He left home at the age of 14 and worked on a sugar plantation outside Clarendon, cleaning out irrigation ditches, before winning a local talent competition when he was 18; prompting a move to the capital, Kingston, in order to achieve a successful musical career.
In 1965 he joined up with Kenneth Knight and Lloyd Shakespeare in The Emotions, whilst also working as a record plugger for Ken Lack's Caltone label. The group were unsuccessful in auditions for other producers, but Lack offered them an audition after overhearing Smith singing to himself as he worked one day. In 1966, the group had their first hit, with the Lack-produced, "Buy You a Rainbow". The Emotions went on to have several hit singles and by 1968, the singer, by this point known as Max Romeo, felt confident enough to launch a solo career. Working with producer Bunny Lee, the young star recorded a number of pop songs, mainly love ballads, but they failed to be popular and so he returned to The Emotions, now recording for Phil Pratt. During this time he began work as a sales representative for Bunny Lee and did some recording with The Hippy Boys, which would later became The Upsetters.
Later on in 1968, Romeo wrote new lyrics for the rhythm track of Derrick Morgan's "Hold You Jack" and handed them over to Lee. Morgan, who was due to add his vocals to the track, ultimately gave it a miss, as did several other vocalists (including John Holt and Slim Smith), leading the producer to turn to Romeo to sing the lyrics he had written. The result, "Wet Dream", was an instant hit in Jamaica, although in the UK it was met with a BBC Radio ban, despite Romeo's somewhat-disingenuous claim that the song was actually about a roof that has a leak. Still, the ban only made it more popular and the single charted in the Top Ten, in the UK Singles Chart, spending almost six months therein, before featuring on his LP, A Dream, which included several follow-up singles in a similar vein, such as "Mini Skirt Version", "Fish in the Pot", "Belly Woman", and "Wine Her Goosie". A UK tour also met with Romeo being banned from performing at several venues, although many allowed him to play, the singer staying in the UK for eighteen months.
In 1970, Romeo returned to Jamaica and set-up Romax, an unsuccessful record label and sound system. Following which, he recorded several singles, mainly with old producer Bunny Lee, before going on to work a host of other producers including Niney Holness. This was followed by a period of which saw the release of a series of politically charged singles, most advocating the democratic socialist People's National Party (PNP), which chose his song, "Let The Power Fall On I", as their campaign theme for the 1972 Jamaican general election. Romeo joined the PNP Musical Bandwagon, travelling around Jamaica, playing on the back of a truck. After this, Romeo recorded a number of religious songs, until he worked with producer Lee "Scratch" Perry, producing the classic singles "Three Blind Mice" (an adaptation of the nursery rhyme with lyrics about a police raid on a party), "Sipple Out Deh", and "Chase the Devil". A remixed version of "Sipple Out Deh", entitled "War Ina Babylon", was another popular track in the UK, the first fruits of his deal with Island Records, and was followed by an album of the same name, and a follow-up single "One Step Forward". Shortly after this the pair fell out, leaving Romeo to self-produce his follow-up album, Reconstruction, which could not match the success of its predecessor. Perry's animosity towards Romeo was demonstrated by his single "White Belly Rat", with Perry also writing the word 'Judas' over a photograph of Romeo on the wall of his Black Ark studio.
He moved to New York City in 1978, where he co-wrote (with Hair producer Michael Butler) the musical, Reggae, which he also starred in. In 1980 he appeared as a backing vocalist on "Dance" on The Rolling Stones album Emotional Rescue. In 1981, the favour was returned when Keith Richards (of The Rolling Stones) co-produced and played on Romeo's album, Holding Out My Love to You. The rest of his output during the decade went practically unnoticed, with Romeo finding work at a New York electronics store. He returned to Jamaica in 1990, and began touring and recording more regularly.
He visited the UK again in 1992, recording the albums Far I Captain of My Ship and Our Rights with Jah Shaka. In 1995 he recorded Cross of the Gun with Tappa Zukie, and he joined up with UK rhythm section/production team Mafia & Fluxy in 1999 for the album Selassie I Forever.
