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Song for Dennis Brown Lyrics
on the day that Dennis Brown's
lung collasped
spring rain was misting down on Kingston
and down at the harbor
local cops were intercepting
an inbound shipment
and for a while there it was chaos
as they handcuffed and then ruffed up
some sailors
on the day my lung collapses
it's not gonna be much different
on the day that Dennis Brown's
habbits caught up with him
school children sang in choir
and out behind the Chinese resturants
guys were jumping into dumpsters
and the stench was overbearing
but they were past the point of caring
on the day my habits catch up with me
i'll be down among the jumpers
and when the birds come home in spring
we will fill them up with buckshot
and jets of contaminated blood
will cloud the rivers and the lakes
it took all the coke in town
to bring down Dennis Brown
on the day my lung collapses
we'll see just how much it takes
lung collasped
spring rain was misting down on Kingston
and down at the harbor
local cops were intercepting
an inbound shipment
and for a while there it was chaos
as they handcuffed and then ruffed up
some sailors
it's not gonna be much different
habbits caught up with him
school children sang in choir
and out behind the Chinese resturants
guys were jumping into dumpsters
and the stench was overbearing
but they were past the point of caring
i'll be down among the jumpers
we will fill them up with buckshot
and jets of contaminated blood
will cloud the rivers and the lakes
to bring down Dennis Brown
we'll see just how much it takes
Song Info
Submitted by
fuckedupdog On Apr 10, 2005
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I saw it as having to do with the sense of fatalism that comes with addiction. Like, some people will point to the story of a great hero or artist who died of an OD, and use it as an example of a tragedy that could be prevented by saying no to drugs. But if you're addicted or have an addictive personality, you hear the story and think "well, if it killed a great like him, what chance do I have?"
I think that also resonates with the concept of the album as a whole, growing up in an abusive and dysfunctional family. I think the speaker in the song is pretty much writing himself off as not having a chance to be any different from the previous generation.
The song is about one of Jamaica's best singers. Dennis Brown was called "the Crown Prince of Reggae" by Bob Marley, a title he richly deserved. Brown died of a combination of a coke overdose and a collapsed lung (it's relatively rare for people to die of collapsed lungs anymore, hence the line "it took all the coke in town to bring down Dennis Brown").
this song seems to be about john reflecting on has dennis died, and thinking how he could die the same way.
I agree it's about the world moving on, but in a sadistic way. A hero to many dies, and the cops are busy being bastards. A spokesman for the poor dies, but they still have to dumpster dive to eat.
Kind of a "change doesn't happen." For all Dennis Browns words meant to the Jamaican people, the world is not a better place, and never will be.
The end of this song is a beautiful moment of pure nihilism, starting with the 'when the birds come home to roost' line. The whole subtext seems to be: this is the way it has to be, and damn the consequences. The final line kills me every time, as it was meant to. I love this song.
beautiful song, kind of bizzare lyrics.
the world moves on
not one of my favorites, but highly liked, but very powerful words with a very real meaning
I agree. This is probably my least favorite song on the Sunset Tree. But it's a good song.
I agree. This is probably my least favorite song on the Sunset Tree. But it's a good song.
JD had the some drug problems that Dennis Brown had (the We Shall All Be Healed album covers that), so when he learns about what happens to Dennis Brown, it resonates with him and he remembers it because he thinks he will die the same way