With the powerful Roots Radics Band and the innovative young engineer Hopeton "Overton" Brown aka Scientist working on the majority of his releases, "Junjo" Lawes began voicing a dazzling array of talent including Michael Prophet, Barry Brown, Frankie Paul, Wailing Souls and Johnny Osbourne. Quick to spot new talent he also employed rather unknown names like for example a young boy who called himself Billy Boyo. In 1982 "Junjo" Lawes recorded this talented youthman deejay together with Little Harry for a two artist "clash" album entitled "DJ Clash Volume 2", released by Greensleeves Records. Billy Boyo also became part of Junjo's famous Volcano sound system and performed alongside Burro Banton, Little John, Toyan, Josey Wales, Lee Van Cleef, Yellowman and others.
In 1983 Billy Boyo (together with Little John and Ranking Toyan) went to London where he linked up with producer Silver Kamel. The latter took him into the studio and recorded tracks for Boyo's second album. Due to various reasons the project got put on hold and it took almost twenty years before the album, "Zim Zim", was unleashed. Silver Kamel recalls... "What I liked most about Billy Boyo was his easy style and infectious ear-to-ear grin that would break out just about anytime. In the studio he was all-pro. He knew how to work the mike, what he wanted as a sound, and was prepared to experiment. Ridin riddim and stabbin toasts at the drum and bass... all the sessions were fast and fun-packed."
All in all Billy Boyo wasn't a prolific recording artist as he did not record much before or after the tracks for the aforementioned two albums. His musical career was short-lived and little was heard of Billy Boyo since the second half of the eighties. Although many rumors state that he had been shot, he actually died of a brain tumor in 2000.
One Spliff A Day
Billy Boyo Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Me nicer than the lolipop
BO whatch ya man
The higher the mountin a the cooler the breeze
The likkler the fishy a the tighter the squeeze
It smell like an oven like rice an peas
The sun comes down
The earth gets hotter
My money jus a bubble like soup in a pot-a
She haf 2 breast
She wear long dress
Betwix her leg she haf a???
Betwixt her leg she haf her girlness
Ca everywhere me go ca dem a seh me are de best
Me mash it in the east
Me mash it in the east
She like how me dress
She like how me caress her
Ca one spliff a day keep the evil away
Ca one spliff a day keep the evil away
Ca iya Billy Boyo wah ya boss deejay
She ear me deejay she give me love right away??????
Ca me seh one spliff a day keep the evil away
Ca say spliff a day keep the evil away
Me seh she young
Me seh she sweet like any plum
Me seh she young
Me seh she sweet like any plum
But one ting weh her she dont qualify
She tell me a lie that she dont have a guy
This girl wont satisfy
This girl wont satisfy
But what, she ear me deejay she tell her boyfrind bye bye
She ear me deejay she tell her boyfirld bye bye
Billy Boyo on dem-a(?)
Me ... on dem-a
Me murder on dem-a
Me say me muder on dem-a
Me say me murdern on dem
Me muder on dem
Me muder on dem
Me muder on dem
Me muder on dem
Ca dem a natty fear the mark a trinity
Seh dem a natty fear the mark a trinity
RIGHT
Me went a?? tree, ca wha do me see?
Ay, Six natty, ca six whitey??? a feel her???
The other natty a suck her titty
All a dem a drink up jelly
Dem a skanking to the music done by billy
But true dem hear seh natty travel with nuff money
An tek the pane like air taxi
A tell dem a natty fear the mark a tinity
But???? fear the mark a trinity
The higher the mountain an the cooler the breeze
The??? the fishy the tighter the squeeze
It smell like an oven like rice an peas
The sun comes down
The earth gets hotter
It smell like a like a
The lyrics of Billy Boyo’s song ‘One Spliff A Day’ are an ode to the everyday life of a Rastafarian. The song starts with the singer proclaiming himself as being sweeter than the water in a coconut and nicer than a lollipop. He talks about the cool breeze atop a mountain and the tight squeeze of a small fish. The song then goes on to describe the singer’s perception of the world around him. The smell of a cooking oven reminds him of rice and peas, and he talks about his money bubbling like soup in a pot. He describes a girl with two breasts who likes the way he dresses and caresses her. He recommends smoking one spliff a day to keep the evil away. The song then talks about a young girl who lies about having a boyfriend, but is smitten with the deejay and wants to be with him.
