“Zombie Jamboree” by Beatroot Road transforms a well-known calypso chorus into an odd Halloween party song with a far more sinister aim. The song uses the chorus from Conrad Eugene Mauge’s calypso piece and adopts the point of view of a graveyard spirit, this being loosely modelled on one of the more sinister forms of Baron Samedi, the Vodou deity who looks after the dead and holds charge of the cemetery. From this perspective it welcomes those who have died as a result of religious and territorial wars into an unholy celebration, producing a striking contrast between the song’s danceable nature and its serious anti-war message.
The music here features swamp music with fiddle, Cajun and zydeco accordion, a triangle and a bodhrán. This blend is in keeping with The Beatroot Road’s method of combining different instruments and genres in unorthodox ways, the bodhrán in particular forming part of that intentionally non-conventional mix by being placed next to the fiddle, accordion and triangle while also contributing to the rhythm. Bass and organ are included to strengthen the underlying structure, the arrangement thus maintaining the song’s link to the approachable dance energy that the project has described.
The track features Jamaican vocalist Sledge and the strong soul of Cath Coombes from the UK, whose voices bring variety to a song concerning death, war and human folly, even though the instrumentation gives the subject matter a clearly celebratory atmosphere. Fabian “Bassman” Bonner plays bass, Kuruku supplies the Cajun and zydeco accordion, and Mark takes care of the bodhrán, triangle, guitar and organ, Hazel playing the fiddles. This recording includes musicians from a number of countries.
There is a sharp comment on the repeated occurrence of religious and territorial wars and on the unnecessary deaths they cause beneath the Halloween theme. The ghost from the graveyard acts as a witness to this cycle by accepting the war dead as the party goes on around them. This contrast is what gives “Zombie Jamboree” its distinctive quality: it is a song that is impossible to resist dancing to while at the same time making a satirical yet serious point about conflict. The combination of calypso, swamp influences and the intentionally mismatched instrumentation maintains that sense of tension right throughout the song.
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