54-46 That's My Number
Toots and The Maytals Lyrics


I said yeah (I said yeah), listen what I say (listen what I say)
I said hear me now, listen what I say (listen what I say)

I said stick it up mister
Hear what I say, sir
Get your hands in the air, sir
And you will get no hurt mister
Do what I say sir
Just what I mean sir
Get your hands in the air, sir
And you will get no hurt, no

I said yeah (I said yeah), listen what I say (listen what I say)
I said hear me now, listen what I say (listen what I say)

Second thing they say I must join the office
Third thing they say, "Son, give me your number now"
He'd say "What's your number?" I don't answer
He'd say "What's your number, man?" I don't answer
He'd say "What's your number now?", he'd say "What's your number now?"
I said "fifty four forty six, that's my number"
Fifty four forty six, that's my number, one more time
Fifty four forty six, that's my number
Fifty four forty six, that's my number

I said yeah (I said yeah), listen what I say (listen what I say)
I said hear me now, listen what I say (listen what I say)


I said yeah (I said yeah), listen what I say (listen what I say)
I said yeah (I said yeah), listen what I say (listen what I say)

Stick it up, mister, hear what I say, sir, yeah
Get your hands in the air, sir
And you will get no hurt, you say

Turn out your right pocket
Ah, give me a printed shirt, sir
Make up your shirt up
I ain't have no luck now

Stick it up, mister, hear what I say, sir, yeah
Get your hands in the air, sir
And you will get no hurt, mister, oh oh
Stick it up, mister, hear what I say, sir, yeah

Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group
Written by: FREDERICK HIBBERT

Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
To comment on specific lyrics, highlight them
54-46 That's My Number
Jamaican ska vocal group The Maytals became a reggae band in 1971, renamed Toots and The Maytals with Toots Hibbert (Frederick Nathaniel Hibbert) as front figure. The band won a 2005 Grammy award for the album True Love. Funky Kingston in early 70s is on Rolling Stone's list The Greatest Albums of All Time. The bass line in "54-46" is one of the most covered in pop music. Songs such as "Monkey Man", "Pressure Drop", "Bam Bam", among others, made them favorites for the early skinhead movement of white working-class youth in UK. Read Full BioJamaican ska vocal group The Maytals became a reggae band in 1971, renamed Toots and The Maytals with Toots Hibbert (Frederick Nathaniel Hibbert) as front figure. The band won a 2005 Grammy award for the album True Love. Funky Kingston in early 70s is on Rolling Stone's list The Greatest Albums of All Time. The bass line in "54-46" is one of the most covered in pop music. Songs such as "Monkey Man", "Pressure Drop", "Bam Bam", among others, made them favorites for the early skinhead movement of white working-class youth in UK.

Toots and The Maytals are from Kingston, Jamaica. It was the producer Byron Lee who 1971 renamed them Toots & the Maytals. Frederick "Toots" Hibbert, the leader of the group and the lead singer, was born in May Pen in the Parish of Clarendon, Jamaica. He was the youngest of seven children. He grew up singing gospel music in a church choir, but moved to Kingston in 1961 at the age of sixteen.

In Kingston, he met Henry "Raleigh" Gordon and Nathaniel "Jerry" McCarthy, forming a group whose early recordings were attributed to "The Flames" and, possibly, "The Vikings". Having renamed the group the Maytals, the vocal trio recorded their first album, "Never Grow Old - presenting the Maytals", for producer Clement "Coxsone" Dodd at Studio One in 1962-63. With musical backing from Dodd's house band, the legendary Skatalites, the Maytals' close-harmony gospel singing ensured instant success for the 1964 release, overshadowing Dodd's other up-and-coming gospel trio, The Wailers. The original album augmented by studio out-takes from the Studio One sessions was re-released by Heartbeat/Rounder Records in 1997, and is essential listening for Maytals and Skatalites fans.

After staying at Studio One for about two years, the group moved on to do sessions for Prince Buster (released in 1974) before recording their second album produced by Byron Lee in 1965. However, the band's musical career was rudely interrupted in late 1966 when Hibbert was arrested and imprisoned on drug possession charges.

Following Hibbert's release from jail towards the end of 1967, the band began working with Chinese-Jamaican producer Leslie Kong, a collaboration which produced three classic albums and a string of hits throughout the late sixties and early seventies -- "Do the Reggay", a 1968 single widely credited with coining the word "reggae", "Pressure Drop", "54-46" and "Monkey Man", the group's first international hit in 1970. The group was featured in one of reggae's greatest breakthrough events -- The Harder They Come, the 1972 film and soundtrack starring Jimmy Cliff.

Following Kong's death in 1971, the group continued to record with Kong's former sound engineer, Warwick Lyn; produced by Lyn and Chris Blackwell of Island Records, the group released three best-selling albums, and enjoyed international hits with Funky Kingston in 1973 and Reggae Got Soul in 1976.

Toots and the Maytals' compositions would be given a second airing in 1978-80 during the reggae-punk and ska revival period in the UK, when the Specials included "Monkey Man" on their 1979 debut album and the Clash produced their version of "Pressure Drop", with other Maytals' covers being recorded by Sublime. Having toured throughout the world for many years, Toots and the Maytals disbanded in the early 1980s, but reformed in the early 90s to continue touring and recording successfully.