The song is a reflection of the Rastafarian belief system and glorifies the use of marijuana. It talks about the importance of maintaining a positive outlook in life and emphasizes the role of music and smoking marijuana in keeping evil away. The song also talks about the singer's popularity with women.
Line by Line Meaning
Beca' me sweeter than the water in a coconut
I am sweet like the water in a coconut
Me nicer than the lolipop
I am nice like a lollipop
BO whatch ya man
Hey, what's up man?
The higher the mountin a the cooler the breeze
The higher the mountain, the cooler the breeze
The likkler the fishy a the tighter the squeeze
The smaller the fish, the tighter the squeeze
It smell like an oven like rice an peas
It smells like an oven, like rice and peas
The sun comes down
The sun sets
The earth gets hotter
The Earth gets hotter
The gyal fishy smell like an old rat-a
The girl's private part smells bad
My money jus a bubble like soup in a pot-a
My money is increasing rapidly
She haf 2 breast
She has two breasts
She wear long dress
She is wearing a long dress
Betwix her leg she haf a???
Between her legs, she has her female genitals
Betwixt her leg she haf her girlness
Between her legs, she has her femininity
Ca everywhere me go ca dem a seh me are de best
Everywhere I go, people say I am the best
Me mash it in the east
I am successful in the Eastern part of the world
Me mash it in the east
I am successful in the Eastern part of the world
She like how me dress
She likes how I dress
She like how me caress her
She likes how I touch her gently
Ca one spliff a day keep the evil away
Smoking one spliff a day keeps evil away
Ca one spliff a day keep the evil away
Smoking one spliff a day keeps evil away
Ca iya Billy Boyo wah ya boss deejay
Hey, boss deejay Billy Boyo here
She ear me deejay she give me love right away??????
She hears me as a deejay and immediately loves me
Ca me seh one spliff a day keep the evil away
I say smoking one spliff a day keeps evil away
Ca say spliff a day keep the evil away
Saying smoking one spliff a day keeps evil away
Me seh she young
I say she is young
Me seh she sweet like any plum
I say she is sweet like a plum
Me seh she young
I say she is young
Me seh she sweet like any plum
I say she is sweet like a plum
But one ting weh her she dont qualify
But she does not qualify for one thing
She tell me a lie that she dont have a guy
She lies and says she does not have a boyfriend
This girl wont satisfy
This girl won't satisfy me
This girl wont satisfy
This girl won't satisfy me
But what, she ear me deejay she tell her boyfrind bye bye
But, since she hears me as a deejay, she tells her boyfriend bye bye
She ear me deejay she tell her boyfirld bye bye
She hears me as a deejay and tells her boyfriend bye bye
Billy Boyo on dem-a(?)
Is Billy Boyo there?
Me ... on dem-a
I am there
Me murder on dem-a
I am killing it
Me say me muder on dem-a
I say I am killing it
Me say me murdern on dem
I say I am killing it
Me muder on dem
I am killing it
Me muder on dem
I am killing it
Me muder on dem
I am killing it
Me muder on dem
I am killing it
Ca dem a natty fear the mark a trinity
They are Rastafarians who fear the Holy Trinity
Seh dem a natty fear the mark a trinity
They say they fear the Holy Trinity
RIGHT
Right
Me went a?? tree, ca wha do me see?
I went to a tree and what did I see?
Ay, Six natty, ca six whitey??? a feel her???
Hey, six Rastafarians, and six white women are rubbing her
The other natty a suck her titty
The other Rastafarian is sucking her breast
All a dem a drink up jelly
All of them are drinking jelly
Dem a skanking to the music done by billy
They are dancing to the music played by Billy Boyo
But true dem hear seh natty travel with nuff money
But they truly hear that Rastafarians travel with a lot of money
An tek the pane like air taxi
And they take the plane like an air taxi
A tell dem a natty fear the mark a tinity
I am telling them that Rastafarians fear the Holy Trinity
But???? fear the mark a trinity
But they don't actually fear the Holy Trinity
The higher the mountain an the cooler the breeze
The higher the mountain, the cooler the breeze
The??? the fishy the tighter the squeeze
The smaller the fish, the tighter the squeeze
It smell like an oven like rice an peas
It smells like an oven, like rice and peas
The sun comes down
The sun sets
The earth gets hotter
The Earth gets hotter
It smell like a like a
It smells like a
Contributed by Brody K. Suggest a correction in the comments below.