Mel Cooke, Freelance Writer

Half Pint during his performance at Red Stripe Reggae Sumfest Zenith in Montego Bay early Sunday morning, on July 22. He closed the show. -Photo by Claudine Housen/Staff Photographer

The theme of unity is standard reggae fare and it is the title and topic of a Jack Maness/Half Pint slower song combination in which the guitars and percussions are featured heavily. Unfortunately, from Maness' first 'ooh ooh', his vocal ability is suspect, and from the opening lines of the first verse, sung by Half Pint ("don't fight it work with it"), so is the lyrical content of Unity. It does not improve, Maness singing on the chorus "cause we are all in this together with all we possess inside" and Half Pint following with "forever we will abide".

Unity is one of those songs that gives deadly déjvu, that you feel you have heard this before, no matter how noble the sentiment and worthy the cause. And you get that feeling because you have heard it before and there is no redeeming original approach to the well-worn topic. And, on Unity, the music and delivery are not good enough to compensate for that worn-out feeling.

And when Maness takes a verse of his own, singing "walking down this dusty road, waiting for the sunset/of so true these feelings, memories I can't forget/cleanse my body and my soul, waiting for a sign/stars come breaking through the darkness, memories in my mind", it occurred to me that this is an example of trying to be deep and ending up on well-travelled ground, in the process delivering a verse that, in the context of the overall song, does not really have a point and hence no place.

Corny

Fortunately, there is a second song on the CD and on Mind Over Matter Half Pint is on rub-a-dub ground. He does not treat it as sacred and not to be danced upon, hence he lays a song of positive thinking on the rhythm. The lyrics are not stunning, but they do have a point, and while Half Pint's voice is not as keen and near piercing as it was on Greetings and Political Fiction, it is more then competent to carry lyrics that include a healthy dose of familiar sayings.

That they do not sound corny is testament to the rhythm and its rider, Half Pint singing "a no bluff we a bluff, just keeping our heads up, too hot to handle too cold to hold". And, in the chorus, he urges "a just mind over matter, all you got to do is deal with it proper".

The lyrics that stand out are "Mama never a TV to watch soap opera/Papa couldn't afford a criss Honda", with Half Pint stringing together some common sayings, including "now you see me, now you don't, one way in one way out".

The inspirational song is a decent, though not outstanding, production.