The reggae is going to get you

If I had to make the analogy, I would have to say that the city of Roseau bleeds reggae. Music pours from bongos on the street corners, radios blast from home windows, ringtones chime in restaurants at dinner, and loudspeakers amplify until it’s like the entire town is hooked up to the same station and everyone is just singing different parts of Red Red Wine all day and all night. 

My very first day, my very first taxi driver said “You like reggae?” I looked under Genres on my iPod and found I have two Reggae artists- Bob Marley and Toots and the Maytals. That’s enough, right? I had no idea the music would soon consume my life. Anyone want to guess how many different versions of By the Rivers of Babylon are out there? Because I swear I’ve heard at least 10 recorded, and every week at Happy Hour a local band does a new twist on it. Don’t feel sorry for Shaggy, apparently he wasn’t a one hit wonder down after all; he has tons of popular songs down here. I think in the last two months I’ve heard Wasn’t Me as many times as I did the entire year it was released- Y2K! 

So even though my neighbors thought it appropriate to blare their speakers at 7:30 a.m. this morning to Hold Ya by Gyptian, and the pool hall across from my office plays it approximately 5 times a day, for the last WEEK I’ve been singing to myself “Girl I’m gonna make you sweat, sweat till you can’t sweat no more” I know it’s probably has a dirty meaning, but since it’s so hot and humid in the Caribbean I really think Inner Circle originally wrote the song was talking about how sweaty everyone is here. 

Please take a moment and watch the video, Inner Circle: Sweat (A La La La La Long) its sure to put you in a great mood, taking it back to early 90’s VH1 with the girl’s high cut bikini bottoms and those round John Lennon sunglasses. And give you a teeny tiny glimpse of life in Roseau, with everyone’s long dreads and hundreds of ceiling fans! Hopefully you won’t be singing "a la la la long long long long time” for the rest of the day like me!