Cargo ships traveled to the British Isles to purchase bananas. Wealthy Brits paid to travel on these ships to see the islands (comparable to cruise ships of today). At nighttime the ships docked to allow the island women to bring their bananas to sell. When the daylight came they would collect their pay from the tally man and return to their families. This story was told to us by a ninety year old lady who traveled on one of these ships. Out of the entire trip she was most amazed by the women, because they carried such enormous bunches of bananas on their heads. She was moved by the physical and spiritual strength of the women as they seemingly worked joyfully throughout the night. This song is amazing and so is this woman.
That may be a true story, but it's not what the song is about. It's actually about the men working at the docks, loading bananas on and off boats during the nights. When the morning came, the tally man would come and pay them according to how much work they've done (how many bunches they'd moved), before they could go home. Hence "Six han' seven han' eight han' bunch/Daylight come an' I wanna go home" and "Come mister tally man tally me banana". The sun is rising and he's eager for the tally man to come......
That may be a true story, but it's not what the song is about. It's actually about the men working at the docks, loading bananas on and off boats during the nights. When the morning came, the tally man would come and pay them according to how much work they've done (how many bunches they'd moved), before they could go home. Hence "Six han' seven han' eight han' bunch/Daylight come an' I wanna go home" and "Come mister tally man tally me banana". The sun is rising and he's eager for the tally man to come...
@Dr. Awkward Cute story, not at all what the song is about! It was a protest song written against the Chiquita Banana Company and how they treated their workers on the plantations. And those lovely women taken to the British boats were most often the wives of the plantation workers that were forced to be prostitutes when their husbands didn't do the company required amount of work in a given night before because the company owned everything and the people though considered "free people" owed always more than they could earn to the company store and the company landlord...
@Dr. Awkward Cute story, not at all what the song is about! It was a protest song written against the Chiquita Banana Company and how they treated their workers on the plantations. And those lovely women taken to the British boats were most often the wives of the plantation workers that were forced to be prostitutes when their husbands didn't do the company required amount of work in a given night before because the company owned everything and the people though considered "free people" owed always more than they could earn to the company store and the company landlord and even the company doctor! God forbid you get sick or you'd owe the rest of your life and every night of your wife a prostitute to pay off the debt of the doctors care!
Cargo ships traveled to the British Isles to purchase bananas. Wealthy Brits paid to travel on these ships to see the islands (comparable to cruise ships of today). At nighttime the ships docked to allow the island women to bring their bananas to sell. When the daylight came they would collect their pay from the tally man and return to their families. This story was told to us by a ninety year old lady who traveled on one of these ships. Out of the entire trip she was most amazed by the women, because they carried such enormous bunches of bananas on their heads. She was moved by the physical and spiritual strength of the women as they seemingly worked joyfully throughout the night. This song is amazing and so is this woman.
That may be a true story, but it's not what the song is about. It's actually about the men working at the docks, loading bananas on and off boats during the nights. When the morning came, the tally man would come and pay them according to how much work they've done (how many bunches they'd moved), before they could go home. Hence "Six han' seven han' eight han' bunch/Daylight come an' I wanna go home" and "Come mister tally man tally me banana". The sun is rising and he's eager for the tally man to come......
That may be a true story, but it's not what the song is about. It's actually about the men working at the docks, loading bananas on and off boats during the nights. When the morning came, the tally man would come and pay them according to how much work they've done (how many bunches they'd moved), before they could go home. Hence "Six han' seven han' eight han' bunch/Daylight come an' I wanna go home" and "Come mister tally man tally me banana". The sun is rising and he's eager for the tally man to come...
@Dr. Awkward Cute story, not at all what the song is about! It was a protest song written against the Chiquita Banana Company and how they treated their workers on the plantations. And those lovely women taken to the British boats were most often the wives of the plantation workers that were forced to be prostitutes when their husbands didn't do the company required amount of work in a given night before because the company owned everything and the people though considered "free people" owed always more than they could earn to the company store and the company landlord...
@Dr. Awkward Cute story, not at all what the song is about! It was a protest song written against the Chiquita Banana Company and how they treated their workers on the plantations. And those lovely women taken to the British boats were most often the wives of the plantation workers that were forced to be prostitutes when their husbands didn't do the company required amount of work in a given night before because the company owned everything and the people though considered "free people" owed always more than they could earn to the company store and the company landlord and even the company doctor! God forbid you get sick or you'd owe the rest of your life and every night of your wife a prostitute to pay off the debt of the doctors care!