Originally issued in Jamaica as "Poor Me Israelites", it remains the best known Jamaican reggae hit to reach the United States Hot 100's top 10, and was written almost two years after Dekker first made his mark with the rude boy song, "007 (Shanty Town)". Dekker composed the song after overhearing an argument: "I was walking in the park, eating popcorn. I heard a couple arguing about money. She was saying she needs money and he was saying the work he was doing was not giving him enough. I related to those things and began to sing a little song: 'You get up in the morning and you're slaving for bread.' By the time I got home, it was complete." The title has been the source of speculation, but most settle on the Rastafarian Movement's association with the Twelve Tribes of Israel. In the 1960s, Jamaican Rastafarians were largely marginalized as "cultish" and ostracized from the larger society, including by the more conservative Christian church in Kingston. Destitute ("slaving for bread") and unkempt ("Shirt dem a-tear up, trousers a-go"), some Rastafarians were tempted to a life of crime ("I don't want to end up like Bonnie and Clyde"). The song is a lament of this condition.
The vocal melody is syncopated and is centred on the tone of B flat. The chords of the guitar accompaniment are played on the offbeat and move through the tonic chord (B flat), the subdominant (E flat), the dominant (F), and the occasional (D flat), viz, (B flat) - (E flat) - (F) - (B flat) - (D flat). It was one of the first reggae songs to become an international hit, despite Dekker's strong Jamaican accent which made his lyrics difficult to understand for many listeners outside Jamaica.
Despite "Israelites" being recorded and released in 1968, the Uni 45 discography shows its cataloguing in 1969. In June 1969 it reached the Top Ten in the United States, peaking at #9 on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart. It hit #1 in the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, Jamaica, South Africa, Canada, Sweden and West Germany.
"Israelites" brought a Jamaican beat to the British top 40 for the first time since Dekker's #14 hit "007 (Shanty Town)" in 1967.
The disc was released in the UK in March 1969 and was #1 for one week, selling over 250,000 copies. A global million sales was reported in June 1969.
Dekker had two more UK Top 10 hits over the next year, "It Miek" and his cover of Jimmy Cliff's song "You Can Get It If You Really Want".
Dekker recorded on the Pyramid record label, and when its catalogue was acquired by Cactus Records in 1975, "Israelites" was re-issued in a first-time stereo mix. Just over six years after the original release, the song again reached a Top Ten position in the United Kingdom.
In 1980, Dekker released a new recording of the song on UK label Stiff Records, performed in an uptempo Two Tone style. It was taken from an album of similar re-recordings of his old hits, Black & Dekker.
The song has appeared in numerous movies and television programs, including the soundtracks of the 1989 American film Drugstore Cowboy and the 2010 British film Made in Dagenham.
On November 3, 2019, "Israelites" was prominently featured in the third episode of HBO's Watchmen. Potentially because of this usage, the song charted again, entering the Billboard Digital Reggae Song Sales Chart at #2.
Israelites
Desmond Dekker Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
So that every mouth can be fed
Poor me Israelites Aah
Get up in the morning, slaving for bread, sir
So that every mouth can be fed
Poor me Israelite
Darling, she said, I was yours to be seen
Poor me Israelite
Shirt them a-tear up, trousers is gone
I don't want to end up like Bonnie and Clyde
Poor me Israelite
After a storm there must be a calm
They catch me in the farm
You sound your alarm
Poor a-poor a-poor me Israelite
I said I get up in the morning, slaving for bread, sir
So that every mouth can be fed
Poor me Israelite Aah
I said my wife and my kids, they are packed up and leave me
Darling, she said, I was yours to be seen
Poor me Israelites Aah
Look Me shirts them a-tear up, trousers are gone
I don't want to end up like Bonnie and Clyde
A-poor a-poor me Israelites Aah
After a storm there must be a calm
They catch me in the farm
You sound your alarm
Poor me Israelite
A-poor a-poor a-poor me Israelites Aah
The lyrics of Desmond Dekker's song Israelites speak to the struggles of being a working-class citizen in Jamaica during the mid-1960s. It depicts the daily grind of waking up early to work hard for a living to provide for oneself and their family. The term "slaving for bread" metaphorically represents the hard and tedious work that people must do just to put food on the table. The word "Israelites" was used as a reference to the struggles of the working-class black population who identified with the biblical Israelites' oppression and exodus from Egypt. They were also seeking freedom from colonialism and poverty.
