# Definitive recordings of these reggae songs **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [May 3, 2004, 1:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/definitive-recordings-of-these-reggae-songs/243275 "2004-05-03T13:46:42Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2004, 1:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/definitive-recordings-of-these-reggae-songs/243275/1 "2004-05-03T13:46:42Z")
I was wondering if anyone could tell me which recording artists recorded the definitive (most popular/one that made the song famous) recordings of the reggae songs “Brown Girl in the Ring” and “Rivers of Babylon.” ---
**Author:** ![WernhamHogg](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/a587f6/32.png) [@WernhamHogg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WernhamHogg)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2004, 2:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/definitive-recordings-of-these-reggae-songs/243275/2 "2004-05-03T14:20:56Z")
“Rivers of Babylon” by the Melodians, 1968. “Brown Girl in the Ring” by the Maytones, 1970. Are you sitting there with the Boney M single of Rivers b/w Brown Girl? ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2004, 2:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/definitive-recordings-of-these-reggae-songs/243275/3 "2004-05-03T14:34:17Z")
No. Actually, I’ve never heard a Boney M recording in my life. But my wife, who grew up in India, remembers these from her childhood. She remembers the Boney M, but she’s interested in hearing the original versions. ---
**Author:** ![WernhamHogg](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/a587f6/32.png) [@WernhamHogg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WernhamHogg)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2004, 2:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/definitive-recordings-of-these-reggae-songs/243275/4 "2004-05-03T14:57:37Z")
Those old ska songs can be hard to track down… good luck. ---
**Author:** ![Rufus\_Xavier](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/eada6e/32.png) [@Rufus\_Xavier](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rufus_Xavier)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2004, 3:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/definitive-recordings-of-these-reggae-songs/243275/5 "2004-05-03T15:02:15Z")
‘Rivers of Babylon’ can be found on the soundtrack CD for **The Harder They Come**. ---
**Author:** ![WernhamHogg](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/a587f6/32.png) [@WernhamHogg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WernhamHogg)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2004, 3:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/definitive-recordings-of-these-reggae-songs/243275/6 "2004-05-03T15:05:23Z")
> [@Rufus Xavier](#): > > ‘Rivers of Babylon’ can be found on the soundtrack CD for **The Harder They Come**. Hey, you’re right. I was about to put “Jimmy Cliff,” as the original artist because of the song, then googled it… I didn’t even realize that it wasn’t Jimmy Cliff singing it on the soundtrack. ---
**Author:** ![vibrotronica](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/a9a28c/32.png) [@vibrotronica](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vibrotronica)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2004, 3:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/definitive-recordings-of-these-reggae-songs/243275/7 "2004-05-03T15:06:48Z")
“By the Rivers of Babylon” is a traditional spiritual song adopted from Psalm 137. ---
**Author:** ![don\_t\_ask](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@don\_t\_ask](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/don_t_ask)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2004, 3:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/definitive-recordings-of-these-reggae-songs/243275/8 "2004-05-03T15:25:31Z")
> [@Rufus Xavier](#): > > ‘Rivers of Babylon’ can be found on the soundtrack CD for **The Harder They Come**. Genius. When the _Boney M_ video clip was played on TV I used to annoy my friends by insisting that I had heard it before. Well I was the only one of us who saw **The Harder They Come**. If only there had been an internet in the 1970s. And now that you mention **The Harder They Come** , it must be the most difficult to understand (verbally) movie that I have ever seen. ---
**Author:** ![Rufus\_Xavier](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/eada6e/32.png) [@Rufus\_Xavier](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rufus_Xavier)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2004, 7:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/definitive-recordings-of-these-reggae-songs/243275/9 "2004-05-03T19:00:16Z")
Yes, I think Harder they Come could use subtitles. But then, I’m not so sure what they said half the time in Lock Stock and Two Smoking Barrels, either. Mad Max(the original) gave me trouble, as well. ---
**Author:** ![Eonwe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eonwe/32/240_2.png) [@Eonwe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eonwe)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2004, 7:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/definitive-recordings-of-these-reggae-songs/243275/10 "2004-05-03T19:31:38Z")
Hey **Rufus Xavier** , your last name wouldn’t happen to be Sasparilla, would it? ---
**Author:** ![JackaRoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/b5e925/32.png) [@JackaRoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JackaRoe)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2004, 7:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/definitive-recordings-of-these-reggae-songs/243275/11 "2004-05-03T19:58:33Z")
> [@Rufus Xavier](#): > > Yes, I think Harder they Come could use subtitles. But then, I’m not so sure what they said half the time in Lock Stock and Two Smoking Barrels, either. Mad Max(the original) gave me trouble, as well. The last time i saw this movie on Bravo or IFC it did indeed have subtitles. I was suprised at first to see English subtitles for an English movie, but the subtitles did make it easier to understand some of the dialouge. ---
**Author:** ![Rufus\_Xavier](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/eada6e/32.png) [@Rufus\_Xavier](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rufus_Xavier)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2004, 8:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/definitive-recordings-of-these-reggae-songs/243275/12 "2004-05-03T20:18:04Z")
**To Eonwe** : Indeed, my last name is Sarsparilla, and one day I found a kangaroo that followed me home and now it belongs to me. **To JackaRoe** :I will have to watch the movie again, with the subtitles. That would be enjoyable.