Old July-3rd-2004, 09:27 PM   #1
chuckyd4
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Lkj



"Five Nights of Bleeding":

"Madness, madness
Madness tight on the heads of the rebels
The bitterness erup's like a heart blas'
Broke glass, ritual of blood an' a-burnin'
Served by a cruelin' fighting
5 nights of horror and of bleeding
Broke glass, cold blades as sharp as the eyes of hate
And the stabbin', it's
War amongs' the rebels
Madness, madness, war

Night number one was in Brixton
Sofrano B sound system
'im was a-beatin' up the riddim with a fire
'im comin' down his reggae reggae wire
It was a sound checkin' down your spinal column
A bad music tearin' up your flesh
An' the rebels dem start a fighting
De youth dem just tun wild, it's
War amongs' the rebels
Madness, madness, war

Night number two down at Sheppard's
Right up Railton road
It was a night name friday when ev'ryone was high on brew or drew(?)
A pound or two worth of Kali
Sound comin' down of the king's music iron
The riddim just bubblin' an' backfirin'
Ragin' an' risin'
When suddenly the music cut -
Steelblade drinkin' blood in darkness, it's
War amongs' the rebels
Madness, madness, war

Night number three, over the river
Right outside the Rainbow
Inside James Brown was screamin soul
Outside the rebels were freezin' cold
Babylonian tyrants descended
Bounced on the brothers who were bold
So with a flick of the wris', a jab and a stab
The song of hate was sounded
The pile of oppression was vomited
And two policemen wounded
Righteous, righteous war

Night number four at the blues dance, abuse dance
Two rooms packed and the pressure pushin' up
Hot, hotheads
Ritual of blood in the blues dance
Broke glass splintering, fire
Axes, blades, brain blas'
Rebellion rushin' down the wrong road
Storm blowin' down the wrong tree
And Leroy bleeds near death on the fourth night
In a blues dance, on a black rebellious night, it's
War amongs' the rebels
Madness, madness, war

Night number five at the telegraph
Vengeance walk thru de doors
So slow, so smooth
So tight and ripe and -smash!
Broke glass, a bottle finds a head
And the shell of the fire heard -crack!
The victim feels fear
Finds hands, holds knife, finds throat
Oh, the stabbins and the bleedin' and the blood, it's
War amongs' the rebels
Madness, madness, war"



Irie, boy.

Last edited by chuckyd4; July-3rd-2004 at 09:28 PM.
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Old July-3rd-2004, 09:32 PM   #2
Cem
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Inglan Is A Bitch
by Linton Kwesi Johnson

w´en mi jus´ come to Landan toun
mi use to work pan di andahgroun
but workin´ pan di andahgroun
y´u don´t get fi know your way around

Inglan is a bitch
dere´s no escapin it
Inglan is a bitch
dere´s no runnin´ whey fram it

mi get a lickle jab in a bih ´otell
an´ awftah a while, mi woz doin´ quite well
dem staat mi aaf as a dish-washah
but w´en mi tek a stack, mi noh tun clack-watchah

Inglan is a bitch
dere´s no escapin it
Inglan is a bitch
no baddah try fi hide fram it

w´en dem gi´ you di lickle wage packit
fus dem rab it wid dem big tax rackit
y´u haffi struggle fi mek en´s meet
an´ w´en y´u goh a y´u bed y´u jus´ can´t sleep

Inglan is a bitch
dere´s no escapin it
Inglan is a bitch
a noh lie mi a tell, a true

mi use to work dig ditch w´en it cowl noh bitch
mi did strang like a mule, but bwoy, mi did fool
den awftah a while mi jus´ stap dhu ovahtime
den awftah a while mi jus´ phu dung mi tool

Inglan is a bitch
dere´s no escapin it
Inglan is a bitch
y´u haffi know how fi survive in it

well mi dhu day wok an´ mi dhu nite wok
mi dhu clean wok an´ mi dhu dutty wok
dem seh dat black man is very lazy
but if y´u si how mi wok y´u woulda sey mi crazy

Inglan is a bitch
dere´s no escapin it
Inglan is a bitch
y´u bettah face up to it

dem a have a lickle facktri up inna Brackly
inna disya facktri all dem dhu is pack crackry
fi di laas fifteen years dem get mi laybah
now awftah fifteen years mi fall out a fayvah

Inglan is a bitch
dere´s no escapin it
Inglan is a bitch
dere´s no runnin´ whey fram it

mi know dem have work, work in abundant
yet still, dem mek mi redundant
now, at fifty-five mi gettin´ quite ol´
yet still, dem sen´ mi fi goh draw dole

