9 on the Adult Contemporary chart. Turn!" Dictionary Dartboard - Songs with deliberately meaningless lyrics. It is Psalm 137 that is most prominently featured,... Search. In addition, Rastafarian faith frequently refers to any oppressive authority figure as "Babylonians", the same way the British would say "Big Brother". It is one of a few pop songs whose lyrics come directly from the Bible (See also "Turn! The single mix differs from the album version by having Liz Mitchell singing all of the verse "Let the words of our mouth ..." with Frank Farian; on the LP, Farian sings the first half of this as a solo part. The lyrics are adapted from the texts of Psalms 19 and 137 in the Hebrew Bible. It reached an international audience thanks to the soundtrack album of the 1972 film The Harder They Come, which is credited with having "brought reggae to the world". The song was their biggest hit, reaching no. This page explains it too well to rehash here. Published December 13, 2019. [7] The court case ran for more than 20 years in Germany. The melody bears a strong resemblance to "How Dry I Am". Additionally, it edits out the instrumental passage before the last "humming" part and fades out a little later ("Oooooh, have the power... yeah yeah yeah yeah" can only be heard in full in the single mix) despite being slightly shorter overall. Do you know the girl singer on Eminem's "Stan"? "Rivers of Babylon" was first recorded by The Melodians, a reggae group from Kingston, Jamaica. (Boney M. had split up in 1986, their 10th anniversary.) Sia Furler originally sent "Pretty Hurts" to Katy Perry, but she didn't see the email, so Beyonce ended up recording it instead. Although the group performed an early mix of the song on a German TV show and sang "How can we sing King Alpha's song" as in the Melodians version, it was changed to "the Lord's song", restoring the original, biblical words, in the versions that were to be released. Here it is for your YouTubein' pleasure: It should come as no surprise that the lyrics and premise come directly from the Bible, specifically the Old Testament book of Psalms, both Psalm 19 and 137. [51], On 19 November 1978, a cover version with lyrics in Swedish, "Kommer du ihåg Babylon?" All Rights Reserved. Tagged: Rivers of Babylon . The Holy Bible: King James Version", "Psalms 19. By the rivers of Babylon, there we sat down Yeah, we wept, when we remembered Zion By the rivers of Babylon, there we sat down Yeah, we wept, when we remembered Zion There the wicked Carried us away in captivity Required from us a song Now how shall we sing the Lord's song in a strange land? The EMF song "Unbelievable" samples the raunchy comic Andrew Dice Clay saying, "What the f--k was that!". Some of the lyrics came from Psalm 137 of The Bible. Boney M.'s release stayed at the no. ". Jim talks about the impact of "The Middle" and uses a tree metaphor to describe his songwriting philosophy. His version can be found on the 1988 CD Jamaican Deejay Music 1969-1973 – Keep On Coming Through the Door… (Trojan CDTRL255). The B-side of the single, "Brown Girl in the Ring", also became a hit. "Rivers Of Babylon" as written by Frank Farian Brent Dowe. Doubt led to drive for Francis, who still isn't sure why one of Status Quo's biggest hits is so beloved. What does that song mean? "Rivers of Babylon" is a Rastafari song written and recorded by Brent Dowe and Trevor McNaughton of the Jamaican reggae group The Melodians in 1970. Song Analysis Corner: Rivers of Babylon. He called it "an old, long song about a guy at a depressing piano bar.". This was a kind of closing phrase frequently appended to Psalms (literally "songs" or poetry) as a kind of closing "amen". They are derived from the Book of Psalms, specifically the 19th and 137th chapters. Did Eric Clapton really steal George's wife? Tagged: Melodians . One variation of the recording became "Sound of Babylon", another reggae classic featuring DJ/rapper Samuel The First, one of the Jamaican deejays who pioneered rap as early as the 1950s. The lyrics are adapted from the texts of Psalms 19 and 137 in the Hebrew Bible. The southern Kingdom of Judah (hence the name Jews), home of the tribe of Judah and part of the tribe of Levi, was free from foreign domination until the Babylonian conquest to which Rivers of Babylon refers. The original version specifically refers to Rastafarian belief in Haile Selassie, by changing references to "the Lord" in the Biblical text to "Far-I" and "King Alpha". Lyrics submitted by JohnnyLurg, edited by littlebig8. They may be right about the De-Evoloution thing. The song was parodied by The Barron Knights in their UK comedy hit "A Taste of Aggro" (1978), in which the lyrics are changed to "There's a dentist in Birmingham, he fixed my crown / And as I slept, he filled my mouth with iron." So you see that the area still gets people fired up. Original lyrics of Rivers Of Babylon song by Boney M.. Non-lyrical content copyright 1999-2020 SongMeanings, Javascript