About this album
The main theme of this 14-track album is the concept of “Reasonin”, as the title points out, referring to a form of communication, thinking and interactions among people seeking wisdom.
In fact, the concept is defined from the outset, in the opening song “We Go Reason”, as well as in a musical interlude by The Congos. The latter again contribute to the famous “Leaders of Tomorrow” in its LP version and to the concluding track of this new album. Max Romeo, another legendary figure of Jamaican music, also brings his contribution, grooving to the “four drop” riddim of “Holy City” and “M. Richman”, a protest song blaming modern society for its overabundance and selfishness. On this track, the Ligerians are accompanied by the repeater drum of Brother Joe, an elder Rastaman founder of the legendary “Sons of Negus”. Brother Joe is a master of the Jamaican Nyahbinghi drums, and recorded with most renowned artists such as Bob Marley at Studio One, Lee Scratch Perry at Black Ark… This album is in the tradition of the “Roots bombs” of the 70s and also showcases another collaboration with one of the great names of the contemporary Roots Reggae stage, unusually not from Jamaica but Saint Croix, one of the U.S Virgin Islands: Vaugh Benjamin, the very mystical singer of Midnite. He joins Rod on the track entitled “Trumpet Bush” to remind us of the importance of using and preserving medicinal plants and of the Bush Doctors who prescribe them. This song should have a great impact.
In “Reasonin’”, Rod’s songs talk about issues close to his heart such as ecology: the song “Xingù People” has been produced in partnership with the NGO Amazon Watch; it is partly written in Portuguese and is a protest against the construction of the Belo Monte Dam in the heart of the Amazon forest in Brazil. The powerful “Diamonds of Africa” highlights and condemns the paradoxical policy of rich nations on the African issue and the discrepancies between North and South. In this album recorded in the Ligerians’ Records studio in Tours, the Lions’ Den in Saint Catherine (Jamaica) and the I Grade Records in Saint Croix, Rod allows himself a few more personal songs like “Invisible Flames”, an outstanding reggae performed by The Ligerians, and “Caribbean Queen” that tells the story of a woman embodying Reggae and Jamaican Music, in order to describe the evolution of these two musical styles. Finally, Babs, the “mad professor” of the team, concludes the album with two new Dub versions that will make you really high with or without the smoke of the chalices…
Available Lyrics
We go reason
« Reasonin’ » Samples
People are like icebergs, they only show 10% of who they really are
There’s another 90% that all a dem carry like a long freight car
Dem refuse to open themselves to other people
On closer examination all a dem seem so feeble
Comunication is not a child’s play
Take off your mask and you’ll be on the good way
Cool dong ya temper before engaging in discussion
Manage your anger, it’s a destroyful emotion
All of these words can sound like cliché
But trust me most a we need some replay
So Come, Come we go reason
Come we need some real comunication now
Come, come we haffi reason
And reach Iration yeah, a time fi meditation now
Our mind gets stronger through reasonin’ and as a result
We strengthen the intimacy and the human relation
With everybody no matter colour or religion
So open the gates of consciousness and let your spirit exult
If the intention is of brotherhood
The differences can be exercised
So ignore weakness and foehood
Let our similarities be energized
Clarifying, demystifying, spiritually growin’
Learnin’ from each other, those are the benefits of reasonin’
So Come, Come we go reason
Come we need some real meditation now
Come, come we haffi reason
And reach Iration yeah, a time fi revelation now
« Reasonin’ » Samples
So Come, Come we go reason
Come we need some real communication now
Come, come we haffi reason
And reach Iration yeah, a time fi elevation now
Lyrics by Frank De Carvalho
Diamonds of Africa
They want the diamonds of Africa oh yes
But they don’t wanna hear the voices of Africans oh no
Dem keep on lootin’ the diamonds of Africa oh yes
But in their countries, they don’t wanna welcome no African oh no
On the land of human origins, griots possess the knowledge of the ancient times
Singing and extolling warriors and kings (reviving memories)
Telling the history of Africans
Colonizers ignore that version of the past
For them, oral testimony does not reach a sufficient degree of objectivity
They think their science is unsurpassed
That’s the way they keep people under mental slavery and set their mindset haughtily
Impose their single view of reality
They want the diamonds of Africa oh yes
But they don’t wanna hear the voices of Africans oh no
they keep on looting diamonds of Africa oh yes
But they don’t wanna welcome no African oh no
And they falsified education,
pretending African needs for their enlightenment
