Somehow I almost missed highlighting that today in 1955, Harry Belafonte, singer, actor, humanitarian, and civil rights activist, recorded what would soon become the most popular version of "The Banana Boat Song."
"The Banana Boat Song" is of Jamaican origin and is sung from the point of view of dock workers working the night shift loading bananas onto ships. Daylight has come, the shift is over and they want their work to be counted up so that they can go home (this is the meaning of the lyric "Come, Mr. Tally Man, tally me banana/ Daylight come and we wanna go home.")
In the video below, Belafonte performs the song for the first time on TV during the third season of the Muppet Show in 1979. It's sure to bring a smile to your face.
Enjoy...
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