 (1968) [ larger cover art ] |
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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,
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,
| hobiejoe (Still in the tunnel, looking for the light.) | Posted: May 04, 2013 - 13:31 I was lucky enough to see DD at university 20+ years ago, on a double bill with Geno Washington and the Ram Jam Band. Happy daze. |
| ziakut (Slightly North of Obvlivion) | Posted: Apr 03, 2013 - 09:50 Whoa! Haven't heard this in like nearly 40 years. |
| hidey (NZ) | Posted: Nov 28, 2012 - 21:46 Oh yes - the genuine article! What a groove, what a voice!  |
| algrif (Slightly west of Zero) | Posted: Sep 27, 2012 - 02:15 Polka put this up some years back:- For all of you who wants to know I get up in the morning slaving for bread sir, so that every mouth can be fed, Poor me, Israelites. Mi wife an' ma kids they pack up an'a leave me, "darling" she said "I was yours to recieve", Poor me, Israelites. Cho! shirt dem a tear-up, trousers a go, I don' wan' to end up like Bonny and Clyde, Poor me, Israelites. After a storm there mus' be a calming, you catch me in your farm, you sound your alarm, Poor me, Israelites. I get up in the morning stabbing for bread sir, so that every mouth can be fed, Poor me, Israelites. Mi wife an' ma kids they pack up an'a leave me, "darling" she said "I was yours to recieve", Poor me, Israelites. Cho! shirt dem a tear-up, trousers a go, I don' wan' to end up like Bonny and Clyde, Poor me, Israelites. After a storm there mus' be a calming, you catch me in your farm, you sound your alarm, Poor me, Israelites. |
| TerryS (Another SW) | Posted: Jun 24, 2012 - 17:53 Ain't heard this in a coon's age........about 6 coons' ages to be more precise. |
| Falcon (City of Angels) | Posted: Jun 24, 2012 - 17:50 More Desmond Dekker please  |
| JrzyTmata | Posted: Jun 19, 2012 - 12:38 ckcotton wrote: Surpurb your b fell down. |
| neuticle (fog fog fog) | Posted: Mar 21, 2012 - 11:36 Everybody in my bike shop is passing the dutchie on the left hand side... |
| AlienRelic (east of Eden) | Posted: Mar 21, 2012 - 11:35 Wow! Now that's a blast from the past.......  |
| ckcotton (Adding snarky comments since 2007) | Posted: Feb 18, 2012 - 17:43 Surpurb |
| lemmoth (NYC) | Posted: Nov 15, 2011 - 13:45 Proclivities wrote: I don't remember Bruce Morrow, or anyone else on WABC-AM, ever playing this tune. Not that he didn't - I just don't recall. I do remember Cousin Brucie though. I definitely do remember hearing this on WABC - oh yeah... |
| lemmoth (NYC) | Posted: Nov 15, 2011 - 13:44 First reggae song I ever heard. Of course in 1968, growing up in NYC, I had no idea there was such a thing as reggae. |
| Darlington (Columbia, South Carolina) | Posted: Nov 15, 2011 - 13:43 Frater_Kork wrote: The hills are alive? For YEARS I thought that was what he was singing. LOL. |
| mmoyer (Silicon Valley) | Posted: Nov 15, 2011 - 13:42 gjeeg wrote: yeah but what the f**k is this song about? For forty years I've wondered. For forty years they wandered. |
| Proclivities (Carrboro, NC) | Posted: Sep 13, 2011 - 12:23 Laurelia wrote: I always thought it had to do with Rastafarianism, as Wikipedia sez: Rastas believe that they, and the rest of the black race, are descendants of the ancient twelve tribes of Israel, cast into captivity outside Africa as a result of the slave trade." But according to a 1999 interview with Dekker, it appears to be simpler than that: "LCH: Then of course in 1968, you cut 'Israelites' - can you tell me about the song. DD: Well, it's really about how hard things were for a lot of people in Jamaica. Downtrodden, like the Israelites that Moses led to the Promised Land. And I was really saying that no matter how bad things are there is always a calm after a storm, so don't give up on things." One of those songs that sounds great even if you cant quite figure out the lyrics. Ketchup in the morning, baked beans for breakfast, ohhhhh Israelites... Laurelia wrote: For those once again wondering what this song is about, I'll repost what I wrote in 2007. (I find if you didn't write it today, it seems to no longer exist). Thanks for re-posting that, but I don't believe there is a lyric about "ketchup in the morning". Get up in the morning, slaving for bread, sir, so that every mouth can be fed. Poor me, the Israelite. Aah. |
