Small Axe
Why boasteth thyself, O evil men;
Playing smart and-a not being clever!
I said you're working iniquity
To achieve vanity (if a-so, a-so),
But the goodness of Jah - Jah
Idureth for Iver.
So if you are the big tree,
We are the small axe
Ready to cut you down, (well sharp)
To cut you down.
These are the words of my master
Keep on tellin' me: no weak heart shall prosper.
Eh! Whosoever diggeth a pit
Shall fall in it - fall in it;
And whosoever diggeth a pit
Shall fall in it (fall in it).
If you are the big tree,
Let me tell you that: we are the small axe
Sharpened ready - ready to cut you down, (well sharp)
To cut you down.
(Ooh-ooh-ooh-ooh-ooh; to cut you down;
Ooh-ooh-ooh-ooh-ooh; to cut you down).
These are the words of my master
Tellin' me that: no weak heart shall prosper.
And whosoever diggeth a pit
Shall fall in it, uh! - bury in it!
And whosoever diggeth a pit
Shall bury in it, uh! (bury in it)
If you are the big, big tree,
We are the small axe
Ready to cut you down, (well sharp)
To cut you down.
If you are the big, big tree,
Let me tell you that: we are the small axe
Ready to cut you down, (well sharp)
To cut you down.
Get up, stand up: stand up for your rights!
Get up, stand up: stand up for your rights!
Get up, stand up: stand up for your rights!
Get up, stand up: don't give up the fight!
Preacherman, don't tell me,
Heaven is under the earth.
I know you don't know
What life is really worth.
It's not all that glitters is gold;
'Alf the story has never been told:
So now you see the light, eh!
Stand up for your rights. Come on!
Get up, stand up: stand up for your rights!
Get up, stand up: don't give up the fight!
Get up, stand up: stand up for your rights!
Get up, stand up: don't give up the fight!
Most people think,
Great God will come from the skies,
Take away everything
And make everybody feel high.
But if you know what life is worth,
You will look for yours on earth:
And now you see the light,
You stand up for your rights. Jah!
Get up, stand up! (Jah, Jah!)
Stand up for your rights! (Oh-hoo!)
Get up, stand up! (Get up, stand up!)
Don't give up the fight! (Life is your right!)
Get up, stand up! (So we can't give up the fight!)
Stand up for your rights! (Lord, Lord!)
Get up, stand up! (Keep on struggling on!)
Don't give up the fight! (Yeah!)
We sick an' tired of-a your *ism-skism game -
Dyin' 'n' goin' to heaven in-a Jesus' name, Lord.
We know when we understand:
Almighty God is a living man.
You can fool some people sometimes,
But you can't fool all the people all the time.
So now we see the light (What you gonna do?),
We gonna stand up for our rights! (Yeah, yeah, yeah!)
Oh, you better:
Get up, stand up! (In the morning! Git it up!)
Stand up for your rights! (Stand up for our rights!)
Get up, stand up!
Don't give up the fight! (Don't give it up, don't give it up!)
Get up, stand up! (Get up, stand up!)
Stand up for your rights! (Get up, stand up!)
Get up, stand up! ( ... )
Don't give up the fight! (Get up, stand up!)
Get up, stand up! ( ... )
Stand up for your rights!
Get up, stand up!
Don't give up the fight! /fadeout/
Could you be loved and be loved?
Could you be loved and be loved?
Don't let them fool ya,
Or even try to school ya! Oh, no!
We've got a mind of our own,
So go to hell if what you're thinking is not right!
Love would never leave us alone,
A-yin the darkness there must come out to light.
Could you be loved and be loved?
Could you be loved, wo now! - and be loved?
(The road of life is rocky and you may stumble too,
So while you point your fingers someone else is judging you)
(Could you be - could you be - could you be loved?
Could you be - could you be loved?
Could you be - could you be - could you be loved?
Could you be - could you be loved?)
Don't let them change ya, oh! -
Or even rearrange ya! Oh, no!
We've got a life to live.
They say: only - only -
only the fittest of the fittest shall survive -
Stay alive! Eh!
Could you be loved and be loved?
Could you be loved, wo now! - and be loved?
(The people who walk in darkness have seen a great light;
Could you be loved? Could you be loved?
Could you be - could you be - could you be loved?
............................ thing's gonna be all right!
Could you be loved? Could you be loved?
Could you be - could you be - could you be loved?)
Don't let them change ya, oh! -
Or even rearrange ya! Oh, no!
Get up! Get up! Get up! Get up! Get up! Get up! Get up! Get up!
Get up! Get up!
Get up! Get up! Get up, now!
We've been - we've been a-sit down too long!
Get up! Get up! Get up, now!
Get up, now! Up - eh!
Could you be loved and be loved?
Could you be loved, wo now! - and be loved?
(You ain't gonna miss your water until your well runs dry;
No matter how you treat him, the man will never be satisfied.
Could you be - could you be - could you be loved?
Could you be - could you be loved?)
Say something! Say something!
(Could you be - could you be - could you be loved?)
Say something! (Could you be - could you be loved?)
Say something!
Say something! Say something!
Say something!
Say something!
Say something!
Say something! Reggae, reggae!
Say something! Rockers, rockers!
Say something! Reggae, reggae!
Say something! Rockers, rockers!
Say something!
Say something!
Eh! I am on the rock
And then I check a stock;
I have to run like a fugitive
To save the life I live.
I'm gonna be iron like a lion in Zion;
I'm gonna be iron like a lion in Zion.
Oh, yeah! Iron, lion, Zion - lion, Zion!
I'm on the run
But I ain't got no gun.
See, they want to be the star,
So they fightin' tribal war,
And they saying, "Iron like a lion in Zion -
Iron like a lion in Zion -
Iron, lion, Zion!"
