Song: Day-O (The Banana Boat Song)
Song by: Harry Belafonte
Digital art by: Gail Nobles
Voices by: Gail Nobles
Vocals by: Gail Nobles
General Port Ambience: https://quicksounds.com/library/sounds/dock

“Day - I (The Banana Boat Song) is a traditional Jamaican folk song. It is a call and response work song, from the point of view of dock workers working the night shift loading bananas onto ships. The lyrics describe how daylight has come, their shift is over, and they want their work to be counted up so that they can go home.

The best-known version was released by Jamaican-American singer Harry Belafonte in 1956 and later became one of his signature songs.

"The Banana Boat Song" likely originated around the beginning of the 20th century when the banana trade in Jamaica was growing. It was sung by Jamaican dockworkers, who typically worked at night to avoid the heat of the daytime sun. When daylight arrived, they knew that their boss would arrive to tally the bananas so they could go home.

Belafonte described "Day-O" as "a song about struggle, about black people in a colonized life doing the most grueling work," in a 2011 interview with Gwen Ifill on PBS NewsHour. Belafonte said that he took that song and honed it into an anthem that the world would love.

Harry Belafonte left us on April 25, 2023. He went to a new home. He is now resting in peace. He lived to get to a good old age. Belafonte lived to get 96. He has now retired. His work is done.

I'm Gail Nobles and you're listening to Times Rippley. .....