"Jamaica Farewell" is a Jamaican-style folk song (mento).[1] The lyrics for the song were written by Lord Burgess (Irving Burgie), an American-born, half-Barbadian songwriter. It is about the beauties of the West Indian Islands.
Many, including Belafonte himself, have said that the song was popular in the West Indies since long before Lord Burgess. It is believed that Burgess compiled and modified the song from many folk pieces to make a new song. Burgess acknowledged his use of the tune of another mento, "Iron Bar".[1] The line "ackee, rice, saltfish are nice" refers to the Jamaican national dish.
Covers
Artists who have covered "Jamaica Farewell" include:[3]
The Kingston Trio, who led the folk revival of the late 1950s, took their name from the mention of Kingston, Jamaica in the song; though their recording of the song was not released until their 1997 compilation album The Kingston Trio: The Guard Years and later live version appearing on their 2006 live album Live! at the Historic Yuma Theater.
Nancy Cassidy, on her 1986 children's music album KidsSongs.
This song has been translated into many languages. For example, in Bengali, there exist several translations, some of which are quite well known. One Bengali version of the song became an important anthem for the Naxalite revolutionary movement in the 1970s and thus has significance for Bengali intellectuals in Kolkata society. The Bangladeshi band Souls also sang their own translated version in early 1990s, which instantly became a hit in Bangladesh.[citation needed]
The song "Iron bar" was published along with Swedish lyrics by Ulf Peder Olrog in 1947 as "Mera bruk i baljan boys" in his "Rosenblom i Västindien" sheet music album. Olrog had earlier in 1947 travelled in the West Indies and wrote down some "native songs" in Jamaica, of which 3 were published with Swedish lyrics. The song was a large record hit with singer Anders Börje. Later on, "Jamaica Farewell" was covered with lyrics in Swedish by Schytts as "Jamaica farväl", scoring a 1979 Svensktoppen hit.[5]Streaplers recorded a 1967 Swedish-language version of the song, with the lyrics "Långt långt bort". Their version became a 1968 Svensktoppen hit.[6]
German translations are "Abschied von Kingston Town" ("Farewell from Kingston Town") by Bruce Low and "Weil der Sommer ein Winter war" ("For the Summer was a Winter") by Nana Mouskouri.[citation needed] The Vietnamese translation is "Lời Yêu Thương" ("Love Words") by Đức Huy.
Parodies
In his 1962 album My Son, the Folk Singer, Allan Sherman included a parody of the song on "Shticks and Stones": "I'm upside down, my head is spinning around, because I gotta sell the house in Levittown!"[7]
This song was featured in the 2009 video game, Rabbids Go Home, at numerous points in the game. It further was featured in "Chapter Eight: Know Your Truth", episode 8 of season 1 of the TV series, Barry in 2018.
