We at Catholic News have always supported Carnival because of its potential for creativity and wonder. However, we sympathise with the large number of people who find this year's Carnival celebrations hollow and the accompanying noise level is a measure of its hollowness.

There is hardly any catchy soca melody, no lyrically sweet calypso that has swayed the minds and hearts of Carnival aficionados. Nothing sticks in the mind for any length of time. It sounds nice only for the moment.

Where has the creativity gone? One reason for the lack of creativity is the demise of storytelling in our culture. In the bible, storytelling is a powerful pedagogical tool. As the story unfolds it causes us to reflect and challenges us.

We see our own stories in the bible story and it helps us to see where we have gone wrong and to change. If they could be sung, the stories of creation, the Fall, the Flood as well as some of the parables (stories) of Jesus would make good calypso inclusive of social and self commentary.

Good storytelling takes time to compose: the timeless stories of the bible were not composed overnight. Good soca and calypso also need to tell a story. They need their gestation period or else they will be rushed, repetitive and devoid of content.

Is it any wonder then that each year Carnival is increasingly becoming a banal glorification of nakedness; that each year there is an insatiable desire to expose more and more? This is a spiritual problem masking itself as mas since lack of creativity is a problem of the human spirit. This nakedness is part of the hollowness of Carnival that Peter Minshall has spoken about for several years.

RAGE IN CARNIVAL

David Rudder, having returned for a whole Carnival season after a respite of two years in Canada , also senses this lack of artistry and skill. He speaks very interestingly of a “rage” in Carnival. This is deeply true as patrons only want to “mash up de place”, as Massive Gosine did at the recent “clash” of tents when he responded to perceived racist calypsos by fellow calypsonians over the years.

This is to be expected for rage only breeds more rage. In the face of this rage how do we transform Carnival? We need to turn to today's youths, as Professor Spence has been saying in his series on education (concluded last week).

Our youths are the hope of the future. We must make them less money-driven for the “big-bucks” mentality has affected Carnival for the worse.

We must teach them how to let their lyrics gestate, not for the sake of winning a crown but for the sake of the art form. This is already being done in certain fora e.g. the Children's Carnival, calypso competitions in schools and the corporate business sector, and the preservation of certain forms of traditional mas, as well as vintage calypso and good humour by various interest groups.

Parishes also ought to get involved in this rejuvenation of Carnival for condemning Carnival is easy; transforming it a far more difficult task.

As we enjoy the Carnival weekend whether at home, at the beach or in the melée , let us put our hope in our young people – the “salt” (today's gospel) that can restore the taste of our national festival.