plain & simple, i love pioneers and i love this song (who doesnt??)
Have tried to figure out the lyrics meaning for a few years now but being nor jamaican nor native english i am stuck with crazy interpretations in my head - dont get me wrong, it was fun for a while but i think the fun dropped now after hearing it hundreds of times. Any help?
Also, irrelevant but, CARL DAWKINS! this guy is awesome...
ahahah ok. i liked my own interpretation(s) better :p
So i'll just force my brain forget about this thread (i just need something powerful enough tonight - ask Trinity about it)
thanx for the answer!
Balughetto wrote:ahahah ok. i liked my own interpretation(s) better :p
So i'll just force my brain forget about this thread (i just need something powerful enough tonight - ask Trinity about it)
thanx for the answer!
i think i posted on this one a couple years back...
i would post the whole 1969 Gleaner sports section article, but it is a very poor scan and the OCR software built into Acrobat is having a hell of a time with it.
although the "Longshot" story has survived the test of time thanks to the Pioneer's hit song, the real story of the day was that Longshot was not the only horse to die - champion Ramses fell over dead after a race the same day (May 29, 1969) at Caymanas Park.
Longshot was first to die, in the opening race of a ten race card. Ramses died after the feature race (the 9th).
Ramses was in the lead until the final stretch, and then pulled up and finished unplaced. his jockey Donald Andrade quickly realized something was wrong and got off, loosened the girth, and walked the horse back but Ramses collapsed in the tunnel and died, just 4 years old.
the death of Ramses, considered one of the finest middle distance race horses of the day, was the bigger news in the Gleaner sports section. Longshot was a familiar sight to many Jamaican horse racing fans, but considered to be something of a somewhat elderly journeyman race horse (11 years old when he was put down).
no mention was made in The Gleaner of the collision between Combat and Longshot that led to Longshot's broken shoulder bone - an injury which led to Longshot being euthanized shortly after the end of the race. the other horses mentioned in the song? Carousel came in first - Gay Blade finished, but did not place. at that point, Longshot had run over 200 races - a record at the time by a considerable margin.
The Pioneers did not miss the opportunity to write a song about Ramses either - "Poor Ramses" came out around the same time, but it didn't have the legs of "Longshot" - kind of ironic.
yup, as i said above, "Poor Rameses" was out around the same time, but did not stand the test of time like "Longshot Kick De Bucket"... "Longshot Buss' Mi Bet" - the first "Longshot" record - was an also-ran, too that has become obscure.
the story goes that Leslie Kong heard about the tragedy at Caymanas the next day and told Sidney Crooks to write a song about it, since he already had the "Longshot Buss' Mi Bet" song out. "Poor Rameses" must have been a follow-up.
as well as being issued as singles, both tunes about the unfortunate horses were on the same "Longshot" LP that came out on Beverley's (JA) and then licensed to Trojan by Leslie Kong for UK release.
but i think the fun dropped now after hearing it hundreds of times. Any help?