| Laurelia (up north under the cloud cover) | Posted: Jun 11, 2011 - 14:27 Laurelia wrote: I always thought it had to do with Rastafarianism, as Wikipedia sez: Rastas believe that they, and the rest of the black race, are descendants of the ancient twelve tribes of Israel, cast into captivity outside Africa as a result of the slave trade." But according to a 1999 interview with Dekker, it appears to be simpler than that: "LCH: Then of course in 1968, you cut 'Israelites' - can you tell me about the song. DD: Well, it's really about how hard things were for a lot of people in Jamaica. Downtrodden, like the Israelites that Moses led to the Promised Land. And I was really saying that no matter how bad things are there is always a calm after a storm, so don't give up on things." One of those songs that sounds great even if you cant quite figure out the lyrics. Ketchup in the morning, baked beans for breakfast, ohhhhh Israelites... For those once again wondering what this song is about, I'll repost what I wrote in 2007. (I find if you didn't write it today, it seems to no longer exist). |
| Mugro (My body is in Dubai, my heart is in Red Sox Nation) | Posted: Jun 11, 2011 - 01:25 gjeeg wrote: yeah but what the f**k is this song about? For forty years I've wondered. Well, the Israelites, of course! Duh!   |
| fredriley (Nottingham, UK) | Posted: May 10, 2011 - 10:50 gjeeg wrote: yeah but what the f**k is this song about? For forty years I've wondered. Yep, same here, though I've only wondered for a mere 30 years ;). There's a fair bit of dialect/slang in the song that I just can't figure. I'm guessing that it's about an ordinary Joe Schmoe doing an ordinary boring job every boring day and staying straight to keep the family going, despite the temptations of crime ("I don' wanna end up like Bonnie & Clyde"). Love the sound, but a translation would be nice. |
| hifi (Campinas, Brasil) | Posted: May 10, 2011 - 10:49 let's ska! |
| gjeeg (Syracuse, New York) | Posted: Apr 08, 2011 - 19:49 yeah but what the f**k is this song about? For forty years I've wondered. |
| Frater_Kork (Uppsala, Sweden) | Posted: Mar 08, 2011 - 07:46 The hills are alive? |
| Poacher (Brighton, UK) | Posted: Mar 08, 2011 - 07:45 One more time. . . Ooooooh Ooooooh . . . my ears are alight. |
| RipperP | Posted: Nov 02, 2010 - 09:21 Discovered this in college and fell in love with it. It's been a while. Thanks for dusting this one off RP. |
| (former member) | Posted: Aug 30, 2010 - 18:26 jagdriver wrote: This has been in my "Top 40" '57 through '67 collection for over ten years. It's truly a classic. I'm reminded of going to sleep at night with the little earplug connected to my Magnavox transistor radio. Remember the smell of its leather case? Sorry, but I'm listening to it coming through the static of the metal bullhorn speaker over the stools in the burger place across the street from Bowl-a-rama, right down the street from Putt Putt. I'm eating some cold greasy crinkle-cut fries with plenty of ketchup and the speaker just finished playing "Band of Gold." Life is good, although I don't know it yet. |
| bachbeet | Posted: Jun 27, 2010 - 20:56 This is now on the recent cd version of Jimmy Cliff's Harder They Come. |
| twitterpated | Posted: Mar 24, 2010 - 17:00 voicers wrote: Kick ass set, Bill! That's so funny, voicers. I was just about to comment that this song kicks ass. I didn't catch the whole set but, "this song kicks ass!" |
| voicers (Sausalito, CA) | Posted: Mar 24, 2010 - 16:58 Kick ass set, Bill! |