lusting for the best fruits and discarding the rest,
through selective immigration
And they take good care of that land
Emptying it of its raw materials
The looting of Africa is well planned
but we do not agree to this burial
Myriad negative views that denigrate African cosmology
Stereotypes consecrated as historical truth by colonial philosophy
This awareness will come from crossbred generations
in order to stop this western hegemony
They want the diamonds of Africa oh yes
But they don’t wanna hear the voices of Africans oh no
Dem keep on lootin’ diamonds of Africa oh yes
But in their countries, they don’t wanna welcome no African oh no
The true diamonds of Africa are the voices of Africans…
The true diamonds of Africa are the voices of Africans…
Lyrics by Gabriel Bouillon & Frank De Carvalho
Mr Richman
People killin’ one another fi money
So why should I respect you Mista Richman
Dem mistreating dem brothers fi more profit
So how can I trust your politicians
People killin’ one another fi money
So why should I respect you Mista Richman
Dem abusing dem brothers to become mighty
So how can I trust your politicians
You’re all like hundreds of worms
Who wanna eat the same apple
Like billions of faithful
Who wanna enter the same chapel
The more money ya expect
The less respect ya get
Think about it one moment
What kind of world ya want for your children
People killin’ one another fi money
So why should I respect you Mista Richman
Dem mistreating dem brothers fi more profit
So how can I trust your politicians
People killin’ one another fi money
So why should I respect you Mista Richman
Dem abusing dem brothers to become mighty
So how can I trust your politicians
Because of the teachings of his majesty we nah want no devil philosophy
Forget your heart and not your comment
Those are the words of the prophet yeah
Because of the teachings of his majesty we nah want no devil philosophy
These are the days the last days yeah
Do you hear what I say yeah
People killin’ one another fi money
So why should I respect you Mista Richman
Dem mistreating dem brothers fi more profit
So how can I trust your politicians
People killin’ one another fi money
So why should I respect you Mista Richman
Dem abusing dem brothers to become mighty
So how can I trust your politicians
Why should we cry
We’d better rise up and fight dem now, no matter the way
Why don’t you try
You’d better rise up to see dem fall down and fade away
Dem say dem only wanna rise and achieve social success
But fid at, do they really need all the things dem possess
Dem lose dem compassion and call it the human progress
Go try to get further explanation
And I’m quite sure they gonna digress
People killin’ one another fi money
So why should I respect you Mista Richman
Dem mistreating dem brothers fi more profit
So how can I trust your politicians
People killin’ one another fi money
So why should I respect you Mista Richman
Dem mistreating dem brothers to become mighty
So how can I trust your politicians
Why should we cry
We’d better rise up and fight dem now, no matter the way
Why don’t you try
You’d better rise up to see dem fall down and fade away
Lyrics by Max Romeo & Frank De Carvalho
Xingu People
Xingú people we’re cryin’ out for you
Kayapó warriors the whole world should fight with you
Belo Monte can’t you see you’re commitin’ a crime
Conscious people dem know your propaganda is a lie
Amazónia, I’m sorry for the foolishness of my fellows
For most of them, the building of these monster dams is just like a big game show
It seems dem nah want hear us even when we bellow
Dem say dem not doin’ nothin’ bad, but most of the time dem lie low
Sorry for the inconvenience, we tryin’ to change the world
Sorry for the disturbance we wanna save our earth
Sorry for the inconvenience, we’re tryin’ to change the world
Sorry for the disturbance, we a go save our earth
Povo do mundo ouve bem, presta atenção, o nosso planeta está grintando
Ele está aflito, de dor ele está chorando
Belo Monte, homens e animais precisam da floresta que queres afogar
Por isso aqui são teus crimes imundos que todos nós vimos denunciar
Sorry for the inconvenience, we’re tryin’ to change the world
Sorry for the disturbance we wanna save our earth
Sorry for the inconvenience, we’re tryin’ to change the world
Sorry for the disturbance, we a go save our earth
DJ Zéza: Nós Brasileiros não somos contra o desenvolvimento mas sim a favor dele.
Só que não queremos de um desenvolvimento que se basei em destruiçao e morte.
Estamos roubando e explorando aquilo que é nosso
Queremos o tal respeito de outras naçoes mas não nos respeitamos
e o planeta grita por socorro e estamos tapando os ouvidos
As consequencias estão aparecendo, pense bem
Se continuarmos com a destrução, não suportaremos
Chega de explorar e destruir aquilo que é nosso
A juventude brasileira ela é sim, ela é contra a construção do Belo Monte
E a nossa alma e o nosso planeta estão gritando: Belo Monte, Não! Belo Monte, Não!!!
