Roots Archives Forum

okay, this may seem odd to many of you,but...have you heard any roots records that don't have rasta lyrics? i mean like the absynnians:satta massagana is a classic, but sometimes i have to force myself around the jah stuff. now i know that a lot and i mean a lot of reggae has strong religous ties, and it doesn't bother me. it just tends to get rather tedious when song after song is tends to have the same subject matter...marcus garvey,jah stuff, destroy babylon...etc. i don't mean to impose here, nor do i intend anything negative with this post. i hope you all understand.

in my opinion reggae was the voice of the people, it was used to praise Jah and spread faith. the majority of reggae artists in the time of roots had constant downpressure on them, reggae lifted the people up. I think that reggae is alot more meaningful because of the way it was used and the meanings. I dont exactly understand what you are looking for, alot of reggae is about love and women aswell, but if you are looking for hollow music I suggest you look elsewhere. obviously you are not a rasta, neither am I, yet you must understand, "jah stuff"? you cant go to gospel music and ask why all the god stuff.

If you don't like the lirics you can always listen to dub albums

Maybe you like the music without "jah stuff"

melonhead wrote:okay, this may seem odd to many of you,but...have you heard any roots records that don't have rasta lyrics? i mean like the absynnians:satta massagana is a classic, but sometimes i have to force myself around the jah stuff. now i know that a lot and i mean a lot of reggae has strong religous ties, and it doesn't bother me. it just tends to get rather tedious when song after song is tends to have the same subject matter...marcus garvey,jah stuff, destroy babylon...etc. i don't mean to impose here, nor do i intend anything negative with this post. i hope you all understand.

No matter what name you choose 2 call HIM - whether it be Jah, God, Jehova, Allah, Buddah etc. He is still father to all of us and instead of disagreeing on which title to name HIM by or which rules, word 4 word we are to follow, we should concentrate on the true qualities which link all of us to HIM, PEACE & LOVE
Lyrics of Jah should not bother you unless you worship satan....

if you want to hear some up to date dub muzik wid lyrics that are not all 'jah stuff' although one don't go without de other and original dub is de heartbeat then listen to ' Are we really free' Squire Jon on the Hi Try label...lyrics are conscious

Interesting question!

One singer who comes to mind is Pablo Moses, who, though he's a Rasta, doesn't sing as much on Biblical topics as others; or you might try some late 70s dub poetry like Linton Kwesi Johnson, though whether that really qualifies as 'roots' I wouldn't want to argue, but it's absolutely fantastic - another possibility is to get hold of some of the themed Trojan box sets - for example, the Ganja Reggae or Reggae Sisters sets don't have much religious material.

chromatic wrote:Interesting question!

One singer who comes to mind is Pablo Moses, who, though he's a Rasta, doesn't sing as much on Biblical topics as others; or you might try some late 70s dub poetry like Linton Kwesi Johnson, though whether that really qualifies as 'roots' I wouldn't want to argue, but it's absolutely fantastic - another possibility is to get hold of some of the themed Trojan box sets - for example, the Ganja Reggae or Reggae Sisters sets don't have much religious material.

thanks! i appreciate your suggestions.
peace

gregory isaacs is one who dont talk about jah all the time if you looking for sounds like that.

Greetings..
Sooo many killer roots tracks with no mention of Jah. Here are some killer non-jah-mentioning tracks off of my head:

* Dennis Brown - Here I Come
* Lord Creator - Such Is Life
* Roots - Mash Down
* Tetrack - Simple Things
* Diamonds - Talk About It
* The Abyssinians - Let My Days Be Long
Etc..

In writing this short list, I simply searched through my head for a mention of jah in some songs that I have been listening to recently. Most of these tracks deal with sufferation. If you are looking for roots tracks that don't tackle sufferation.. then this might be a more difficult conversation.

Roots,
Jah Chicken