COLON MAN

One, two, three, four, Colon man a come.
One, two, three, four, Colon man a come.
One, two, three, four, Colon man a come,
Wid 'im brass chain a lick 'im belly, bam, bam, bam.

According to the notes accompanying this song:
"Colon is another name for Panama. Many Jamaicans who went there to help build the Panama canal were therefore called Colon Men. With the money they earned some of them were able to buy watches, and this song makes fun of the Colon Man who is showing off his watch on his return home. In some cases, however, there was no watch on the end of the chain! When his neighbours suspected this they would tease him by asking him to take it out and tell them the time.

From:
"Brown gal in de Ring"
12 Jamaican Folk-Songs
Collected & arranged for schools by OLIVE LEWIN
Oxford University Press 1974
ISBN 0 19 330544 5


X: 1
T: Colon Man
M: 4/4
L: 1/8
O: Jamaica
Z: NP 09/06/2011
K: G
B2G2D2B,2 | CEEEE2 z2 | c2A2F2E2 | DGGGG2z2 |
B2G2D2B,2 | CEEEG2FE | D2FEDDEFG2G2G2z2 |

NP