now this may be a bit of a stretch of logic but bear with me ... the idea that Jocamo means 'fool' and also John are supported by some old African festival called Jonkonnu which is speculated to be the name of a slave trader ... and the festival is celebrated by those celebrating it to be dressed in rags and wielding wooden weapons ... this also supports the idea that Jock-a-mo is some sort of battle cry ... or some dismissive albeit passively threatening colloquialism ... and if na nais (NA-NAY) means is dead ... on dais (ON-DAY) could be lives in the same vein as viva in Spanish and Iko Iko seems to me more of a proclamation of self ... maybe a tribal moniker ... and if the words are a mish mosh as is the norm with oral tradition ... the song could very easily be a victory song ... a celebration song or freedom ... sung by slaves who killed their slaver ... long live the Iko ... Brother John is dead ... and the possibility that this is an old Creole Folk song likely passed on from grandmother to child over fires and gumbo ... festivals and indulging ... and not an original work by the artist who happened to get the recognition from the record companies ... seems more likely seeing the history of this song and the history of these specific lyrics; which seem to spring up in a few other songs which have similar backgrounds ... commercial and other older folk lyrics which have vague and specifically inspired meanings ...

long live the free ... oppression is dead ...

listen to the song with this in mind and it makes sense ...