Brown's first recording was "Lips of Wine" recorded for Derrick Harriott (The Musical Chariot), but this was not released initially. He then recorded for Coxsone Dodd at Studio One, and Dodd released Brown's first single, "No Man is an Island". Brown recorded two albums for Dodd, No Man is an Island and If I Follow my Heart (the title track penned by Alton Ellis). Around this time, Brown recorded material for Lloyd Daley ("Baby Don't Do It" and "Things in Life") and material for Derrick Hariott, which was eventually released as the Super Reggae and Soul Hits album. He also worked for Earl Hayles and the Charmaine label early in his career. He had a Top 10 hit in the United Kingdom in 1977. This led to his contract with A&M Records, and to the formation of his own label, DEB records, which produced several hits, including many by Junior Delgado.
His first big hit was "Money In My Pocket" on the Joe Gibbs label, and by the late 1970s, Brown had recorded and performed chart-toppers such as "Sitting & Watching", "Wolves and Leopards", "Here I Come" and "Revolution"; many featuring Sly and Robbie as the rhythm section. As the dancehall era of the 1980s arrived, Brown frequently recorded with King Jammy and Gussie Clark. His song "Revolution" is featured on the reggae radio station K-JAH Radio West in the 2004 video game Grand Theft Auto San Andreas. According to some sources, Brown became addicted to crack cocaine, which affected his career and may have lead to his premature death. Jamaican Prime Minister P. J. Patterson and opposition leader Edward Seaga of the Jamaica Labour Party both spoke at Brown's funeral, which was held on July 17, 1999 in Kingston, Jamaica. The service, which lasted for three hours, also featured live performances by Maxi Priest, Shaggy, and five of Brown's sons. Brown was then buried at Kingston's National Heroes Park.
Make It Easy On Yourself
Dennis Brown Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
If you really love him, and there's nothing I can do
Don't try to spare my feelings, just tell me that we're through
And make it easy on yourself
Make it easy on yourself
Cause breaking up is so very hard to do
No words of consolation will make me miss you less
My darling if this is goodbye, I just know I'm gonna cry
So run to him, before you start crying too
And make it easy on yourself
Make it easy on yourself
Cause breaking up is so very hard to do
Oh, baby, it's so hard to do
And make it easy on yourself
Make it easy on yourself
Cause breaking up is so very hard to do
Dennis Brown's "Make It Easy On Yourself" is a song about the struggles and complexities of breaking up. The opening lines of the song express the difficulty of breaking up and how heartbreaking it can be. The singer, who is in love with the person who is breaking up with him, acknowledges that there is nothing he can do to stop them from leaving. He asks his lover to be honest with him and not try to spare his feelings, urging them to just tell him that it is over.
He continues by acknowledging that if the way he loves his lover is not enough and if he cannot compare to the other person, there is nothing that can be said that will make him miss them less. The thought of impending abandonment is too much for him to bear, and he already knows he will cry.
Throughout the song, the singer encourages his lover to "make it easy on yourself," implying that he realizes that breaking up is difficult for both of them and that there is no easy way to say goodbye. Despite the sadness in the song, it is also encouraging and reflective, reminding the listener that while breaking up is hard to do, it's better to rip the band-aid off and move on.
Line by Line Meaning
Oh, breaking up is so very hard to do
Breaking up with someone you love can be very difficult.
If you really love him, and there's nothing I can do
If you truly love him, there is nothing I can do to change that.
Don't try to spare my feelings, just tell me that we're through
Do not try to avoid hurting my feelings; just simply tell me that it's over.
And make it easy on yourself
Make the breakup as easy as possible for yourself.
Make it easy on yourself
Again, make it easy on yourself.
Cause breaking up is so very hard to do
Breaking up is a difficult thing to do.
And if the way I hold you, can't compare to his caress
If the way I hold you cannot compare to the way he does.
No words of consolation will make me miss you less
Words can't make me miss you any less.
My darling if this is goodbye, I just know I'm gonna cry
If this is truly our goodbye, I'm going to cry.
So run to him, before you start crying too
So go to him now, before I start crying as well.
And make it easy on yourself
Once again, make it easy on yourself.
Make it easy on yourself
For the final time, make it easy on yourself.
Cause breaking up is so very hard to do
For the final time, breaking up is very hard to do.
Oh, baby, it's so hard to do
Breaking up is so hard to do.
Lyrics © Warner Chappell Music, Inc., Universal Music Publishing Group
Written by: Burt F. Bacharach, Hal David
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@autrefemme
"Walk a mile in shoes-" Nostalgia! I remember my father playing this on his record player starting from when I was about 2 years old. I was singing this when I got out of the shower looked it up and here it is!
Thank you so much for uploading it! Old school reggae will always live on.
@56postoffice
Delroy Wilson was suppose to record "No Man Is An Island", but he never showed up at the studio so Coxsone let a young Dennis Brown voice it and the rest is history. This is one of my favourite tracks from the album of the same name. The whole album's a classic, one of the greatest in reggae music.
@RootsReggaeChannel
Yes big tune bredrin! MAx Respect!
@riddimyard
Wow! That's amazing. Where did you hear that?
@lenworthsnow
Here is the additional info about how Dennis Brown first got the chance to record @ Coxsones https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=105vc_kNTIk
@Riptack7591
Written and sung by a 14 year old Dennis Brown. When people diss reggae genre, play them this one.
@RootsReggaeChannel
TRue
@marcmarcello981
@odibex it's very simple my friend, just listen to examples of each genres and you will hear the structural difference of each, saying this there are many examples of ska merging into rocksteady (late 1966) check out jackie mittoo "free soul" and dawn penn "are you doing there". With reggae the rhythm guitar has a double strike (up and down the string) with ska and rocksteady it's a single strike.
@annmarielindsay5621
My Dad favorite song member living in trench town in the early 70s good days he pass two weeks ago love you Dad 😢😢😢❤️❤️❤️
@reggaesardinia
Great Tune!!!!