THE 1000 BEST SONGS IN THE WORLD EVER.
122-Desmond Dekker & The Aces-Israelites.
1969-Number 1 single.
Best Bit-At 0.20.When you can’t make out the lyrics do you make up your own?
Desmond Dacres was born in Jamaica,16 July,1941,he died of a heart attack in his adopted home of England, 25 May,2006.He was one of the most successful artists in Jamaica in the 1960’s working alongside the likes of Bob Marley and Jimmy Cliff.His 1967 hit ‘007 (Shanty Town’) was one of the first songs to come out of Jamaica and be an international hit.This was surpassed in 1969 when ‘Israelites’ became the first Reggae song to get to Number 1 in the UK and reach the top ten in America.
Dekker composed the song after overhearing an argument.He explained,’I was walking in the park,I heard a couple arguing about money.She was saying she needs money and he was saying the work he was doing was not giving him enough.’
The songs title has always confused people,but the best explanation is the Rastafarian Movement’s association with the ‘Twelve Tribes of Israel.’In the 1960’s Jamaican Rastafarians were seen as outsiders in society even by the conservative Christian church in Kingston.Destitute(‘slaving for bread’) and unkempt(‘shirt them a tear up,trousers is gone’),some Rastafarians were tempted to a life of crime(‘I don’t want to end up like Bonnie and Clyde’).The song tells of the struggle of living from day to day.
‘Get up in the morning slaving for bread sir,so that every mouth can be fed.’
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The countdown continues tomorrow at 1.0.pm.
This is the second highest placed Reggae song on this countdown.