Derrick Morgan - "John Crow Skank" (example, lyrics, comments)

Edited by Azizi Powell

This post showcases a sound file of Derrick Morgan's 2001 Ska (or early Reggae?) tune "John Crow Skank". A bonus sound file of Lee "Scratch" Perry's instrumental record "John Crow Skank" is also included in this post.

This post also includes my speculations about the use of the name "John Crow" for these and other records.

Information about skanking and a video that documents an early form of skanking is presented in the Addendum to this post.

The content of this post is presented for cultural, entertainment, and aesthetic purposes.

All copyrights remain with their owners.

Thanks to Derrick Morgan, and to Lee "Scratch" Perry for their musical legacy. Thanks also to all those who are quoted in this post and thanks to all the publishers of videos that are included in this post.

RELATED LINK
http://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2012/09/john-crow-part-i-what-john-crow-means.html "What "John Crow" Means In Jamaica"

****
SHOWCASE SOUND FILE: Derrick Morgan - John Crow Skank - Pama Reggae



Mrrkdino, Published on Oct 8, 2012

Boss tune from Derrick Morgan.
-snip-
This is from the album "Straighten Up - Vol.2."

****
LYRICS: JOHN CROW SKANK
(Derrick Morgan)

Wacka wacka
Wacka wacka

Wacka wacka
Wacka wacka

Hey eh eh hey, little girl,
Little one girl
All dressed in blue.
You standin in the corner
Like you don’t know what to do.
Do you see that man
In his barefoot pants?
Just take him by his hand and say
Come let’s dance
The John Crow Skank.
Baby, will you do that?
Hun.
The John Crow Skank
Baby, will you do that?

Wacka wacka
Wacka wacka wacka

Lift the right foot out
And you jump to the back.
Shake your shoulders,
Get right on the beat.
That’s the John Crow Skank.
Baby, will you do that?
Hey!

Lift your arms,
And you rock your body line.
Jump to the back, baby, baby
Shake it in the line,
The John Crow Skank.
Baby, will you do that?
Hun.

Little one mama,
Dressed in your hot pants
You’re standing there
Why don’t you jump and prance?
You see that man
In his barefoot pants?
Just take him by his hands and say
Come let’s dance
The John Crow Skank.
Baby, you are doin it fine.
Hun!
The John Crow Skank
Baby you are doin it fine
Hey!

Wacka wacka
wacka wacka wacka
Wacka wacka
Hey!
-snip-
"Wacka wacka")
-snip-
This transcription is by Azizi Powell. Additions and corrections are welcome.

I think that "Wacka wacka" (or similarly spelled words) is meant to be imitative of the sound a vulture (John Crow) makes.

****
BONUS SOUND FILE: Lee Perry - Kotch Up Dub & John Crow Skank



RootsReggaeDubAmsterdam, Uploaded on Mar 13, 2010

From The Album: Skanking With The Upsetter
-snip-
"John Crow Skank" begins at 4:40 of this video.

****
ADDENDUM: INFORMATION ABOUT SKANKING [DANCE]
From http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Skank_(dance)
"Skanking is a form of dancing practiced in the ska, ska punk, hardcore punk, reggae, jump-up (a drum and bass sub-genre) and other music scenes.

The dance style originated in the 1950s or 1960s at Jamaican dance halls, where ska music was played.[1] British mods and skinheads of the 1960s adopted these types of dances and altered them. The dancing style was revived during the 1970s and 1980s 2 Tone era, and has been adopted by some individuals in the hardcore punk subculture.

Originally, skanking consisted of a “running man” motion of the legs to the beat while alternating bent-elbow fist-punches, left and right.[1] Over time, however, variations have emerged across the musical world. The punk version features a sharp striking out look with the arms, and is sometimes used in moshing to knock around others doing the same."...

****
Skanking, Lesson By Tony Verity



Jyo Ska Uploaded on Jul 7, 2008

Ska Documental in 'Sombrero Club' With Byron Lee & The Dragonaires. Jamaica 1964
-snip-
Here's a comment about skanking from that video's viewer comment thread:
hultonclint, Feb 17, 2009
"This kind of dancing was sort of manufactured. Prince Buster himself said there was no distinct "ska dance" like this. Basically, this was to fit it "ska" as one of the "dance crazes" (think Cha cha cha, rhumba, the Twist, etc) that consumer (upper class) audience would do at the time. One way the music industry sold records was by popularizing dances that went w/ certain music. In 1964, there was an attempt to popularize ska in the US as the latest craze which is why they made up these moves."

****
SPECULATIONS ABOUT WHY THE NAME "JOHN CROW" WAS USED FOR THIS DANCE
I'm assuming that "John Crow Skank" was (is) just one of a number of different ways of "skanking".

Derrick Morgan's "John Crow Skank" fits the description of an of instructional dance song in that part of its lyrics give instructions as to how to do that dance. But I'm curious as to why the name "John Crow" would be used for a type of dance.

This article http://jamaica-gleaner.com/gleaner/20090517/arts/arts1.html Extracts from the 'Jamaica Journal' - "Plants, Spirits and the meaning of 'John' in Jamaica" by John Rashford (May 17, 2009) suggests that [the plant that Jamaicans call] "John Crow Bead, and it links - by virtue of John as a generic term - to the Christmas dancing in Jamaica called John Canoe (also spelled Jonkonnu) and to the vulture called John Crow (Cathartes aura)... all have the name John because of their relationship to the world of spirits and spirit possession."

That article also indicates that "John Canoe, who is the chief dancer of a troupe of dancers, is the spirit person or obeahman (variously described as a witch doctor, magician, jumbie-man or sorcerer) and both the John Crow and the John Crow Bead are associated with death and with materials used in the practice of obeah."
-snip-
I don't think that the John Crow Skank was meant to be religious or refer to death or the spirit world. Yet, if the concept of John Crow was connected to the Jonkanoo dancers, did that connection inluence the choice of the name "John Crow" for this skank dance. Or could the choice of that dance name be as uncomplicated as the possibility that the John Crow (Jamaican vulture) might be known for its dance like movements? Having never seen a John Crow, I don't know if its movements could be equated to a dance or not.

It should also be noted that Jamaicans also refer to a type of rhythm as "John Crow Skank rhythm".
http://jamaica-gleaner.com/gleaner/20090719/ent/ent8.html "STORY OF THE SONG - One line makes a 'Bangarang'"
Editor's Note: This article is about the 1968 record "Bangarang" by Lester Sterling & Stanger Cole]
..."John Crow Skank

Among the musicians with whom [music producer Bunny 'Striker'] Lee worked at the time were Lloyd Chalmers, Aston and Carlton Barrett and Robbie Shakespeare. Cole definitely remembers keyboard player Glen Adams playing on Bangarang, introducing what was called the 'John Crow Skank' style into Jamaican music in the process"...

Another example of this rhythm is http://www.allmusic.com/song/john-crow-skank-rhythm-preacher-man-uk395-mt0012977802 John Crow Skank Rhythm: Preacher Man (UK395)

****
Thanks for visiting pancocojams.

Visitor comments are welcome.