Ska Tunes for Our Times, Version 2

Dave Barker
"What a Confusion"

U Roy
"Earthquake" ("What a Confusion" version)

"What a confusion on this land
Man will soon start eating man

While the grass is growing
The horses are starving
Cost of living rising
While poverty flowing
And now that Jah book has been opened
From A to Z
Brothers killing brothers just for a piece of bread
just for a cent, he'll 'move your head

What a confusion on this land
Man will soon start eating man

This is the hand of Jah writing on the wall
United we stand, but divided we fall
Now let this be a lesson for one and all

What a confusion on this land
Man will soon start eating man

The fat is laughing, while the meager is crying
Believe it or not brothers, I'm not lying

What a confusion on this land
Man will soon start eating man"

Despite the depressingly gruesome lyrics, it's a beautiful, soulful song. And Scratch conveys Rasta Babylon Revelation Time Dread like no one else...

As I mentioned in the comments section of recent The Trojans post, the Dave Barker/Selecter version of this song is really worth tracking down. It's on "Cruel Britannia," a very underrated Selecter album, which was released in 1998 on Snapper and re-released on Moon Ska World in 2004. You can listen to a sample of this song on CD Baby. While you are there, make sure to check out "The Viper," its version "Lyrical Sniper," and their cover of Delroy Wilson's "Better Must Come." Good stuff.