Lyrics & Knowledge Personal Pages Record Shop Auction Links Radio & Media Kids Membership Help
The Mudcat Cafesj



User Name Thread Name Subject Posted
Gibb Sahib Origins: By the Waters (Floods, Rivers) of Babylon (17) RE: Lyr Add: By the Waters (Floods, Rivers) of Babylon 21 Dec 13

FWIW (It's subjective, but I'm a long time fan of Jamaican popular music) the interpretation vocalized by The Melodians is the definitive one in that repertory. I wasn't aware of any Marley/Wailers rendition at all (if there is one?; I've not heard a recording. People seem to randomly ascribe credit to the over-famous Marley for things), and the Boney M, in my opinion, is derivative trash.

The rhythm has a very distinctive style, where the organ emphasizes the the downbeats, that was common around 1970 and then faded into oblivion within the next couple years.

The Melodians seem to have been the Jamaican group to dig into their hymn-singing background and bring this into popular music recording—subsequently "covered" by others.

The song was used on the very popular soundtrack to the film _The Harder They Come_, hence its spread far outside Jamaica in this form.

Post to this Thread -

Back to the Main Forum Page

By clicking on the User Name, you will requery the forum for that user. You will see everything that he or she has posted with that Mudcat name.

By clicking on the Thread Name, you will be sent to the Forum on that thread as if you selected it from the main Mudcat Forum page.

By clicking on the Subject, you will also go to the thread as if you selected it from the original Forum page, but also go directly to that particular message.

By clicking on the Date (Posted), you will dig out every message posted that day.

Try it all, you will see.