must be enabled for the correct page display, By the rivers of Babylon, there we sat down. King Alpha and Queen Omega are - so to speak - the Rastafarian concept of a dual God. An early reggae classic, "Rivers of Babylon" was remixed in 1970 in typical Jamaican dub fashion. The original Psalm 137 was a song of lament for the children of Israel being invaded and captured by the Babylonians. [55][56], The song features prominently in the 2009 Kazakh film Tulpan. Watch official video, print or download text … At the end of 2007 Boney M. were the only act to have two singles in the UK all-time Top 10 best sellers list. The initial single mix of "Rivers of Babylon" is most notable for lead singer Liz Mitchell's ad-libs ("Dark tears of Babylon, you got to sing a song, sing a song of love, yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah") between the two verses. 79. This spent five weeks at #1 in the UK and was the biggest-selling single of 1978 there. The Melodians' original version of the song appeared on the soundtrack album for the 1972 movie The Harder They Come, which made it internationally known. It’s a little hard to understand. Like the Afro-Protestant Revival services, traditional Rastafarian worship often included psalm singing and hymn singing, and Rastas typically modified the words to fit their own spiritual conceptions; Psalm 137 was among their sacred chants. Create an account with SongMeanings to post comments, submit lyrics, and more. "), performed by Swedish dansband Schytts entered the first place on Svensktoppen where it stayed for 10 weeks. Share your meaning with community, make it "Rivers of Babylon" is a Rastafari song written and recorded by Brent Dowe and Trevor McNaughton of the Jamaican reggae group The Melodians in 1970. The namesake rivers of Babylon (in present-day Iraq) are the Tigris and Euphrates rivers. [5] The song was later used in the 1999 Nicolas Cage movie Bringing Out the Dead and the 2010 Philip Seymour Hoffman film Jack Goes Boating. 64:10-11; Jer. i really like this song song by sublime called Rovers of babylon. The Melodians' original version of the song appeared on the soundtrack album for the 1972 movie The Harder They Come, which made it internationally known. [4] The government lifted the ban. Rivers Of Babylon song meanings Add your thoughts 7 Comments. Song Analysis Corner: Rivers of Babylon Posted Jan 3rd 2013, 18:26 by Penguin Pete "Babylon" is a name with heavy historic significance, and even heavier significance in myth and legend. Dire Straits frontman Mark Knopfler got the idea for "Money For Nothing" after overhearing delivery men in a New York department store complain about their jobs while watching MTV. For other uses, see, top ten all-time best-selling singles in the UK, List of best-selling singles by year in the United Kingdom, List of Dutch Top 40 number-one singles of 1978, List of number-one hits of 1978 (Germany), List of number-one singles in Australia during the 1970s, List of number-one singles of 1978 (France), List of number-one singles of 1978 (Ireland), List of number-one singles in 1978 (New Zealand), List of number-one singles from 1968 to 1979 (Switzerland), List of number-one singles and albums in Sweden, List of UK Singles Chart number ones of the 1970s, "Psalms 137. (UK's top selling single of … But the rest of the lyrics, from Psalm 137, take some more explaining. Babylonians come and invade and conquer, carrying away Israelites in captivity. Boney M.’s “Rivers of Babylon” Lyrics Meaning. [6] In Canada, the song was a top 25 hit on the RPM magazine's Top 100 singles chart and reached no. The song also has words from Psalm 19:14:[2]. 9 on the Adult Contemporary chart. Rivers Of Babylon by Boney M song meaning, lyric interpretation, video and chart position They carried us away in captivity requiring of us a song ... Now how shall we sing the LORD's song in a strange land? Login | Create Account. Anyway, not bad legs for a nice little pop-reggae song, is it? Arranger Peter Herbolzheimer accused Frank Farian of stealing his arrangement for the song. Posted Jan 3rd 2013, 18:26 by Penguin Pete "Babylon" is a name with heavy historic significance, and even heavier significance in myth and legend. And “Rivers of Babylon”, one of their most-popular tracks, is actually the cover of a Rasta song which was originally released in 1970 by The Melodians. In the first place, who's "King Alpha"? Perhaps testing this deity to see if He was all that high and mighty? Perhaps they were daring them to pray to the Hebrew God? [4] Leslie Kong, the group's producer, attacked the government for banning a song with words taken almost entirely from the Bible, stating that the Psalms had been "sung by Jamaican Christians since time immemorial". Along with "Ma Baker", "Rivers of Babylon" helped establish what was to become a habit of Boney M. singles – namely that the original pressings featured an early version that was soon replaced by a more widely available mix.