His music has been sampled by other artists; The Prodigy sampled his track "Chase the Devil" for their 1992 UK Top Ten hit "Out of Space". Kanye West has also used samples from it to produce Jay-Z's hit song "Lucifer", which appeared on Jay-Z's 2003 release - The Black Album.
"Chase the Devil" is featured on the reggae radio station K-JAH Radio West in a popular videogame Grand Theft Auto San Andreas, released in October 2004. Romeo's single "Sipple Out Deh" appeared in John Peel's Record Box.
- Albums:
A Dream (1970) Trojan
Let The Power Fall (1972) Dynamic
Revelation Time (1975) Black World
War Ina Babylon (1976) Island
Reconstruction (1979) Island
I Love My Music (1979) Wackies
Rondos (1980) King Kong
Holding Out My Love to You (1981) Shanachie
Transition (1989) Rohit
Fari - Captain of My Ship (1992) Jah Shaka
Our Rights (1992) Jah Shaka
Cross or the Gun (1995) Tappa Zukie
Selassie I Forever (1999) Mafia & Fluxy
Love Message (1999) Warriors
Something is Wrong (1999) Warriors
In This Time (2001) 3D (Max Romeo & Tribu Acustica)
Pocomania Songs (2007) Ariwa Sounds
- Compilations:
Max Romeo Meets Owen Gray At King Tubby's Studio (1984) Culture Press (with Owen Gray)
Max Romeo and the Upsetters (1989)
Wet Dream (1993) Crocodisc
McCabee Version (1995) Sonic Sounds
Open The Iron Gate (1999) Blood & Fire
The Many Moods of Max Romeo (1999) Jamaican Gold
Pray For Me: The Best of Max Romeo 1967-73 (2000) Trojan Records
Perilous Times (2000) Charmax
On The Beach (2001) Culture Press
The Coming of Jah (2002) Trojan
Ultimate Collection (2003) (compiled by David Katz)
Holy Zion (2003) Burning Bush
Wet Dream: The Best of Max Romeo (2004) Trojan
Crazy World of Dub (2005) Jamaican Recordings
One of Jamaica's most provocative lyricists, a singer who gave us such enduring songs as 'Chase The Devil' (which was sampled in the song 'Out of Space' by The Prodigy and the song 'Lucifer' by Jay-Z), 'Public Enemy Number One', 'One Step Forward' and 'Three Blind Mice'. It was Romeo who first introduced Britain to the concept of rude reggae with 'Wet Dream', which, despite a total radio ban, reached number 10 in the UK charts in May 1969.
In 1972 Romeo began working with producer Lee "Scratch" Perry. 'Babylon Burning', 'Three Blind Mice' and 'The Coming Of Jah' all maintained his star status in Jamaica between 1972 and 1975. Revelation Time was one of the best albums of 1975, and 1976's War Ina Babylon was hailed by the rock press as an all-time classic reggae album. Two outstanding contributions that will remain classic recordings from the so-called ‘golden age’ of Jamaican reggae music.
Melt Away
Max Romeo Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
As wax melt before the fire, so shall they melt away.
And if a wicked, a wicked pay.
And if a righteousness, yes, a righteous pay.
Melt away, melt away, melt away.
Like ice cream.
For Jah shall have them in derision.
Batter them, batter them, batter them to pieces.
Batter them, batter them, batter them tp pieces.
A smoke has been driven, so drive them away.
As wax melt before the fire, so shall they melt away.
And if a wicked, a wicked pay.
And if a righteousness, ye, a righteous pay.
Melt away, melt away, melt away.
Like ice cream, scream, scream, scream.
Like ice cream, scream, scream, scream, scream.
(.)
He who sits in the heaven shall laugh.
For Jah shall have them in derision.
Batter them, batter them, batter them to pieces.
Batter them, batter them, batter them to pieces.
A smoke has been driven, so drive them away.
As wax melt before the fire, so shall they melt away.
