Sept 15 1983[1]
Lyrics
Long dinner with some friends
Way out way out in Portmore[2]
Servants of the pharaoh
Slip in through an open door
All business
Bearing knives and zip guns
So get on the floor now
Every last one
Every last one
The heat drifts
Across the land
If I forget you Israel
Let me forget my right hand[3]
And on the floor Michael James Williams[4]
Feels his fingers start to freeze
And the whole scene's like a movie
Paramedics on their knees
Try, try your whole life
To be righteous and be good
Wind up on your own floor
Choking on blood
The heat drifts
Across the land
If I forget you Israel
Let me forget my right hand
And the house stills smells like onions
When the ambulance arrives
Gabriel in postal blue
Loads up the car and drives
To Spanish Town[5]
About three miles away
Where will the wicked run to
On that last day
On that last day
The heat drifts
Across the land
If I forget you Israel
Let me forget my right hand
Footnotes
1. "This is about the death of Prince Far I, one of the most unusual and awesome figures to arise from the reggae explosion of the seventies. He was murdered in his home by unknown assailants on the date which gives this song its title. Far I was by all accounts a good guy, and his songs are loving, almost paternal urgings to the listener. Early in his career, he was called 'King Cry Cry' owing to his tendency to burst into tears while singing. I'm not that emo yet but one almost wishes for that kind of sincerity, you know?" — Heretic Pride press kit ↩
2. Portmore is a Jamaican city. (Annotated TMG) ↩
3. This is from Psalms 137, Lament of the Exiles. Prince Far I was a Rastafarian and a deeply spiritual man, even making an album devoted to the Psalms titled Psalms for I. (Annotated TMG) " If I forget thee, O Jerusalem, let my right hand forget her cunning." (Psalms 137:5, KJV)↩
4. The birth name of Prince Far I. (Annotated TMG) ↩
5. Spanish Town is a city close town to Portmore in Jamaica. It is also Prince Far I's birthplace. (Annotated TMG) ↩