"Day-O (The Banana Boat Song)" is a traditionalJamaican folk song. The song hasmento influences, but it is commonly classified as an example of the better knowncalypso music.
It is acall and responsework song, from the point of view of dock workers working the night shift loadingbananas onto ships. The lyrics describe how daylight has come, their shift is over, and they want their work to be counted up so that they can go home.
The best-known version was released by American singerHarry Belafonte in 1956 (originally titled"Banana Boat (Day-O)") and later became one of his signature songs. That same yearthe Tarriers released an alternative version that incorporated the chorus of another Jamaican call and responsefolk song, "Hill and Gully Rider". This version was played during an interview with Bob Carey (formerly of The Tarriers) on Folk Music Worldwide in January 1964.[3] Both versions became simultaneously popular the following year, placing 5th and 6th on 20 February 1957,US Top 40 Singles chart.[4] The Tarriers version was covered multiple times in 1956 and 1957, including bythe Fontane Sisters,Sarah Vaughan,Steve Lawrence, andShirley Bassey, all of whom charted in the top 40 in their respective countries.[5]
Belafonte described "Day-O" as "a song about struggle, about black people in a colonized life doing the most grueling work," in a 2011 interview withGwen Ifill onPBS News Hour. He said, "I took that song and honed it into an anthem that the world loved."
"The Banana Boat Song" likely originated around the beginning of the 20th century when the banana trade in Jamaica was growing. It was sung by Jamaican dockworkers, who typically worked at night to avoid the heat of the daytime sun. When daylight arrived, they expected their boss would arrive to tally the bananas so they could go home.[6]
The song was first recorded byTrinidadian singerEdric Connor and his band the Caribbeans on the 1952 albumSongs from Jamaica; the song was called "Day Dah Light".[7]Harry Belafonte based his version on Connor's 1952 andLouise Bennett's 1954 recordings.[8][9]
In 1955, American singer-songwritersLord Burgess andWilliam Attaway wrote a version of the lyrics forThe Colgate Comedy Hour, in which the song was performed by Harry Belafonte.[10] Belafonte recorded the song forRCA Victor and this is the version that is best known to listeners today, as it reached number five on theBillboard charts in 1957 and later became Belafonte'ssignature song. Side two of Belafonte's 1956Calypso album opens with "Star O", a song referring to the day shift ending when the first star is seen in the sky. During recording, when asked for its title, Harry spells, "Day Done Light".
Also in 1956,folk singerBob Gibson, who had traveled to Jamaica and heard the song, taught his version to the folk bandthe Tarriers. They recorded a version of that song that incorporated the chorus of "Hill and Gully Rider", anotherJamaican folk song. This release became their biggest hit, reaching number four on the pop charts, where it outperformed Belafonte's version. The Tarriers' version was recorded bythe Fontane Sisters,Sarah Vaughan, andSteve Lawrence in 1956, all of whom charted in theUS Top 40, and byShirley Bassey in 1957, whose recording became a hit on theUnited Kingdom singles chart.[11] The Tarriers, or some subset of the three members of the group (Erik Darling, Bob Carey andAlan Arkin, later better known as an actor) are sometimes credited as the writers of the song.
Michiko Hamamura became famous in Japan as the Banana Boat Girl in 1957
The Fontane Sisters recorded the Tarriers version in a recording of the song forDot Records in 1956. It charted to number 13 in the US in 1957.[14]
Sarah Vaughan and an orchestra conducted byDavid Carroll recorded ajazzy version forMercury Records in 1956, credited to Darling, Carey, and Arkin of the Tarriers. It charted at number 19 on the US Top 40 charts in 1957.[5][14]
Steve Lawrence recorded the Tarriers version in 1957 forCoral Records for his albumSongs by Steve Lawrence, with a chorus and orchestra directed byDick Jacobs. It peaked at number 18 on the US Top 40 charts that year.[14]
"Banana Boat (Day-O)", a parody byStan Freberg andBilly May released in 1957 byCapitol Records, features ongoing disagreement between an enthusiastic Jamaican lead singer (played by Freberg) and abongo-playingbeatnik (played byPeter Leeds) who "don't dig loud noises" and has the catchphrase "You're too loud, man". When he hears the lyric about the "deadly blacktaranch-la" (actually the highly venomousBrazilian wandering spider, commonly dubbed "banana spider"), the beatnik protests, "No, man! Don't sing aboutspiders, I mean, oooo! like I don't digspiders". Freberg's version was popular, reaching number 25 on the US Top 40 charts in 1957,[14] and received much radio airplay; Harry Belafonte reportedly disliked the parody.[15] Stan Freberg's version was the basis for the jingle for theTV advert for the UKchocolate barTrio from the mid-1980s to the early to mid-1990s, the lyrics being, "Trio, Trio, I want a Trio and I want one now. Not one, not two, but three things in it; chocolatey biscuit and a toffee taste too."
