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This Jamaican work song was one my grandma used to sing to me when I was little (just because he liked it) and it will always remind me of him. I think it’s really cool that although my grandpa has no connections with Jamaican heritage, I think it really reflects ways in which Jamaican music is popular within our culture here and it’s important to recognize that the main performer, Harry Belafonte, was a Jamaican-American singer who made Calypso popular internationally in the 1950s. He is popular for his acting in movies like Beetlejuice amongst other songs most are familiar with like “Shake, Shake Señora” and “Jump in the Line”. Aside from being a famous celebrity, he also was an activist in the civil rights movement and had personal connections with Martin Luther King Jr.

“The Banana Boat Song” originated from Edric Connor and the Caribbeans, a group based out of Trinidad, in 1952. It was later written for Belafonte to perform which enlightened Americans with a more accurate representation of people living in the Caribbean while introducing calypso to America. Banana trade was prominent in Jamaica most likely around the turn of the twentieth century. Workers who loaded shipping vessels with bananas down at the docks sang this song as they worked at night to avoid the brutal daily heat. When the sun arose, workers knew their boss would come to “tally up” loads so they could go home (hence the term “tallyman” in the song). The tune has a call and response theme, meaning the workers were supposed to chime in with a response to the singer (which was likely to change depending on the work they were doing). As for the aural analysis, “The Banana Boat Song” is a gentle, laid-back tune that has a sing/speech theme throughout the piece. It is a catchy song that children and adults alike can easily pick up on. There is clearly a drum set used (with emphasis on the “boing” sound), maybe a shaker or tambourine, strings, and lead singer separate from the rest of the male voices.

https://historydaily.org/day-o-the-story-of-the-banana-boat-song/4