Harold George "Harry" Belafonte, Jr. (né Belafonete; born March 1, 1927), is an American musician, actor and social activist. One of the most successful popular singers in history, he was dubbed the "King of Calypso", a title which he was very reluctant to accept (according to the documentary Calypso Dreams) for popularizing the Caribbean musical style with an international audience in the 1950s. Belafonte is perhaps best known for singing the "Banana Boat Song", with its signature lyric "Day-O". Throughout his career, he has been an advocate for civil rights and humanitarian causes. He was a vocal critic of the policies of the George W. Bush Administration.
Day-o, Day-ay-ay-o
Daylight come and me wan' go home
Day, me say day, me say day, me say day
Me say day, me say day-ay-ay-o
Daylight come and me wan' go home
Work all night on a drink a' rum
Daylight come and me wan' go home
Stack banana till the mornin' come
Daylight come and me wan' go home
Come, Mister tally man, tally me banana
Daylight come and me wan' go home
Come, Mister tally man, tally me banana
Daylight come and me wan' go home
It's six foot, seven foot, eight foot BUNCH!
Daylight come and me wan' go home
Six foot, seven foot, eight foot BUNCH!
Daylight come and me wan' go home
Day, me say day-ay-ay-o
Daylight come and me wan' go home
Day, me say day, me say day, me say day...
Daylight come and me wan' go home
A beautiful bunch a' ripe banana
Daylight come and me wan' go home
Hide the deadly black tarantula
Daylight come and me wan' go home
It's six foot, seven foot, eight foot BUNCH!
Daylight come and me wan' go home
Six foot, seven foot, eight foot BUNCH!
Daylight come and me wan' go home
Day, me say day-ay-ay-o
Daylight come and me wan' go home
Day, me say day, me say day, me say day...
Daylight come and me wan' go home
Come, Mister tally man, tally me banana
Daylight come and me wan' go home
Come, Mister tally man, tally me banana
Daylight come and me wan' go home
Day-o, day-ay-ay-o
Daylight come and me wan' go home
Day, me say day, me say day, me say day
Me say day, me say day-ay-ay-o
Daylight come and me wan' go home
=====
Alternative Lyrics
Come mister tally man tally me bananas
Day is breaking I wanna go home
Come here for work, i didn't come here for to idle
Day is Breaking i wanna go home
Three han' Four han' Five han bunch!
Six han seven han eight han bunch!
Day is breaking i wanna go home.
So check them and check them but with caution!
Day is breaking I wanna go home
My back is breaking with bare exhaustion
Day is breaking i wanna go home
I wanna go home.
==========
Information About This Song
The orgins of 'The Banana Boat Song' are not known completely and its the same for its author but we know for sure that this is a Jamaican folk song. The most interesting thing about this follk song is that it was originally sung by the banana feild workers of Jamaica.
The melody was very much a calypso style of singing but different locals improvised their own lyrics from time to time often their most common reference "daylight come and we wan' go home". This song was also frequently sung by dock workers who worked during the dark shift loading bananas onto ships.
The first recorded version was took place in 1952 when Trinidadian singer Edric Conner who along with his band "The Carribeans" recorded this song onto his album 'Songs From Jamaica'and named the song "Day De Light". Song lyrics were written by Ivrine Burgie from the island of Barbados.
Daylight has come, the shift is over and they want their work to be counted up so that they can go home (this is the meaning of the lyric "Come, Mr. Tally Man, tally me banana/ Daylight come and we wanna go home").
The song is perhaps best known for being used in the comedy film Beetlejuice. In the dinner scene, the guests become possessed and sing and dance to the song.
No comments:
Post a Comment