This song may be based on the Jamaican "Linstead Market."

OH, NOT A CENT
A "Calypso" by Massie Patterson and Lionel Belasco

Oh, not a cent, not a cent,
Not a cent to pay rent,
Oh, not a cent,
Not a cent to pay rent.

See them Barbadians
Come from Barbados
Think nobody like them,
See them Barbadians
Come from Barbados
Think nobody like them.

Oh, not a cent, not a cent,
Not a cent to pay rent,
Oh, not a cent, not a cent,
Not a cent to pay rent.-


Sheet music, voice and piano. Free transcription by Maurice Baron.
This seems to be the earliest printing of this song.
Pp. 20-21; Massie Patterson and Lionel Belasco, 1943, Calypso Songs of the West Indies, M. Baron Co. New York.

(Hard-to-get publication; if I find a beat-up copy with the pages separated, I will scan, but I don't want to damage my copy).

Copyright 1943, M. Baron Co., New York.

I have a cd by Irving Burgie; I will check it for this song later. I believe his cd dates from the 1950s.