Posted by You could, if you were so inclined, call it a song. We’re calling it a list-of-things-Dwayne-Bravo-likes-set-to-music. This isn’t meant as a slight. We just think it’s more accurate.
As well as being a cricketer, Dwayne Bravo is arguably the world’s foremost purveyor of lists-of-things-set-to-music.
First he did Champion. (Lyrical format: “X is a champion”.)
Then he did We Are The Kings, which only listed Chennai Super Kings players and therefore had to be padded out with additional lyrics.
Perhaps in response to this, Asia sees Dwayne broaden his horizons. By focusing on an entire continent, he opens up a far wider selection of names and places. (Bit disappointed Mohammad Nabi doesn’t get a mention though. Love Nabi.)
It’s no exaggeration to say that Asia is the most high profile musical paean to an entire continent since Toto did Africa. (Here’s a video of two middle-aged blokes doing a frankly jaw-dropping cover version of a Africa in a pizza restaurant in Utah. Just listen to the unjustly pathetic ripple of applause they get at the end. (Although, silver lining, they have earned themselves 12 million views of the video.)
You might assume that Dwayne Bravo had cornered the cricket-themed-lists-set-to-music market. But no, he has not. He neither pioneered the genre, nor produced the definitive work.
The definitive list-of-cricket-things-set-to-music is the list of nations taking part in the 1992 World Cup, as performed by whoever did the 1992 World Cup theme song.
His voice imediately reminded me of Yellowman. You might recall his classic Zungguzungguguzungguzeng. As for the Toto cover, on first glance I thought that was Bill Bailey singing.
Dwayne Bravo’s various lists seem to be pretty much reading out names of cricketers. He’s in danger of being typecast.
On the topic of a middle-aged bloke who can sing in a jaw-dropping fashion, I laid down a track with Awesome Simo (who has been known to join me at cricket matches) just the other day:
http://ianlouisharris.com/2019/03/21/art-for-arts-sake-an-evening-with-simon-jacobs-recording-i-only-have-eyes-for-you-followed-by-dinner-at-the-brackenbury-wine-rooms-21-march-2019/
The above link includes Simo’s latest track, which is really very good, together with my attempt at singing several stops above my vocal base camp.
Have you thought about rapping out names of famous real tennis players, Ged?
And on the topic of the song Africa by Toto, I cannot hear that song without thinking of my first flame…
http://ianlouisharris.com/1994/12/20/my-first-flame-c-december-1994/
…by which I mean, the very first time I received a hateful message on the internet. It’s quite a story if you like that sort of thing.
That acoustic version is really very impressive. The only problem I have with the performance is that Mike Massé, the singer/guitarist, lets us see clearly that he knows how good he is.