Elephant Man (born September 11, 1976 as O'Neil Bryant in Kingston, Jamaica… Read Full Bio ↴Elephant Man (born September 11, 1976 as O'Neil Bryant in Kingston, Jamaica, also known as The Energy God) is one of the most colorful characters on the dancehall scene.

His stagename stemmed from his large ears, which led to the nickname Dumbo in his youth. "Ele" started out his musical career as a member of the Scare Dem Crew, later continuing as a solo artist. He was later characterized for several trademarks, such as his yellow-orange hair, his unique low-key voice, or his stage performance, which included excessive jumping and running, or even climbing on stage props and monitors. His acoustic trademark is marked by a light lisp.

The first international recognition came when Elephant Man and Puma settled a contract for using his single "All Out" for their Olympics commercial campaign in 2004.

Elephant Man has been widely criticised for his lyrics calling for violence against gay people. In 2003 British LBGT group OutRage! called for the arrest and prosecution of several dancehall stars including Elephant Man, Bounty Killer and Beenie Man for violation of hate crimes statutes [1]

Elephant Man also had a song called "Willie Bounce" that appeared on several Mixtapes in early 2006. It borrowed the first few bars from I Will Survive by Gloria Gaynor.

Recently, the Jamaican star has been signed to New York-based label Bad Boy Entertainment.

Swing
Elephant Man Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

A warm today, I'm Stevie Christmas
We still a dance al dutty so 'ma gon'
Watch out now we head into spring
So, so, let me se you swing (swi-swi-swing)
Dutty for my swing, (swi-swi-swing)
Move to the right, left, form a ring, make fi you swing
If you can dweet, follow then, make me fi you swing
Move to the right, left, form a ring, make fi you swing

If you can't dweet, follow then, so 'ma gone but make me fi you swing
Bend your knee, dem move yo foot dem in a now
So ma dem a swing a dem a know a dem a swing about
So a dance em a some thing me know everything about (bring your foot dem in a now, move yo foot dem in a now)
Well, we are famed to fit, our reach dem swinging
Meme a Mr. Wacky fait it from di beginning
Man ou ma nan kids, everybody swinging
Bad man, mad man, everybody swinging!
So ma swing it a every blackberry pinning
Person we have di have so we dem pinging
Now've dat swings a fi de new year ringing
I wanna have everybody swinging
We would have made di Christmas smash Up
Bad man a some a swing light at a flash up
Di gal dem a some a swing Champagne a splash up
Some a swing pionner make a red hot up
If the evil one catch it on fi go show a eleph
Ga red can dweet so I 'ma fi watch renif

So 'ma swing move yo foot to work from
And a so 'ma swing a spring atta what do get about!

Overall Meaning

The lyrics to Elephant Man's song "Swing" are all about encouraging people to get up and dance. Specifically, the song calls for people to swing, which typically involves dancing in a circular formation and moving one's hips and legs in time with the music. The song begins by setting the scene for the action, describing the warm weather of spring and the festive feeling of the season. Then, Elephant Man urges his listeners to swing, emphasizing that it's an activity that everyone can enjoy no matter what their level of skill or experience might be.

The rest of the lyrics describe the details of how to swing, with Elephant Man calling out various instructions for how to move one's feet and form a circle with other dancers. He emphasizes that swinging is something he's intimately familiar with, having grown up around it and learned how to do it from a young age. He also notes that swinging is popular with people from all walks of life, from bad men to mad men to everyone in between. Overall, the lyrics to "Swing" are a celebration of the joy and community that can come from dancing together, and an invitation for everyone to join in and have a good time.

Line by Line Meaning

A warm today, I'm Stevie Christmas
It's a warm day and I'm feeling festive like it's Christmas

We still a dance al dutty so 'ma gon'
We are still dancing even though we are covered in dirt, so let's go

Watch out now we head into spring
Be aware that spring is coming

So, so, let me se you swing (swi-swi-swing)
Come on, show me how you swing

Dutty for my swing, (swi-swi-swing)
Even though we're dirty, we're still going to swing

Move to the right, left, form a ring, make fi you swing
Move to the right and left, make a circle, and swing

If you can dweet, follow then, make me fi you swing
If you can do it, follow along and let me lead you in swinging

If you can't dweet, follow then, so 'ma gone but make me fi you swing
If you can't do it, still follow along and I'll teach you to swing before I leave

Bend your knee, dem move yo foot dem in a now
Bend your knees and move your feet around now

So ma dem a swing a dem a know a dem a swing about
They are swinging and they know what swinging is all about

So a dance em a some thing me know everything about (bring your foot dem in a now, move yo foot dem in a now)
Dancing is something I know everything about, like moving your feet around

Well, we are famed to fit, our reach dem swinging
We are famous for being fit and our arms are swinging

Meme a Mr. Wacky fait it from di beginning
Me and Mr. Wacky have been doing this from the beginning

Man ou ma nan kids, everybody swinging
Men and women, young and old, everyone is swinging

Bad man, mad man, everybody swinging!
Even bad and crazy people are swinging!

So ma swing it a every blackberry pinning
I'm swinging even while using my Blackberry phone

Person we have di have so we dem pinging
We have people so we keep pinging them

Now've dat swings a fi de new year ringing
Now we have more swings for the New Year

I wanna have everybody swinging
I want everyone to be swinging

We would have made di Christmas smash Up
We would have made a great Christmas party

Bad man a some a swing light at a flash up
Even tough guys are swinging lightly and quickly

Di gal dem a some a swing Champagne a splash up
The girls are swinging while champagne is splashing

Some a swing pionner make a red hot up
Some are swinging and making it hotter than ever

If the evil one catch it on fi go show a eleph
If the devil tries to stop us, Elephant Man will show him how to swing

Ga red can dweet so I 'ma fi watch renif
Even Red can do it, so I have to watch and learn

So 'ma swing move yo foot to work from
So swing by moving your feet to the rhythm

And a so 'ma swing a spring atta what do get about!
That's how we swing in the spring, with whatever we have!

Writer(s): O'neil Norman Hughlin Bryan, Stephen Mcgregor Copyright: Emi Music Publishing Ltd., Chase Mountain Music Inc., Greensleeves Publishing Limited

Contributed by Savannah F. Suggest a correction in the comments below.

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