Banana Boat Song
MuppetsHarry Belafonte Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Daylight come and me wan' go home
Day, day, me say day, me say day, me say day
Me say day, me say day-o
Daylight come and me wan' go home
Work all night on a drink a rum
Stack banana till the mornin' come
Oh, come, Mister tally man, tally me banana
Daylight come and me wan' go home
Me say come, Mister tally man, tally me banana
Daylight come and me wan' go home
An' it's six hand, seven hand, eight hand bunch
Daylight come and me wan' go home
Six hand, seven hand, eight hand bunch
Daylight come and me wan' go home
Day, me say day-o
Daylight come and me wan' go home
Day, me say day-o
Daylight come and me wan' go home
Day, me say day, me say day, me say day, me say day, me say day
(Daylight come and me wan' go home)
Day, me say day-o
Daylight come and me wan' go home
A beautiful bunch, a ripe banana
(Daylight come and)
(Daylight come and me wan' go home)
Highly deadly black tarantula
(Daylight come and)
(Daylight come and me wan' go home)
Oh, come, Mister tally man, tally me banana
Me say, come, Mister tally man, tally me banana
An' it's six hand, seven hand, eight hand bunch
Daylight come and me wan' go home
Six hand, seven hand, eight hand bunch
Daylight come and me wan' go home
Day, me say day-o
Daylight come and me wan' go home
Day, me say day-o
Daylight come and me wan' go home
Day, me say day, me say day, me say day, me say day, me say day
(Daylight come and me wan' go home)
Day, me say day-o
Daylight come and me wan' go home
Daylight come and me wan' go home
Daylight come and me wan' go home
Daylight come and me wan' go home
Daylight come, me wan' go
Daylight come, me wan' go
Daylight come, me wan' go
Daylight come, me wan' go
Daylight come, me wan' go
Daylight come, me wan' go
Daylight come, me wan' go
Daylight come, me wan' go
Day, me say day-o
Daylight come and me wan' go home
Day, me say day-o
Daylight come and me wan' go home
Day, me say day-o
Daylight come and me wan' go home
Day, me say day-o
Daylight come and me wan' go home
Daylight daylight, me wan' go
Daylight daylight, me wan' go
Daylight come, me wan' go
Daylight come, me wan' go
Daylight daylight, me wan' go
Daylight daylight, me wan' go
Daylight come, me wan' go home
Daylight come, me wan' go home
Day, me say day-o
Daylight come and me wan' go home
Day, me say day-o
Daylight come and me wan' go home
An' it's six hand, seven hand, eight hand bunch
Daylight come and me wan' go home
Six hand, seven hand, eight hand bunch
Daylight come and me wan' go home
Day, me say day-o
Daylight come and me wan' go home
Day, me say day-o
Daylight come and me wan' go home
Daylight come and me wan' go home
Daylight come, me wan' go
Daylight come, me wan' go
Daylight come, me wan' go
Daylight come, me wan' go
Daylight come, me wan' go
Daylight come, me wan' go
Daylight come and me wan' go home
The lyrics to Harry Belafonte's "Banana Boat Song" are filled with references to working long hours and wanting to go home. The song begins with the singer wanting to leave as soon as daylight comes. The first verse hints at working all night long while drinking rum and stacking bananas until the morning comes. The chorus highlights the desire to go home as soon as daylight arrives, and the repeated use of the phrase "day-o" adds to the feeling of yearning to be free. The second verse introduces the tally man, who is responsible for counting the number of bananas that have been stacked. The verse also mentions the number of hands in a banana bunch, suggesting that the singer has been working with bananas for some time. The final verse includes a reference to a highly deadly black tarantula that presumably makes working with bananas even more challenging.
Line by Line Meaning
Day-o, day-o
The singer is starting a chant to begin the work day
Daylight come and me wan' go home
The singer is already tired of working and wants to finish and go home
Day, day, me say day, me say day, me say day
The singer repeats the chant to keep everyone in rhythm and motivated
Me say day, me say day-o
The artist continues the chant with a slightly modified version
Work all night on a drink a rum
The artist is explaining that they worked through the night and had some alcohol to keep them going
Stack banana till the mornin' come
The singer's job involves stacking bananas, and they must do it all night until morning
Oh, come, Mister tally man, tally me banana
The singer wants the tally man to count how many bananas they've stacked
Day, me say come, Mister tally man, tally me banana
The artist repeats their request for the tally man to count the bananas
An' it's six hand, seven hand, eight hand bunch
The bananas are counted in bunches of six, seven, or eight hands
Day, me say day-o
The chant starts up again
A beautiful bunch, a ripe banana
The singer is admiring the quality of the bananas
Highly deadly black tarantula
There is a dangerous spider in the bunch of bananas
Daylight come, me wan' go
The singer reiterates their desire to finish work and go home when daylight comes
Daylight daylight, me wan' go
The singer is becoming increasingly impatient for daylight to arrive so they can go home
Daylight come, me wan' go home
The singer repeats their desire to finish work and go home when daylight comes
Daylight come and me wan' go home
The artist is fed up with working and really wants to go home
Six hand, seven hand, eight hand bunch
The artist reminds everyone how the bananas are counted
Daylight daylight, me wan' go
The singer is even more eager to finish work and go home when they see daylight approaching
Daylight come, me wan' go home
The singer repeats their desire to finish work and go home when daylight arrives
Daylight come and me wan' go home
The artist is desperately ready to leave work and go home
Lyrics © BMG RIGHTS MANAGEMENT US, LLC
Written by: DAVE TANNER, HARRY BELAFONTE, LORD BURGESS, WILLIAM ATTAWAY
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@angelayancey1686
RIP Harry Belafonte 1927-2023
This was one of my favorite moments from The Muppet Show 😔🙏💔🌹⭐!!
@joyunicycle
"The bananas, they're yellow!"
I almost thought he would bring lemons! 😂
@nylaire4739
Que votre âme se repose en paix 🙏Merci encore pour cette belle musique que vous nous avez laissée Mr Harry belafonte ❤Vous resterez dans nos coeurs à jamais. 🇨🇵
@andysbg77
R.I.P. Harry Belafonte!
@sweettea6706
The best thing about this was exposing children to Calypso music.
@adrienstarfaer
Why did you cut the shenanigans? It's not the Muppets without the shenanigans.
@petronalves
Some people would ask me for the original video. I didn't find it.
So, they just want the video with the music
@cainster
@petronalves I want to see Link drop an entire banana onto Fozzie. Frank Oz's ad-lib is hilarious.
@jakewhittle444
Muppets treasure island
@strawbearie5674
The onions- 😂
The cucumbers -🤣
The pineapples- 😭🤣
The spider- 😂🤣😂🤣😂🤣😂🤣😂🤣