I say hail that man!...a so. Rod of Correction is one of my favorite early roots reggae tunes, primarily because of the vocals. Clancy Eccles sings with a cool deep Jamaican patois enhanced with just the right amount of reverb. Listen in particular when he sings Down in the bottom of the ocean,* 'down' has that long 'o' sound like 'cone'. Amazing. I wish he had made a children's album, can you imagine him singing tunes like Farmer in the Dell, Three Blind Mice, and This Old Man?
Like Now Be Thankful, its sunny disposition balances against a darker religious interior, but whereas Fairport's tune focuses on heretical imagery and torture from more of an inquisitional angle, Rod of Correction is pure fire and brimstone, essentially warning non-believers about the power of the Almighty. Clancy sure sounds like he's in a good mood as he sings about how Lot's wife turned a pillar of salt, down in
Rod of Correction was written as a political song in support of Michael Manley, for whose party, the People's National Party, Eccles was chief songwriter. Here's an interesting article about all that.
*I am curious about why we say "down in"; eg, Rick Nelson's Travellin Man...'Down in old Mexico" or "Down in old Hong Kong." What's up?
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