In June 1969 it reached the Top Ten in the United States, peaking at #9 on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart. Impact ĭespite 'Israelites' being recorded and released in 1968, the Uni 45 discography shows its cataloguing in 1969. It was one of the first reggae songs to become an international hit, despite Dekker's strong Jamaican accent which made his lyrics difficult to understand for many listeners outside Jamaica. The chords of the guitar accompaniment are played on the offbeat and move through the tonic chord, the subdominant, the dominant, and the occasional, viz,. The vocal melody is syncopated and is centred on the tone of B flat. Destitute ('slaving for bread') and unkempt ('Shirt dem a-tear up, trousers a-go'), some Rastafarians were tempted to a life of crime ('I don't want to end up like Bonnie and Clyde'). In the 1960s, Jamaican Rastafarians were largely marginalized as 'cultish' and ostracized from the larger society, including by the more conservative Christian church in Kingston. I related to those things and began to sing a little song: 'You get up in the morning and you're slaving for bread.' By the time I got home, it was complete.' The title has been the source of speculation, but most settle on the Rastafarian Movement's association with the Twelve Tribes of Israel. She was saying she needs money and he was saying the work he was doing was not giving him enough. Dekker composed the song after overhearing an argument: 'I was walking in the park, eating popcorn. Originally issued in Jamaica as 'Poor Me Israelites', it remains the best known Jamaican reggae hit to reach the United States Hot 100's top 10, and was written almost two years after Dekker first made his mark with the rude boy song ' 007 (Shanty Town)'. It combined the Rastafarian religion with rude boy concerns, to make what has been described by Allmusic as a 'timeless masterpiece that knew no boundaries'. Despite this, the single was the first UK reggae #1 and among the first to reach the US top ten (peaking at #9). Sung in Jamaican creole, some of the song's lyrics were not readily understood by many British and American listeners at the time of its release. ' Israelites' is a song written by Desmond Dekker and Leslie Kong that became a hit for Dekker's group, Desmond Dekker & The Aces, reaching the top of the charts in numerous countries in 1969. 'My Precious World (The Man)' by Beverley's All Starsĭesmond Dekker & The Aces singles chronology 1968 single by Desmond Dekker & The Aces 'Israelites'

Reggy song