The second stanza tells the story of a man who lost his wife and kids. They left him because he wasn't making enough money to support them, leaving him heartbroken and lonely. The third stanza talks about the man's clothes being torn and gone, similar to the notorious criminal duo Bonnie and Clyde. It represents the fear of becoming a victim of violence or crime while living in poverty. The final stanza speaks of the struggle of living under constant fear and pressure. The metaphorical storm represents the hardships of life, and the calm signifies the hope for a brighter future. But, at the end of the day, life often catches up, and the working-class population is left fighting for survival.
Line by Line Meaning
Get up in the morning, slaving for bread, sir
I wake up early in the morning to work hard and earn bread, sir.
So that every mouth can be fed
It is my responsibility to work hard so that everyone in my community can have food to eat.
Poor me Israelites Aah
Unfortunately, I am one of the many struggling Israelites.
My wife and my kids, they packed up and leave me
My wife and kids have left me, and it's just me struggling to survive.
Darling, she said, I was yours to be seen
My wife left me with the knowledge that I never truly appreciated her in the way I should have.
Shirt them a-tear up, trousers is gone
My clothes are torn and gone; I have nothing left.
I don't want to end up like Bonnie and Clyde
I don't want to die a violent death like Bonnie and Clyde did.
After a storm there must be a calm
I hope that things will soon calm down and become better for me and my community.
They catch me in the farm
Unfortunately, I have been caught doing something wrong on the farm.
You sound your alarm
You tell others that I have been caught doing something wrong.
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group
Written by: Desmond Dekker
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@JohnnyNowhere
@@gerardjachymiak5822 Who me? Seventeen is awfully young to be concerned about what to do. I was twenty-one and still had no clue, and was hitch-hiking through the Mid West. My cousin - she joined the USAF at seventeen and toured the world. I became a songwriter and she became a combat medic. I was playing bars while she was saving lives and getting shot at.
You tell me - who made the right choice?
We both did what we were drawn toward - and as different as our paths were - we both went into our chosen careers with all that we had.
I ended up a third-tier songwriter, and she got shot by a Taliban sniper, became diabetic, and retired from the Air Force. Who made the right choice?
We both did.
Neither of us have regrets. That's all that matters. Find what you love, and kick it in the ass with all you have. Take chances.
One day you, too, will be 65. Don't waste your life worrying. Life only lasts for a few moments. Carpe Diem.
@zeramarks8168
@@teeayew
The lyrics are clear if this message seems to be hidden, it's hidden to those who are already lost. This song speaks exclusively to ''the twelve tribes of the house of Israel''.
No disrespect, or harm intended; However, if your ancestors were not scattered from one end of the Earth to the other, On slave ships helplessly forced to build white supremacist societies, not to mention that this was free labor with Blood Sweat and Tears of the so-called negroes' forefathers.
There is no doubt about it; We hear his voice.
John 10
4 And when he put forth his own sheep, he goes before them, and the sheep follow him: for they know his voice.
5 And a stranger will they not follow, but will flee from him: for they know not the voice of strangers.
If you or your ancestors were not taken against their will into captivity, sorry you will never understand.
@komah
Who's still here in 2024?
See you in 2034
@BarneyDunn
I'll be there. See you then.
@ilovebabybelle
See you then 😌🌞
@user-um6lz9hg3r
Me
@realityusedtobeafriendofmi9159
I am here.
@scottburgess4526
Here and staying my brother
@GrandmaRose9000
That moment when you realize you've been singing the wrong lyrics since 1969.
@jahuti5065
I think we all were. "Darling, she said, I was yards too greasy" was my favourite line.
@PinnaclePete
At least I was able to get the,
"I don't want to end up like Bonnie and Clyde" part right. 😂
@iandowney4630
It’s “poor” and not for…? Okay 😂
I think the toughest line is (as I can sort of hear it) : “shuck them a tearup choses ago”…which isn’t remotely close to what the lyrics are. In fact, it makes zero sense 🤣 I was pretty good at lip syncing , though 😂!
Thanks for the correct lyrics…in March of 2024 🎉 Better late than never.