The Mudcat Café TM
Thread #100728   Message #2024045
Posted By: Azizi
13-Apr-07 - 08:12 AM
Thread Name: Natty Dread (Bob Marley)
Subject: RE: Natty Dread (Bob Marley)
Here's some information and guesses about the meaning of some Jamaican patois words & phrases from Bob Marley's "Natty Dread" song:

Babylon:
the corrupt establishment, the "system, " Church and State; the police, a policeman
http://www.ddg.com/LIS/InfoDesignF97/malyce/dict.htm Rasta/Patois Jamaica Dictionary

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Congo Bongo I; Roots Natty Congo I
My sense is that both "Congo Bongo I" and "Roots Natty Congo I" means "I am African", meaning 'I am part of the African Diaspora". Being African carries positive, return to one's roots associations.

**

"Children get your culture"
My sense is that "Children" here means children and adults;
'get your culture' refers to the Rastafarian religion/culture.

**

"Oh, Natty, Natty,
Natty 21,000 miles away from home, yeah!"
My sense is that "home" here refers to Africa {or more specifically Ethiopia} since Bob Marley was a Rastafarian.

**
"If a egg Natty in a the red"
My guess-from an admittedly African American* mind frame is that this sentence means "If a Natty Dread [a Rasta; meaning a member of the Rastafarian religion/culture] is provoked, he or she will bloody you up {meaning hurt you} or he or she will see red [get angry], this being a "word to the wise" which could be interpreted as a promise/threat.

* Like many African Americans, I do have Caribbean roots. Mine are Barbados and Trinidad & Tobago on my maternal side. However, I don't have any direct knowledge about Caribbean culture.