Desmond Dekker's "The Israelites" Yea or Nay?

[Richardo]

Proto-reggae! The thread on 'Spirit in the Sky' made me think of this one from the distant past also...


The Israelites
Written by - Desmond Dacres & Leslie Kong
Get up in the morning
Slaving for bread, sir
So that every mouth can be fed
Poor me, the Israelite
Aah

Get up in the morning
Slaving for bread, sir
So that every mouth can be fed
Poor me, the Israelite
Aah

My wife and my kids
They are packed up and leave me
'Darling', she said, 'I was yours to be seen'
Poor me, the Israelite
Aah

Shirt them a-tear up
Trousers are gone
I don't want to end up like Bonnie and Clyde
Poor me, the Israelite
Aah

After a storm there must be a calm
They catch me in the farm
You sound the alarm
Poor me, the Israelite
Aah

Poor me, the Israelite
I wonder who I'm working for
Poor me, Israelite
I look a-down and out, sir

[progmom]

1. YES!

:yourock:

Best earworm yet!

[tigereye]

2. unabashedly yay!

or yea.

[unpossibles]

3. I love that song, and am sad he recently passed away

then again, i am a huge fan of ska - mostly 1st and 2nd wave - and reggae.

It irks me to hear people call it a short fad when it is a music form that is as old as rock and roll.

[Richardo]

4. I loves me the ska!

:bounce:

[SteppingRazor]

5. Huge, massive gigantic YAY!!

:yourock:


From my blog:

I loved this guy. He was so damn cool it was absurd, and without him, there would not have been a Bob Marley as we know him -- hell, reggae music itself would not exist as we know it. Me and a college buddy had a tradition. Whenever we left a concert, as our car slowly crawled through the traffic exiting the show, we would play "The Israelites" at maximum volume; just roll down the windows, crank the stereo to the point of serious permanent hearing loss and wail. No matter what music came from any parked car or anywhere else in the traffic, "The Israelites" always trumped it. People turned their shit down to hear ours. There will never be another Desmond Dekker. Hell, we're lucky we had one in the first place.

http://blogs.southflorida.com/citylink_dansweeney/2006/05/ah_shit_on_a_fucking_shit_sand.html

[blondeatlast]

6. Ultra-yay. nt

[swag]

7. Great song.

[DinahMoeHum]

8. Rest in Peace, Desmond Dekker.

n/t

[kmla]

9. Extremely yea here!

Love that song, I do.

[Bunny]

10. That's a great song, but I haven't heard it since I was a kid.

Unlike Spirit in the Sky, which I usually hear about once/week.

[asthmaticeog]

11. Me likey.

[Burma Jones]

12. Absolutely Yea

This used to be Top 40 radio........

[Oeditpus Rex]

13. An enthusiastic yea

It was 1969, and I was listening to reggae on KDON (The Big 1460) without knowing it, and digging the shit out of it. So "The Israelites" has a little place in my heart.