Roots Archives Forum

Hey everyone!
Slackness has been a part of Jamaican music from the very beginning. Many tunes are quite offensive like Busters "Rough Rider", but there are as well many tunes where the lyrics are suggestive or ambiguous.
Since i'm no native speaker some tunes have passed my ears without realizing their slack content. But i'm curious which are..

Ok, i'll start..

1. Jackie Opel - Push Wood
A quite obvious one with Jackie talking about his nymphomaniac woman (I want mash again!)

2. Lloyd and Devon - Red Bum Ball
Never thought about it, but over at Dancecrasher a user called Jumbo statet "[..]it’s about about a memory of teenage sex in school, he refers to her Red BUMBO and how she cried when he ‘took it away’." Makes sense to me..

Nobody? Come on..

*Push*

=Nilo82= wrote:Hey everyone!
Slackness has been a part of Jamaican music from the very beginning. Many tunes are quite offensive like Busters "Rough Rider", but there are as well many tunes where the lyrics are suggestive or ambiguous.

@Nilo82

Why is "Rough Rider" offensive, because it's about (consentual) sex? What's offensive about that?

There is a thin line between "sexual content" and "sexist content", just as their is between a "racial remark" and a "racist remark". Very curious as to what aspect of teh song offends you, and why.

Ram Goat Liver - Pluto ........ some say has a double meaning

@davek

I didn't mean it like that, seems like I used the wrong word. Sorry if i didn't make it clear in my first post but sexual content doesn't offend me in any way. As long as it's not degrading i enjoy it very much and thats why i opened this thread.
I like tunes like "Rough Rider" or "Wine & Grine" - my point was, that it's plain to see that these tunes are about sex and so theres no need to discuss them.
I'm curious about the tunes which could have a slack double meaning. And i think there were many of them in the ska and rocksteady era cause it' a popular topic.

@Nilo

I'm with you, meaning some of the double entendres are ambiguous and fun, whereas "slackness" (meaning derogatory lyrics) leaves me cold. I feel the same way about sound clashes when they became more about DJs dissing each other than letting the music do the talking!

When you listen to some of the early mento songs, they are clever in that they are suggestive if your mind is tilted that way, but not if it isn't (stuff like "Water The Garden"). Also, Lee Perry had a pretty dirty mind in his early days, didn't he? :^)

davek wrote:When you listen to some of the early mento songs, they are clever in that they are suggestive if your mind is tilted that way, but not if it isn't (stuff like "Water The Garden").

Now we're talkin!

=Nilo82= wrote:
2. Lloyd and Devon - Red Bum Ball
Never thought about it, but over at Dancecrasher a user called Jumbo statet "[..]it’s about about a memory of teenage sex in school, he refers to her Red BUMBO and how she cried when he ‘took it away’." Makes sense to me..

I'd be surprised if that was the case as Noel Hawks told me he asked Derrick Morgan (who produced the song) what "Red Bum Ball" meant. I can't remember what he said it, but it definitely wasn't that.

I am also going to check the lyrics to John Clarke's **["Bum Bang Festival"](http://www.roots-archives.com/release/4 ... ight=65335)** as I am pretty sure that means something completely different in JA to the UK.
I might be wrong, of course!

Phyllis Dillon's "Don't Touch Me Tomato" is another sure-shot, isn't it?

=Nilo82= wrote:2. Lloyd and Devon - Red Bum Ball
Never thought about it, but over at Dancecrasher a user called Jumbo statet "[..]it’s about about a memory of teenage sex in school, he refers to her Red BUMBO and how she cried when he ‘took it away’." Makes sense to me..

Listened it on the way home and it definitely doesn't mean that.
Sample lyrics;

"Teacher taught the golden rule
to love one another like sisters and brothers"

"I used to take away from you you're big red bumb ball".

"I won't give you back your bumb ball"

Note;
a) brother and sisterly love
b) used to "take away" as opposed to "took away".
c) "won't give back" ie he could if he wanted to.

Basically he takes her ball (it's a kind of beach ball) which initially she thinks is funny, but when he won't return it she cries.