I'm on the rock-a,
Seel-ya-bub, I take a stock,
I had to run like a fugitive, good Lord!
Just to - just to save the life I live. Oh, now!
I'm still - I'm gonna be Iron like a lion in Zion.
(What did I say?) I'm gonna be Iron like a lion in Zion.
What did you say? Iron, lion, Zion!
I'm on the run,
But I don't got no gun.
See, my brothers wanna be the stars,
So they fighting tribal war,
And they saying, "Iron like a lion in Zion."
Wo! Lion like iron a Zion!
Eel-ya-bub-a, Iron, lion, Zion. Yeah, now, now!
Iron, lion, Zion! I'm on the run! (I'm on the run)
Iron, lion, Zion!
I remember when-a we used to sit
In a government yard in Trenchtown,
Oba - obaserving the hypocrites
As they would mingle with the good people we meet (meet).
Good friends we have, oh, good friends we've lost
Along the way (way).
In this great future, you can't forget your past:
So dry your tears, I say,
And: No, woman, no cry;
No, woman, no cry.
Woman, little sister, don't shed no tears:
No, woman, no cry.
Said - said: I remember, oh, when-a we used to sit
In a government yard in Trenchtown;
And then Georgie would make the fire light,
As it was logwood burnin' through the night (night).
Then we would cook cornmeal porridge,
Of which I'll share with you (ooh).
You see, my feet i-is my only carriage
So I've got to push on through.
But while I'm gone-a, baby:
Everything's gonna be all right!
Everything's gonna be all right!
Everything's gonna be all right-a!
Everything's gonna be all right!
Everything's gonna be all right - yeah!
Everything's gonna be all right!
Everything's gonna be all right-a!
Everything's gonna be all right!
No, woman, no cry; oh, no, no!
Sayin', woman, now: no, woman, no cry.
Woman, little sister, you can dry your weeping eyes;
No, woman, no cry. Eh!
---
/Guitar solo/
---
(Little darlin', don't shed no tears;
No, woman, no cry.
Little sister, don't shed no tears;
No, woman, no cry)
Redemption Song
Old pirates, yes, they rob I;
Sold I to the merchant ships,
Minutes after they took I
From the bottomless pit.
But my 'and was made strong
By the 'and of the Almighty.
We forward in this generation
Triumphantly.
Won't you help to sing
Another song of freedom? -
'Cause all I ever have:
Redemption songs;
Redemption songs.
Emancipate yourself from mental slavery;
None but ourself can free our minds.
Have no fear for atomic energy,
'Cause none of them can stop the time.
How long shall they kill our prophets,
While we stand aside and look?
Some say it's just a part of it:
We've got to fulfil de book.
Won't you help to sing
Another song of freedom? -
'Cause all I ever have:
Redemption songs;
Redemption songs;
Redemption songs.
Sing wi' me, children:
In every way, now;
In everyday;
In every way;
In everyday.
Emancipate yourself from mental slavery;
None but ourself can free our mind.
Have no fear for atomic energy,
'Cause none of them can stop the time.
How long shall dey kill our prophets,
While we stand aside and look?
Some say it's just a part of it:
We've got to fulfil de book.
Won't you help to sing, o-oo-oo!
Another song of freedom? - yeah, child!
'Cause all I ever had, did ya know? -
Redemption songs.
Sing the harmony:
Redemption songs;
Come on with me, children!
In every way, now;
In everyday;
In every way, now;
In every way.
Buffalo Soldier, Dreadlock Rasta:
There was a Buffalo Soldier in the heart of America,
Stolen from Africa, brought to America,
Fighting on arrival, fighting for survival.
I mean it, when I analyze the stench -
To me it makes a lot of sense:
How the Dreadlock Rasta was the Buffalo Soldier,
And he was taken from Africa, brought to America,
Fighting on arrival, fighting for survival.
Said he was a Buffalo Soldier, Dreadlock Rasta -
Buffalo Soldier in the heart of America.
If you know your history,
Then you would know where you coming from,
Then you wouldn't have to ask me,
Who the 'eck do I think I am.
I'm just a Buffalo Soldier in the heart of America,
Stolen from Africa, brought to America,
Said he was fighting on arrival, fighting for survival;
Said he was a Buffalo Soldier win the war for America.
Dreadie, woy yoy yoy, woy yoy-yoy yoy,
Woy yoy yoy yoy, yoy yoy-yoy yoy!
Woy yoy yoy, woy yoy-yoy yoy,
Woy yoy yoy yoy, yoy yoy-yoy yoy!
Buffalo Soldier troddin' through the land, wo-ho-ooh!
Said he wanna ran, then you wanna hand,
Troddin' through the land, yea-hea, yea-ea.
Said he was a Buffalo Soldier win the war for America;
Buffalo Soldier, Dreadlock Rasta,
Fighting on arrival, fighting for survival;
Driven from the mainland to the heart of the Caribbean.
Singing, woy yoy yoy, woy yoy-yoy yoy,
Woy yoy yoy yoy, yoy yoy-yoy yoy!
Woy yoy yoy, woy yoy-yoy yoy,
Woy yoy yoy yoy, yoy yoy-yoy yoy!
Troddin' through San Juan in the arms of America;
Troddin' through Jamaica, a Buffalo Soldier# -
Fighting on arrival, fighting for survival:
Buffalo Soldier, Dreadlock Rasta.
Woy yoy yoy, woy yoy-yoy yoy,
Woy yoy yoy yoy, yoy yoy-yoy yoy!
Woy yoy yoy, woy yoy-yoy yoy,
Woy yoy yoy yoy, yoy yoy-yoy yoy!