Who originally sang The Banana Boat Song?
The song was first recorded by Trinidadian singer Edric Connor and his band the Caribbeans on the 1952 album Songs from Jamaica; the song was called Day Dah Light. Harry Belafonte based his version on Connor’s 1952 and Louise Bennett’s 1954 recordings. It is a call and response work song, from the point of view of dock workers working the night shift loading bananas onto ships. The lyrics describe how daylight has come, their shift is over, and they want their work to be counted up so that they can go home.Come, mister tally man, tally me banana. Daylight come and me wan’ go home. The song describes the labor involved in the dock workers’ shifts and the desire for the workers to go home after a long day of work.Day O. This classic folk song of Jamaican dock workers finishing up their overnight shift loading bananas onto cargo ships is thought to have originated with them as a call and response work song.Belafonte popularized the jamaican folk song “day-o (the banana boat song)” by recording it for his hit 1956 album “calypso,” which helped bring the music genre to the masses. Then the song, and several of his others, achieved an afterlife in burton’s runaway hit movie.
What is the cockney slang for banana?
Sometimes Gertie Gitana (a music hall entertainer) was substituted for the refrain, leading to Gertie becoming Cockney rhyming slang for banana the usage of which continues to the modern day. Gertie (Gitana) ‘Banana’ in old-fashioned cockney rhyming slang.
What does banana boat mean in slang?
Banana Boat, an alternate slang term related to the phrase Fresh off the boat for newly arrived immigrants. A playful yet derogatory term for any ramshackle trading vessel. Caribbean as being “fresh of the banana boat. I believe it’s also a brand of sunscreen.Banana boat is a descriptive nickname that was given to fast ships, also called banana carriers, engaged in the banana trade. They were designed to transport easily spoiled bananas rapidly from tropical growing areas to North America and Europe. They often carried passengers as well as fruit.