Inglan is a bitch
dere´s no escapin it
Inglan is a bitch
is whey wi a goh dhu ´bout it?
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Old July-3rd-2004, 09:34 PM   #3
chuckyd4
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I thought about posting that "Gem" (yuk yuk yuk), but thought the message was a little too subtle.
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Old July-3rd-2004, 09:46 PM   #4
Cem
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You know what's wrong with the world? We don't listen to enough LKJ!
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Old July-3rd-2004, 10:08 PM   #5
Jon Abbey
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he's the best, I'm a huge fan. my favorite CD is definitely Tings and Times (Shanachie), one of my top couple of dub records of all time, Dennis Bovell is a brilliant producer, particularly on this one. I saw him live for the first time here a year or two ago, doing basically a "greatest hits" set, he's as good as he ever was, "Five Nights of Bleeding" I remember specifically. I actually just checked his web site (http://www.lkjrecords.com/) yesterday for signs of activity, but nothing.

this is my favorite song of his (although the spelling here is annoying):

Mi Revalueshanary Fren

mi revalueshanary fren is nat di same agen
yu know fram wen ?

fram di masses shata silence
staat fi grumble
fram pawty paramoncy tek a tumble
fram Hungary to Poelan to Romania
fram di cozy cyassle dem staat fi crumble
wen wi buck-up wananada in a reaznin
mi fren always en up pan di same ting
dis is di sang im love fi sing :

Kaydar
e ad to go
Zhivkov
e ad to go
Husack
e ad to go
Honnicka
e ad to go
Cauchescu
e ad to go
jus like apartied
wi av to go

awhile agoh mi fren an mi woz taakin
soh mi seh to im :

wat a way di eart a run nowadays, man
it gettin aada by di day
fi know whey yu stan
cauz wen yu tink yu deh pun salid dry lan
wen yu cteck a stack yu fine yu ina quick-san
yu noh notice ow di lanscape a shiff
is like valcanoe unda it an notn cyaan stap it
cauz tings jusa bubble an a bwoil doun below
strata seperate an refole
an wen yu tink yu reach di mountain tap
is a bran-new platow yu goh buck-up

mi revalueshanary fren shake im ed an im sigh
dis woz im reply :

Kaydar
e ad to go
Zhivkov
e ad to go
Husack
e ad to go
Honnicka
e ad to go
Cauchescu
e ad to go
jus like apartied
wi av to go

well mi nevah did satisfy wid wat mi fren mek reply
an fi get a deepa meanin in di reaznin
mi seh to im :

well awrite
soh Garby gi di people dem glashnas
an it poze di Stalinist dem plenty prablem
soh Garby leggo peristrika pan dem
canfoundin bureacraetic strategems
but wi haffi face up to di cole facks;
im also open up pondora's bax
yes, people pawa jus a showa every awa
an eyrybady claim dem demacratic
but some a wolf an some a sheep
an dat is prablematic:
nah tings like dat yu woulda call dialectic ?

mi revalueshanary fren pauz awhile an im smile
den im look mi in mi eye an reply :

Kaydar
e ad to go
Zhivkov
e ad to go
Husack
e ad to go
Honnicka
e ad to go
Cauchescu
e ad to go
jus like apartied
wi av to go

well mi couldn elabarate
plus it waz gettin kinda late
soh in spite a mi lack af andastandin
bout di meanin a di changes in di eas
fi di wes nonediless
an aldow mi av mi rezavayshans
bout di cansiquenses an implicashans
espehsaally fi black libaraeshan
to bring di reaznin to a canclushan
ah ad woz to agree wid mi fren
hopein dat wen wi meet up wance agen
wi coulda av a more fulla canvahsaeshan

soh mi seh to im, yu know wat ?
im seh wat ? mi seh :

Kaydar
e ad to go
Zhivkov
e ad to go
Husack
e ad to go
Honnicka
e ad to go
Cauchescu
e ad to go
jus like apartied
soon gaan
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Old July-3rd-2004, 10:16 PM   #6
lazarus
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I have his first 5 albums on vinyl and love them all. Lost tracks of him after "Making History" in 1984.






Last edited by lazarus; July-3rd-2004 at 10:17 PM.
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Old July-3rd-2004, 10:25 PM   #7
chuckyd4
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I would love to be corrected on this if I'm wrong, but from what I understand, there really has been very little to keep up with since 1984. For reasons I really haven't looked into too much, he seems to have gotten tired/fed up with making music, playing shows, etc. It doesn't diminish his established output any, but it does make me curious.
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Old July-3rd-2004, 10:49 PM   #8
Jon Abbey
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he's only done two new records of studio songs since 1983, Tings and Times (1991) and More Time (1998). as I said, I saw a show on his US tour last year, which was great.

because it came after his major-label stretch, Tings and Times is overlooked by a lot of people, but for me, it's easily better than his early period records, my favorite of which is Dread, Beat and Blood. everyone should own one.

discography: http://lister.ultrakohl.com/Homepage/LKJ/lkjbks.htm
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Old July-4th-2004, 08:05 AM   #9
Gary Sisco
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Nah jazz, man. :-)

Forward, me bredren.
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Old July-4th-2004, 08:14 AM   #10
AntManBee
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Ah yes, Linton! UK reggae rarely gets any better than that! Has anyone seen the LKJ documentary which I think was called "Dread Beat An Blood", made sometime in the early 80's. I saw it many years ago but would love to see it again.
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