And if a wicked, a wicked pay.
And if a righteousness, yes, a righteous pay.
Melt away, melt away, melt away.
Like ice cream, scream, scream, scream.
Like ice cream, scream, scream, scream, scream.
Melt away, mely away!
Melt away, melt away!
Melt away.
The lyrics to Max Romeo's song "Melt Away" express a strong desire to rid oneself of negative energy and people. The repetition of "a smoke has been driven, so drive them away" creates a sense of urgency and determination to get rid of all that is negative. The simile "as wax melt before the fire, so shall they melt away" emphasizes the idea that negative energy or people will be destroyed and disappear completely. The song seems to suggest that both good and evil deeds will have their consequences, and that justice will be served accordingly. The repetition of "melt away" throughout the song emphasizes the desire to rid oneself of negativity and to move on to a more positive future.
The line "He who sits in the heaven shall laugh, for Jah shall have them in derision" refers to the belief in Rastafarianism that God will ultimately bring justice and punish those who have done wrong. The line "batter them, batter them, batter them to pieces" also emphasizes the idea of punishment and destruction for those who do evil.
Overall, the lyrics to "Melt Away" express a strong desire for positivity and justice. The repetition of the phrase "melt away" emphasizes the desire to rid oneself of negativity, and the lyrics suggest that justice will ultimately be served.
Line by Line Meaning
A smoke has been driven, so drive them away.
Whatever negative energy or bad vibes are present, we need to rid ourselves of them.
As wax melt before the fire, so shall they melt away.
Just as wax melts before fire, those negative energies will melt away given the right conditions.
And if a wicked, a wicked pay.
Those who do wrong will face the consequences for their actions.
And if a righteousness, yes, a righteous pay.
Those who do good will also receive rewards for their actions.
Melt away, melt away, melt away.
The repetition of this phrase emphasizes the desire for those negative energies to disappear.
Like ice cream.
The simile used emphasizes the desire for the negative energies to dissolve away smoothly and effortlessly.
He who sits in the heaven shall laugh.
The singer believes that a higher power is watching and will take care of things in their own way.
For Jah shall have them in derision.
Jah, who is considered the almighty and righteous figure, will ridicule those who do wrong.
Batter them, batter them, batter them to pieces.
The artist is fiercely passionate about the desire to destroy or eradicate whatever negativity is present.
Melt away, mely away!
By addressing the negativity or bad vibes directly, the artist is directly commanding them to disappear or dissolve.
Melt away, melt away!
Again, repetition emphasizes the importance of removing the negative energy.
Melt away.
This final phrase further solidifies the intent and desire for the negativity to dissolve and disappear completely.
Writer(s): Max Romeo, Neville Powell
Contributed by Jake H. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
@mosesportuphy4788
One of the greatest music/tracks for rocking/dancing. Loved the album (Max Romeo: Reconstruction). Yes, way back in the 1970's. Went out walking today at age 70. The tune came into my head and I started rocking to it like I was crazy. Loved it then (1978), love it now (2023).
@greensleeves100
timeless, classic tune, not heard this for years
@jhonkhan8153
Me too, the mission of seek and find almost 40years without hearing this music waoh
@traceybroadbent4902
Riddim Everlasting Mac Romio BAD TUNE 💯💯 Rastafari 🔥🙏🏾🇯🇲🇮🇱✊🏾🎶🎵🎼🔊 👑
@denilsonveloso1121
Tá , louco. curti esse embalo do som pesado. bicho ! Brasilian Jamaican.
@ReggaeMusicisForYou
Psalm 68 🔥🔥🔥
@moggymorgan1235
Lovely voice
@Pacovl8
what a Wicked Tune Great respect Greets From Amsterdam Paco
@philipemonteiroo9668
Essa música é muito boa e tenho muita memória afetiva com ela ..
Na adolescência escutava muito nos roles ela sempre tocava ..
melt awaaaaaayyyyyyyyyy
@emmanuelakinbile9569
Genius. Period