I always thought i t was "He's a perfect partner"! As he made up his mind about the wedding drama ("am i ready for this kind of commitment?") and everything went well in the end...! Since it´s jamaican patois, most people are not used to understanding english with this accent and tend to translate in many ways. I´ve seen this as "partner", "pander"... it´s actually "ponder" - as it is written on the inside of the original vinil record. Oh, and it also says this tune won the 1969 Jamaica Song Festival.
It says:
"The main characters in the song are a young couple about to get married but who are having second thoughts, even as the weeding guests wait to drink and make merry. It´s a brilliant concept and written with a fine eye of detail.
"When you finish schooling, you´re supposed to come out with knowledge, whether it´s writting songs or writting a love letter, said toots. "You learn about people, and that´s what I did. I say Im going to write this song and make a hit of it because because all these people were invited to the wedding of a guy named Johnson and this girl Etty, and it neve work out like it should. I wrote this song off one of my nieces whose name was Etta, so I just change it round and say ´Etty in her room a cry, mama say she must wipe her eye. Papa say she no fi foolish, like she´s never been to school at all´... then I say, ´It is no wonder, it's a perfect ponder,wWhile they were dancing in that bar room last night...".
I always thought i t was "He's a perfect partner"! As he made up his mind about the wedding drama ("am i ready for this kind of commitment?") and everything went well in the end...! Since it´s jamaican patois, most people are not used to understanding english with this accent and tend to translate in many ways. I´ve seen this as "partner", "pander"... it´s actually "ponder" - as it is written on the inside of the original vinil record. Oh, and it also says this tune won the 1969 Jamaica Song Festival.
It says: "The main characters in the song are a young couple about to get married but who are having second thoughts, even as the weeding guests wait to drink and make merry. It´s a brilliant concept and written with a fine eye of detail.
"When you finish schooling, you´re supposed to come out with knowledge, whether it´s writting songs or writting a love letter, said toots. "You learn about people, and that´s what I did. I say Im going to write this song and make a hit of it because because all these people were invited to the wedding of a guy named Johnson and this girl Etty, and it neve work out like it should. I wrote this song off one of my nieces whose name was Etta, so I just change it round and say ´Etty in her room a cry, mama say she must wipe her eye. Papa say she no fi foolish, like she´s never been to school at all´... then I say, ´It is no wonder, it's a perfect ponder,wWhile they were dancing in that bar room last night...".
[Edit: wrongful spelling]