| Proclivities (Carrboro, NC) | Posted: Jan 29, 2010 - 10:24 polymerchm wrote: Cousin Brucie on WABC New York. I am truly having flashbacks!!!!     I don't remember Bruce Morrow, or anyone else on WABC-AM, ever playing this tune. Not that he didn't - I just don't recall. I do remember Cousin Brucie though. |
| toterola (Further) | Posted: Nov 18, 2009 - 21:07 jagdriver wrote: This has been in my "Top 40" '57 through '67 collection for over ten years. It's truly a classic. I'm reminded of going to sleep at night with the little earplug connected to my Magnavox transistor radio. Remember the smell of its leather case? Yeah, it smelled like dye and ozone! I had one of those, and a "Wizard" 9 volt radio from Western Auto. I taped the Wizard to my bicycle handlebars, so I could listen to the "hits" while I cruised the neighborhood on my 20" Stingray bike. Seems like Heaven, from here.  |
| DaveInVA (In a crumbling Queen Anne mansion in Damnville, VA) | Posted: Oct 18, 2009 - 10:28 I still have the 45 of this I bought in while still in school..... |
| helgigermany (Germany) | Posted: Oct 18, 2009 - 10:28 Nice! |
| ronbellaz | Posted: Sep 16, 2009 - 20:49 jagdriver wrote: This has been in my "Top 40" '57 through '67 collection for over ten years. It's truly a classic. I'm reminded of going to sleep at night with the little earplug connected to my Magnavox transistor radio. Remember the smell of its leather case? My gawd!!! there's some really old folks bloggin' here ... I'm with you, man! |
| jagdriver (Tunin' in from the aptly-named Grass Valley, CA) | Posted: Aug 16, 2009 - 08:54 This has been in my "Top 40" '57 through '67 collection for over ten years. It's truly a classic. I'm reminded of going to sleep at night with the little earplug connected to my Magnavox transistor radio. Remember the smell of its leather case? |
| pope183 (Vinyamar) | Posted: Apr 11, 2009 - 14:19 nice pick |
| tg3k (The Jungle - 459.62 miles south of Paradise, CA) | Posted: Apr 11, 2009 - 14:15 von_Hayek wrote: Or "The Smiths" You win the Internet for a day.  I remember having a guitar songbook in the late 60s with this song in it. Haven't heard it in decades. |
| michaelgmitchell (ON, Canada) | Posted: Apr 11, 2009 - 14:13 Why not? It's RP. Expect the unexpected. Or move on to Radio Free Mariah. |
| MaryM (WeHo CA) | Posted: Apr 11, 2009 - 14:13 polymerchm wrote: Cousin Brucie on WABC New York. I am truly having flashbacks!!!! I remember Cousin Brucie...we are old, huh  |
| coffee-eyes (Right outside of Boston) | Posted: Apr 11, 2009 - 14:12 Station wagon full of kids singing, "Hitching a ride, sir." |
| (former member) (hotel in Las Vegas) | Posted: Apr 11, 2009 - 14:12 groovy... |
| big_gare (Cloverdale, BeeCee, Canada) | Posted: Apr 11, 2009 - 14:12 Hey, I can sing that low part! :-) |
| von_Hayek (Fr-Su Duesseldorf, Mo-Th Magdeburg) | Posted: Feb 07, 2009 - 11:42 kyleminor wrote: Or "No Woman, No Cry." Or "The Smiths" |
| kyleminor (San Francisco) | Posted: Jan 06, 2009 - 20:14 robco1 wrote: Clearly you have never heard Nickleback. Or "No Woman, No Cry." |
| polymerchm (Silver Spring, MD) | Posted: Jan 06, 2009 - 20:13 Cousin Brucie on WABC New York. I am truly having flashbacks!!!! |
| cathenley (Santa Barbara, CA) | Posted: Jan 06, 2009 - 20:11 This song was a huge influence in my adulthood....LOVE IT... |
| robco1 (Chicago, IL) | Posted: Sep 02, 2008 - 14:10 lily34 wrote: worst song ever. ever. the worst. Clearly you have never heard Nickleback. |
| (former member) (hotel in Las Vegas) | Posted: Sep 02, 2008 - 14:03 It has got a cool reggae groove... |
| lily34 | Posted: Sep 02, 2008 - 14:01 worst song ever. ever. the worst. |
| rwags ('Shroom Patch in the Pines) | Posted: Aug 01, 2008 - 22:26 The lost tribe of wandering black Hebrews, came together again in Jamaica. |
| Art_Carnage (DeepintheheartofTexas) | Posted: Aug 01, 2008 - 22:25 If only the backup singer didn't sound like he was suffering from severe gastric distress. |
| EssexTex (Bee Cave Texas) | Posted: Jul 01, 2008 - 09:38 "Ohhhhh Ohhhh me ears are alight"  |