Azizi, I am always charmed by your contributions, in which you show your devotion to the education of mankind. Certainly other Mudcatters feel the same.

Your witness Diane Browne is a tan-skinned and black-haired Jamaican alright. Her story for children can be regarded as an expression of Jamaican culture, but she does not claim to retell the song.

The important question is whether Burgess/Belafonte changed the meaning completely. If we assume so, the original song may well be about red-haired Cordelia being taunted at
a) because she is an illegitimate child,
b) because she descends from a father considered alien to the culture of the singers (and a "class enemy", in eurocentric terms),
c) because red hair is generally assumed to be a mark of evil powers.
"I met Missa Ivan..." would then be pronounced by Cordelia's mother, or perhaps one of the taunters imitating her.

This theory can by no means apply to the Burgess/Belafonte version, where Cordelia has a lover. For a moment I considered the idea that their Cordelia dyes her hair black, and when one day her secret is discovered, all her lovers, including the narrator, turn their backs on her. But that doesn't fit either.

I'll think of other audacious guesses, or, preferably, wait for someone to convince me.