“My Very Own Brother” is a song by Emmanuel Carlos St. Omer but it is more than that – it is an awakening of the emotions. The Saint Lucian singer, songwriter and poet takes a plunge into a dark and necessary corner of the past and cries out against the treachery that existed on an intra-African level in the slavery period. It is brash, sincere and agonisingly gorgeous.
Constructed upon the unwavering pulse of roots reggae, the song incorporates the classical instrumentation with the ghostly atmospheric texturing. The music is warm, but it drags you into the world of reflection very soon. St. The voice of Omer is very uncut. It is very pained but also very knowledgeable and spiritual. Every word which he sings sounds like it is meant, it is as though he is leading us away through centuries of pain into a future where we will no longer be misunderstood.
The beauty of “My Very Own Brother” is that it stops people and makes them think. It is a tough listen and it is not tough because the song is any less beautiful, but because of the truth that it tells is hard to accept. It is one of the soul-stirring songs. It also makes us address the issue of history, racism, betrayal and the process of healing.
The song is balancing position and a profound message through poignant percussion and luxuriant guitar lines. The emotive vocals can be compared to a mirror, which tells us how much we have achieved with regards to sexuality and how much we still have to attain. It is a classical work that goes outside boundaries and time.
Emmanuel Carlos St. Omer warms us in “My Very Own Brother” that the truth is where healing starts. But it is not only a song, but also a lesson, a memory and a call to unity that the whole world demands more than anything ever.
