“D’yer Mak’er” was not satirical. Actually, it was one of the first forays into reggae by a major rock group.
The title comes from an old English music hall (vaudeville) joke. To get the joke, you have to do the following bit with a thick Cockney accent.
Cockney #1: Me wife went on an ‘oliday to one o’ them islands in the Caribbean.
Cockney #2: D’yer mak’er?
Cockney #1: Naw, she went of 'er own free will.
(RIMSHOT)
The idea is, in a Cockney accent, “Did you make her?” sounds a lot like “Jamaica.”
It’s not a great record by any means, but now that you know what the title means, you might appreciate it a little more. Jimmy Page was one of the first rock musicians to show an appreciation for world music (think of the middle Eastern influences in “Kashmir”), and he was one of the first to get into reggae. “D’yer Mak’er” is really a not-too-successful experiment in combining rock with reggae.
Obviously, other bands would fuse the two genres more successfully.