Dutch comedianAndré van Duin released his version in 1972 called "Het Bananenlied" ("The Banana Song"). This song asks repetitively why bananas are bent. It reaches the conclusion that if the bananas weren't bent they wouldn't fit into their peels.
German bandTrio performed a parody with "Bommerlunder" (a German schnapps) substituted for the words "daylight come" in the 1980s.
TheSerbiancomedy rock bandthe Kuguars, composed of renowned Serbian actors, achieved widespread popularity with their 1998 cover of the song "Dejo majstore." Originally dedicated to theYugoslav nationalassociation football team playerDejan "Dejo" Savićević, the song's lyrics were inSerbian. This rendition quickly became a nationwide hit, garnering significant attention. Additionally, a promotional video was produced to accompany the song's release, further solidifying its status within theSerbian music scene.
In 1988–89, Belafonte's children, David andGina, parodied the song in a commercial about theOldsmobile Toronado Trofeo. (David was singing "Trofeo" in the same style as "Day-O" in the song).
A 1991 Brazilian commercial used a parody of the song to promote their bubble gum brand "Bubbaloo Banana" with lyrics dedicated to the banana-flavoured candy
A 1991 Taiwanese commercial of Luyouapricot kernel drink (綠友杏仁茶) parodied the song with lyrics dedicated to the apricot kernel drink, sung byLee Mao-shan. The song was also released in its full version titled "Tê-Ooh" (茶噢).
A parody of this song was used in anE-Trade commercial that first aired onSuper Bowl LII in 2018.
Biscuit manufacturerJacob's parodied the song in the 1980s for advertisements for the Trio biscuit bar, sung by an animated character called Suzy.
Food manufacturerKellogg's parodied the song in their 2001 television advertisement for their breakfast cerealFruit 'n Fibre.
For an ad campaign that started in 1991, now-defunctSeattle-based department store chainThe Bon Marché used a version of the song with alternate lyrics in their commercials.[16]
The Swedish humor showRally, which aired between 1995 and 2002 inSveriges Radio P3 made a version called "Hey Mr. Taliban", which speaks aboutOsama Bin Laden.
"The Rockin Roll Morning Show" onKOMP 92.3 created a flash video called "Osama bin Laden Nowhere To Run - Nowhere To Hide" that features United States Secretary of StateColin Powell (who was himself of Jamaican descent) singing a parody of the song about Osama bin Laden getting bombed, while U.S. PresidentGeorge W. Bush plays a drum in front of the White House.[17]
The Conkarah song "Banana", released in 2019 byS-Curve Records, with contributions fromShaggy, samples largely and is an adaptation of the Harry Belafonte original.[23]
The original 1956 Belafonte recording is heard in the 1988 filmBeetlejuice in a dinner scene in which the guests are supernaturally compelled to dance along to the song by the film's protagonists.[24] It was sung by Beetlejuice (Stephen Ouimette) and Lydia Deetz (Alyson Court) in "Critter Sitters" the first episode of theanimated television series in 1989, and it appeared in the 2019Broadwaymusical adaptation. It also appeared in the original film's 2024 sequelBeetlejuice Beetlejuice, where the song is performed by a children's choir.[25][26]
On season 3, episode 14 of the TV seriesThe Muppet Showin 1979, Harry Belafonte performs the song accompanied byFozzie Bear (Frank Oz) and otherMuppets. Fozzie requests to be a tally man as identified in the lyrics of the song. Belafonte explains what a tally man is as he proceeds to sing with other Muppets accompanying singing the song'sanswer.
In the 2024 Swedish documentary filmThe Last Journey,Filip Hammar's father Lars Hammar listened to the song during his younger days, and loved to tell a story about Harry Belafonte among his friends.[30] The song was also featured in the film during one of the scenes.
^Stanley, Bob (2022). "Whipped Cream and Other Delights: Adventures in Beatleland".Let's Do It: The Birth of Pop Music: A History. New York: Pegasis Books. p. 564.ISBN9781639362516.OCLC1296943330.
^The Louise Bennett version ofDay O (The Banana Boat Song) is available and documented in both French and English on theJamaica – Mento 1951–1958 album (2009)
JAMAICA-MENTO 1951–1958(in French and English)—The English version of the text can be found at the bottom of the page. These lyrics are different from Belafonte's original version.
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