and 1976, more times than any other calypsonian. For 30 years, Kitchener ran his own calypso tent, Calypso Revue, within which he nurtured the talent of many calypsonians. Calypso Rose, David Rudder, Black Stalin and Denyse Plummer are among the many artists who got their start under Kitchener's tutelage. Later he moved towards soca, a related style, and continued recording until his death. Kitchener's compositions were enormously popular as the chosen selections for steel bands to perform at the annual National Panorama competition during Trinidad Carnival. He recorded his most commercially successful song, "Sugar Bum Bum" in 1978. He retired in 1999.
It was always important to Kitchener throughout his career to gain new experiences that could be woven into his material. This led him to performances in Curaçao, Aruba and Jamaica in the early days, and finally to London, when he was already flying high in Trinidad. Kitchener once said: "I have reached the height of my popularity in Trinidad. What am I doing here? I should make a move."
Kitchener, who created highly popular and sweet melodies, is honoured with a statue in Port of Spain. A bust is also on display on Hollis Avenue, Arima, not far from the Arima Stadium.
In 1952, he met his wife Elsie Lines. They married in 1953, and lived for a period in Manchester where Kitchener ran a nightclub. They divorced in 1968. He later married and had four children (Christian, Kernal, Quweina and Kirnister Roberts) with Valarie Green, and also had a relationship with Betsy Pollard.
He died of a blood infection and kidney failure at the Mount Hope Hospital in Port of Spain. He is buried in the Santa Rosa Cemetery in Arima.
Kitchener's son, Kernal Roberts, is also a performer, playing drums for the biggest soca band in the country, Xtatik. He is also their musical director and composer of multiple Soca Monarch and Road March titles. He is noted as being a prolific musical composer and song writer.
Merits
Winner of Carnival Road March with:
1946 "Jump in Line"
1963 "The Road"
1964 "Mama dis is Mas"
1965 "My Pussin'"
1967 "Sixty Seven"
1968 "Miss Tourist"
1970 "Margie"
1971 "Mas in Madison Square Garden"
1973 "Rainorama"
1975 "Tribute to Spree Simon"
1976 "Flag Woman"
Winner of Calypso Monarch with:
1975 "Tribute to Spree Simon" and "Fever"
Smoke a Cigarette
Lord Kitchener Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Take your hands from around my waist
Darling you may say I'm acting cruel but I'm really not in the mood
I want to smoke a cigarette first, smoke a cigarette first
Before you begin with your pinching
And bitting and squeezing and tickling
Smoke a cigarette first,
Smoke a cigarette first, this stupid little thing is driving me crazy
Eyes and love the only thing to get me set is to light me a cigarette
I want to smoke a cigarette first, smoke a cigarette first
Before you begin with your pinching
And bitting and squeezing and tickling
Smoke a cigarette first,
Smoke a cigarette first, this stupid little thing is driving me crazy
Lord Kitchener's song "Smoke a Cigarette" is a cheerful and upbeat calypso tune that has a hidden message about a man who just wants to be left alone so he can enjoy his cigarette in peace. In the song, the singer is being pestered by his lover to be affectionate, but he simply wants to take a few minutes to smoke before he engages in any physical contact. He insists that he isn't trying to be cruel, but that he's just not in the mood.
The song shows how dependent people can become on cigarettes, even when it comes to their relationships. Sometimes, people need a moment to themselves where they can relax and indulge in their vice. The mention of sleep still being in his eyes emphasizes that he is not yet ready to be fully present and engaged with his lover, and that he needs a little time to wake up and become alert.
Overall, the song is a lighthearted look at the relationship between smoking and relationships, and how we all need a little bit of "me time" every now and then, even when it comes to matters of the heart.
Line by Line Meaning
Doney you are too much in a hast
You are being too hasty, my dear
Take your hands from around my waist
Please remove your hands from my waist
Darling you may say I'm acting cruel but I'm really not in the mood
You might think I'm being mean, but I'm just not feeling it right now
I want to smoke a cigarette first, smoke a cigarette first
I need to smoke a cigarette before anything else
Before you begin with your pinching
Please don't start pinching me yet
And bitting and squeezing and tickling
And don't bite, squeeze, or tickle me either
Smoke a cigarette first,
I really just need to smoke a cigarette
this stupid little thing is driving me crazy
This little thing is really getting to me
Sweet heart well you should realize there's sleep is still in my Eyes
You should understand that I'm still sleepy
and love the only thing to get me set is to light me a cigarette
The only thing that will wake me up and get me going is smoking a cigarette
Smoke a cigarette first,
I really need to smoke a cigarette before anything else can happen
Before you begin with your pinching
I'm serious about not starting the pinching just yet
And bitting and squeezing and tickling
And seriously, no biting, squeezing, or tickling
Smoke a cigarette first,
Can we please just smoke a cigarette first?
this stupid little thing is driving me crazy
This little thing is really starting to get on my nerves
Writer(s): Lord Kitchener
Contributed by Amelia C. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
kdewconcepts@yahoo.com
on Love In the Cemetery
Very good interpretation of this classic. Lord Kitchener had a way of putting things across. He took a simple encounter with a woman and made it so interesting. If he played that game of cards with that ghost and lost, well, that would've been the end of him. At the end he was still comforted by a dead man. But what became of the woman?
Slow.dog
on Redhead
This argument I have daily, the blonde and the brunette lady
This argument I have daily, the blonde and the brunette lady
Speaking candidly, they don’t interest me
You can take your blonde and brunette away and give me the redhead girl every day
So it is the redhead, redhead, ohhh that is what I said
Just give me the redhead, redhead, I must catch a redhead before I dead
I travel to many countries and study the three young ladies
The blonde is merely false beauty, the whole world can see it plainly
They keep their hair dyed, using peroxide
So I don’t care what the people say, I rather the redhead girl everyday
So it is the redhead, redhead, ohhh that is what I said
Just give me the redhead, redhead, I must catch a redhead before I dead
The brunette is plenty trouble, to fathom them is a puzzle
Today they are dark as ever, tomorrow they become ginger
It is critical, too artificial, so don’t be mad when you hear me say
I’d rather the redhead girl every day
So it is the redhead, redhead, ohhh that is what I said
Just give me the redhead, redhead, I must catch a redhead before I dead
To speak of the redhaired lady, a woman of natural beauty
She keeps to that natural passion, no changes to cause attraction
She appeals to me, through simplicity
If it’s the last thing I got to say, I need the readhead girl everyday
So it is the redhead, redhead, ohhh that is what I said
Just give me the redhead, redhead, I must catch a redhead before I dead
Anne Fridal
on Steel Band Music
i really need to get the lyrics to steelband music for my kitchener tribute at movietowne coming soon also when a man is poor and ole lady walkj a mile and she taylalay