PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad - SENTIMENTS of relief surged internationally following the (authorised) announcement that the Mighty Sparrow, born Slinger Francisco, had emerged from a coma in the New York hospital where he has been treated. For two weeks before, a decline in his condition had been marked by false alarms and distressingly exaggerated reports.
Proliferating unfounded chatter, now immediately universalised by means of social media, might have, in the heyday of Sparrow, become material for calypso songs. It is for such songs, blending reports and commentary, with humour and wit and sharp satire, that he has long been justly celebrated.
Indeed, the personality and public image of Sparrow, and observations and reflections on his doings and lifestyle, have constituted a staple element of his voluminous output. Always, in the swaggering style of the calypsonian, made especially famous by him, he has emerged triumphant, as much in fantasy projections as in fact.