A juventude brasileira é a favor da vida, não da morte
Por isso gritamos todos: Belo Monte, Não!!!
Lyrics by Frank De Carvalho
Leaders of Tomorrow
Mongst the children of today are the leaders of tomorrow
So teachers of today tell dem what dem need fi know
Mongst the children of today are the leaders of tomorrow
So teachers of today righteousness dem haffi know
Dem need a proper education
Show dem much love an’ affection
Nah talk dem ‘bout religion
Amongst dem we nah need no division
Keep dem away from temptation
Money shall not be dem only obsession
Stop your wars and put down your weapons
We haffi raise a conscious generation
Mongst the children of today are the leaders of tomorrow
So teachers of today tell dem what dem need fi know
Mongst the children of today are the leaders of tomorrow
So teachers of today righteousness dem haffi know
Oh Yeah Children, listen to the words
from the message of the messenger, the prophet of old
To this generation, the story have been told
Educate your children with your culture everyday
With a good education, You’ll reach the top
You can be what you wanna be, and there’ll be no turning back
Mongst the children of today are the leaders of tomorrow
So teachers of today tell dem what dem need fi know
Mongst the children of today are the leaders of tomorrow
So teachers of today righteousness dem haffi know
Leaders of the world making big problems
While the children of the world unable to trap dem
Leaders of the world making this bombshell
So the children of the world are cryin’ and now we a go trap dem
Mongst the children of today are the leaders of tomorrow
So teachers of today tell dem what dem need fi know
Mongst the children of today are the leaders of tomorrow
So teachers of today righteousness dem haffi know
Lyrics by Cedric Myton, Roydel Johnson, Watty Burnett & Frank De Carvalho
Invisible Flames
I’m trapped into this ring of fire
With invisible flames surrounding me
Every time I try to cross them
Dem burn me inside with more intensity
I’m locked up in a room on fire
With dark dark evils encircling me
Women help me open the exit door
cause I think I’ve lost the key
Docta Docta please tell me
What’s this burnin’ fire deep inside me
Every time I think it has been turned off
It starts burnin’ a new part of my body
I’ve tried all of your treatments
, seen every healer, boiled every bush
Now it’s time fi me to ring the bell
Please show me where’s the button to push
I wish I could control it, put a name on it
Cause I don’t wanna have to feel resigned
But it seems the coals of my pain won’t stop glowin’ in the dark side of my mind
Oh what a strange feeling to discover
That you’re not the master of your physical structure
Powerful people think dem a rule
But they forget they’re only weak creatures
I’ve tried to keep my head above water even when life was tryin’ to pull me under
I know some hard times of my life are still to come
That’s the reason of this internal disorder
I wish I could stop it, put an end to it
Cause I don’t wanna be left behind
But it seems the coals of my pain won’t stop glowin’ in the dark side of my mind
Lyrics by Frank De Carvalho
Caribbean Queen
At an early age, she was already shakin’ her body pon the dancefloor
She had a quick quick temper, the people used to call her ska
Growin’ up, she started to settle down
Rocksteady became her new nickname on the melodies of Delroy and Marcia
Later she turned into a real lova and some rasta taught her ‘bout cultjah and Africa
Caribbean queen born inna di ghetto
Beautiful Crossbreed between Jazz and Mento
Jamaican queen raised inna di ghetto
She’s the natural daughter of Soul Music and Calypso
As a queen she needed a king
And found him in the person of a young rasta goin’ by the name of Nesta
They had the best time of their lives together
He travelled with her all over the world and gave her a beautiful daughter
All of a sudden she lost her star
And fell in kind of schizophrenia
A so she met the Don Dada and entered her digital era
Caribbean queen born inna di ghetto
Beautiful Crossbreed between Jazz and Mento
Jamaican queen raised inna di ghetto
She’s the natural daughter of Soul Music and Calypso
Some DJs started to rub-a-dub her curves
She fell in love with a thug and gave him a son
They called him Dancehall, he was wicked and wild
His favourite gun was a wooden gun
Nu Roots his sista soon travelled to Europe with her mum
Where she became the princess of all rastas
While Dancehall was raised on his island
And became the Don of all gangstas
Caribbean queen born inna di ghetto
Beautiful Crossbreed between Jazz and Mento
Jamaican queen raised inna di ghetto
She’s the natural daughter of Soul Music and Calypso
Caribbean queen born inna di ghetto
Beautiful Crossbreed between Jazz and Mento
Jamaican queen raised inna di ghetto
She’s the natural daughter of Soul Music and Calypso
Lyrics by Frank De Carvalho
Trumpet Bush feat. Midnite
INTRO:
And the almighty I Haile Selassie I the first said, Behold, I have given you every herb bearing seed, which is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree, in the which is the fruit of a tree yielding seed; To you, it shall be for meat. And to every beast of the earth and every fowl of the air, to everything that creepeth upon the earth, wherein there’s life. I’ve given every green herb for meat. And it was so. And the Lord God Jah Rastafari Haile Selassie I the first saw everything that he had made, and, behold, it was very good. And the evening and the morning were the sixth day.
