No Hope Road
Nostalgic Echoes: Life's Journey through Peter, Bunny, and Bob
Lyrics
After mass at the record stall
Reflecting on a visit to a record store after mass.
Was out first blast of Peter, Bunny and Bob
Recalling the first exposure to music by Peter, Bunny, and Bob Marley.
Blaring out if the stereo
Listening to their music loudly on a stereo.
Someone had opened the Black Ark of the Covenant
Comparing the impact of the music to the opening of a sacred container (Black Ark).
I played the punter, you on the rob
Playing the role of a listener while someone else steals (on the rob).
Til we'd 910 of Peter, Bunny and Bob
Accumulating a substantial collection of Peter, Bunny, and Bob's music.
They put your back up against the wall
Facing challenges or opposition.
Necessity, the mother of invention.
Expressing the idea that necessity drives innovation.
In your bedroom on the linoleum beneath clouds of smoke.
Recalling a moment in a bedroom with linoleum flooring and smoke.
You collapsed into my arms in ribbons
Describing someone collapsing into arms while experimenting with smoking.
As you practiced your first toke.
Reference to the first experience of smoking marijuana.
Well pale skinned our sons and daughters
Describing offspring with fair skin.
And our homes were bricks and mortar
Depicting a stable home environment.
But inside the same internal rhythm as the beat of the 9 mile day
Highlighting a shared internal rhythm in the community.
For we were idle and we were wrong side of the tracks like Peter, Bunny and Bob
Being on the wrong side of societal norms, akin to Peter, Bunny, and Bob.
To kill the boredom we kicked a ball & when the sun shone, we lit up like a tournament
Using sports to combat boredom and celebrating sunny days.
No hope road but the day revolved round ""Signing Off"" and Peter, Bunny and Bob
Living in a place with little hope but finding solace in music and radio programs like "Signing Off."
Our sound system was a 2 in 1, hanging out on top of our extension
Describing a makeshift sound system on an extension.
On the tar roof, on our Mothers towels the soundtrack to summer days
Recalling shared moments on a tar roof with music as the soundtrack.
Teenagers trying to find their place in post-colonial decades
Navigating identity in the post-colonial era.
And we drank to those recordings from the land of wood and water
Drinking to music from Jamaica (land of wood and water).
As our hearts pulsed to the laid-back rhythm, to the beat of the 9 mile day
Feeling the heartbeat align with a relaxed rhythm, akin to the 9-mile day.
The days of broke had us in a choke but inhaled through Peter, Bunny and Bob
Experiencing financial difficulties but finding solace in music.
We wrestled free of the colony to suffer worse at the hands of our own governments
Overcoming colonial rule only to face challenges from local governments.
In your bedroom on the linoleum floor we dreamt we could escape
Dreaming of escaping the limitations imposed by society.
The threat of carving out a living that would seal our parent's faith
Acknowledging the struggles to create a better life than their parents.
Now we both have sons and daughters, know the price of bricks and mortar
Reflecting on parenthood and the responsibilities that come with it.
Still our release is to retreat back to the beat of the 9 mile day
Finding relief in returning to the familiar rhythm of the 9-mile day.
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