Roots Archives Forum

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kvNrDhg1tJA

can anyone help me figure out the lyrics/meaning to this song?

i'm guessing it's like "jah no dead" about selassie. but why "wha" ? and why would jah become a millionaire? anyway...

wha nuh dead, no dash 'im wey (???)
wha nuh dead, no dash 'im wey.
jah no dead, no dash 'im wey,
he can be your star of tomorrow.

he can go outside and find his future
tomorrow he can be a millionaire
so jah no dead, no dash 'im wey,
he can be your star of tomorrow.

he was with you for a long long time
now he's down you don't want to see him around
but jah no dead, no dash 'im wey,
he can be your star of tomorrow.

I could be a million miles off here, but this is how I would interpret this song.

I would interpret this as saying something like Jah isn't dead so don't throw away your religion. Kind of like "hold on to your faith even when everyone around you says it's dead"

Jah isn't dead so don't throw him away

I think the millionaire bit is more like, "if **your** not dead then you can achieve anything so don't just give up"

I think "wha" means "[those] who are" na dead. In other words, in setting the scene for the focus on Jah in line 3, the song starts off with a generalization: Anyone who isn't dead shouldn't be ignored/disposed of.