Het verhaal van iemand die de grond bewerkt, maar de vruchten van zijn arbeid af moet staan aan zijn ‘master’. Word of the Farmer is één van de meest aangrijpende songs over de slavernij: Now when there was no water/To water the crops/Jah know/I cried and I cried/And I used my tear drops. Geweldige band ook, met Sly Dunbar op drums, Robbie Shakespeare op basgitaar en Ansel Collins op het Hammond orgel.
I won’t
No, I won’t
I, I won’t let you take
All the fruits of my soil, oh
While you work ah play, yeah
I’m the one who sweats and toil, yeah
Now when there was no water
To water the crops
Jah know
I cried and I cried
And I used my tear drops, yeah, oh
‘Cause I knew I was capable, all day
To put some bread upon my table, whoa yeah
Said I sweat and toiled so hard
I won’t let you take away my vineyard
No backra, no master
Stay low
I’ve worked so hard
When there was no one, no one
To give me a hand, yeah
I tried and I tried
Just as an upful man, yeah
Now my fruit has come to perfection
You’re heading in, in I direction, yeah
But I, I won’t let you
Take away the fruit of my soil
No backra
While you work ah play, yeah
I’m the one who sweats and toil
I never see no master
When there was no water
To water the crops
I cried and I cried
I used my tear drops
No I won’t, no
No I won’t, let you take all…
Uitgelichte afbeelding: By Keystone View Company – “We’se done all dis’s morning’,” -Picking cotton on a Mississippi plantation., Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=138077484