CHORUS:
It’s only fall away, why we no longer know what the herbs dem say
Ancestors did know of the herbs dem way
And the price for forgotten is a high price to pay
Pomegranates of gold in a Solomon’s place
In a trumpet bush how the blackness stay
And the shofar in the beginning and the end of the day
Giving Haile I Selassie I thanks and praise
Elshadai, Shekinah, Eloheim harmony.
Yashua ina strato’s tower where Antigonus lay.
VERSE 1:
Jah give I and I the trees and the bark and the leaves
And the pulp and the essence for sustenance and remedies
For these, to fight off disease, which is resonance and pulse within the bodies
Telling them their names by their frequencies
Your symptoms tell you which one of these herbs you need
As preventative medicine will incorporate knowledge
Tested by generations of observations of bring relieve
Seet.
CHORUS ROD:
Memba say the bush doctor, him a the one and only healer
Bush Doctor, him a your body protector
Bush Doctor, the ancients’ medicine defender
Bush Doctor…
VERSE ROD:
Boil some water and stir fever grass, then add some cerassee
Cleanse your body and mind, relieve ya pain with the guinea hen weed
Man ya need some more stamina, take a mix of duppy gun and medina tea
But if ya lookin’ for the miracle tree, haffi find Maranga (Moringa)
Ya grow ya youth on holy books and faith
So why don’t you teach them what’s the best for their health?
Dem haffi learn how to boil bush and weed instead of takin’ all a dem chemical pills
CHORUS:
It’s only fall away…
VERSE 2:
Even deep ina the brick and steel cities
It was two blades of aloe, tie on some nonni leaf.
Looking for pain bush had to leave the streets, go country
And when you meet a Ras with a bitter concept of tea
Peppermint and papaya and Anise, calms bellies.
There’s a cash crop that grosses more than combined corn and wheat
In the heart of prosperous economies, seet.
It’s only fall away.
Pain signal from an herbal neuro-transmitter blocking pain receptors from receiving these
A body protective constitutional army we see
As bush and as random topographies
until some part of the body is in anarchy
And require an outterly professional level of expertise
Where you have to incorporate technology with naturality
And if it’s gone beyond the scope of your knowledge already
aga require some self to self honesty, be real, be real
CHORUS ROD:
Memba say the bush doctor, him a the one and only healer
Bush Doctor, him a your body protector
Bush Doctor, the ancients’ medicine defender
Bush Doctor, it’s only fall away…
CHORUS:
It’s only fall away, why we no longer know what the herbs dem say
Ancestors did know of the herbs dem way
And the price for forgotten is a high price to pay
Pomegranates of gold in a Solomon’s place
In a trumpet bush how the blackness stay
And the shofar in the beginning and the end of the day
Giving Haile I Selassie I thanks and praise
Elshadai, Shekinah, Eloheim harmony.
Lyrics by Vaughn Benjamin & Frank De Carvalho
Holy City
Zion is a holy city, Zion is a holy city
Zion is a holy city, no sin can not enter there
You’ve got to be pure and true in your heart to walk to through the gates
Zion is a holy city, Zion is a holy city
Zion is a holy city, no sin can not enter there
You’ve got to be pure and true to enter Zion
From North Pole to South Pole
I can’t find no rest
Lookin’ for the promised land of my heart and soul
I won’t tell no lie Oh no
Peace and harmony are in sight
But I don’t know why
I can’t reach the light
Zion is a holy city, Zion is a holy city
Zion is a holy city, no sin can not enter there
You’ve got to be pure and true to enter Zion
I want to think up my own philosophy
Do not accept their fake beliefs
Only inner revolution will bring relief
Let me push up the gates cause I wanna feel free
Zion is a holy city, Zion is a holy city
Zion is a holy city, no sin can not enter there
You’ve got to be pure and true to enter Zion
Jah loveth the gates of Zion more than any other gates in this world
Jah loveth the gates of Zion more than any other gates in this world
Zion is a holy city
Lyrics by Maxie Smith, Alexandre Tarpinian & Frank De Carvalho