In 2005, the band won a Grammy award for best reggae album for True Love, consisting of re-recorded versions of their classics alongside legendary musicians such as Bonnie Raitt, Willie Nelson, Eric Clapton, and Keith Richards, as well as popular artists such as No Doubt, Ben Harper, The Roots, and Shaggy.

They also contributed to the Easy Star All-Stars album 'Radiodread' (a dub tribute to Radiohead's OK Computer).

In 2016 Toots and the Maytals announced a return to the stage with their first tour in 3 years,[35] and on June 15 at The Observatory North Park in San Diego the group returned to the stage for the first time since 2013.

In 2017 Toots and the Maytals played Coachella Fest April 16 and 23 at 4:20 pm. They became the second reggae-based group to perform at the Coachella festival, after Chronixx in 2016.

In 2018, Toots and the Maytals launched a 50th anniversary tour with concert appearances in North America from April to August, moving to dates in the UK starting in October.

On July 25, 2018 Toots and the Maytals debuted an original song entitled "Marley" live on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, and also played the classic "Funky Kingston".

On August 24, 2018 Toots and the Maytals performed at Lockn’ Festival in Arrington, Virginia, where guest Taj Mahal accompanied them on the song “Monkey Man”.

Frontman "Toots" Hibbert died on 12 September 2020.
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Most interesting comments from YouTube:

Alex M

@Richard Hopkins here is what Christ himself had to say about the point you mentioned:
"Yet, because Moses gave you circumcision (though actually it did not come from Moses, but from the patriarchs), you circumcise a boy on the Sabbath. 
Now if a boy can be circumcised on the Sabbath so that the law of Moses may not be broken, why are you angry with me for healing a man’s whole body on the Sabbath? 
Stop judging by mere appearances, but instead judge correctly.”
John 7:22-24
I quoted the following: "Abraham was the first Jewish patriarch to practice circumcision. This symbolic ritual was meant to be a visible, permanent, external sign of the relationship between God and His people: the nation of Israel. Accordingly, a male child was to be circumcised on the eighth day after birth (Genesis 17:12).
This command was repeated in the laws given under Moses (Leviticus 12:3). Of course, this meant that some baby boys had to be circumcised on a Sabbath day. Here, Jesus points out that the Pharisees see this as necessary to properly fulfill the law of Moses. 

In context, Jesus is referring to the controversy caused when He healed a man on a Sabbath day (John 5:1–9).
His point here is that of hypocrisy. If "breaking" the Sabbath to perform a minor ritual was acceptable, why did the Pharisees reject Jesus' healing of a man who'd been crippled for years?
As stated in the next verse, the problem is that these religious leaders are being shallow and careless in their judgment."



Music, part of the fight

Lyrics :
Stick it up, mister!
Can you hear what I'm saying now, yeah
Get your hands in the air, sir!
And you will get no hurt, mister, no no no

I said yeah (I said yeah)
Listen what they say (listen what they say)
Can you hear me say, yeah? (yeah yeah)
Listen what they say (listen what they say)

Do you believe I would take such a thing with me
And give it to a police man?
I wouldn't do that, oh no (ooh, ooh)
I wouldn't do that (ooh, ooh)

And if I do that, I would say "Sir
Come on and put the charge on me"
I wouldn't do that (ooh, ooh)
I wouldn't do that (ooh, ooh)

I'm not a fool to hurt myself
So I was innocent of what they done to me
They were wrong (ooh, ooh), oh yeah
They were wrong (ooh, ooh)

You give it to me one time (huh)
You give it to me two times (huh-huh)
You give it to me three times (huh-huh-huh)
You give it to me four times (huh-huh-huh-huh)

54-46 was my number, was my number, man
Right now, someone else has that number
54-46 was my number, well
Right now, someone else has that number

And I said yeah (I said yeah)
Listen what they say (listen what they say)
Can you hear me say, yeah? (yeah yeah)
Listen what they say (listen what they say)
Oh, work could not control me now
Oh, no bars could not hold me now
They hold I down and they lock-a you way
They try to keep I for a year and a day
But through the powers of the Most High God
Got to turn me lose, I say

54-46 was my number, was my number, man
Right now, someone else has that number, well
54-46 was my number, was my number, man
Right now, someone else has that number, hey



All comments from YouTube:

Obi Maduegbuna

RIP Toots. You will be missed.

Rasta Irie

Jah bless 🙏 Toots
His soul be at peace.
His music is a gift that will live on .
❤ne 💚 L💛✌e

Chief KolAss

Rip Toot's.... you had excellent music

A.C.A.B F. T.P

Howd i not hear about this love this band RIP toots legend

Chief KolAss

@Manfred Adeti. . . . .
. .
.

Don Noyes

God Speed Toots...been a fan for awhile.

9 More Replies...

bklufc

this music killed my racism as a teenager.
what a legacy you have left my brother, R.I.P.

bklufc

@Angel Osorno hi friend,
i have took a wee bit of abuse but mostly positive, nice remarks.
if you cannot see you are wrong, you cannot learn and move on.
i just wanted to let people know this man and his music opened my eyes.
RIP Toots.

Angel Osorno

Hell yeah dude most people wouldn't admit that! You give me hope sir that lovely rhythms and rhymes can help solve hate! Much love!

ImNotAPsycho

When skins and blacks danced together!

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