In regards to the meaning of this song:
Before a live performance on the EP Five Stories Falling, Geoff states “It’s about the last time I went to visit my grandmother in Columbus, and I saw that she was dying and it was the last time I was going to see her. It is about realizing how young you are, but how quickly you can go.”
That’s the thing about Geoff and his sublime poetry, you think it’s about one thing, but really it’s about something entirely different. But the lyrics are still universal and omnipresent, ubiquitous, even. So relatable. That’s one thing I love about this band. I also love their live performances, raw energy and Geoff’s beautiful, imperfectly perfect vocals. His voice soothes my aching soul.
Yes, mi friend, mi friend
Dem set me free again
Yes, mi friend, mi friend
Me deh pon street again
The bars could not hold me
Force could not control me now
They try to keep me down
But God put me around
Yes, I've been accused
Wrongly abused now
But through the powers of the Most High
They've got to turn me loose, mh
Don't try to cold me up on this bridge, now
I've got to reach Mount Zion
The highest region
If you a bull-bucka
Let me tell you that
I'm a duppy conqueror, conqueror
Yes, mi friend, mi good friend
Dem set me free again, mh
Yes, mi friend
Dem turn me loose again
Don't try to cold me up on this bridge, now
I've got to reach Mount Zion
The highest region
If you a bull-bucka
Let me tell you
I'm a duppy conqueror, conqueror
Yes, mi friend, mi friend, mi friend, mi friend
We deh a street again
Yes, mi friend, mi friend, mi friend
Dem set me free again
Don't try to show off
Fi make yuh friend dem laugh, what a la-la
For I will cut you off
And I will take the last laugh
I'm crying
Yes, mi friend
Me deh a street again, yeah
Yes mi friend, mi friend, mi friend
Dem set me free again, ooh, yeah, mmh
Bars could not hold me
Force could not control now
Dem set me free again
Yes, mi friend, mi friend
Me deh pon street again
The bars could not hold me
Force could not control me now
They try to keep me down
But God put me around
Yes, I've been accused
Wrongly abused now
But through the powers of the Most High
They've got to turn me loose, mh
Don't try to cold me up on this bridge, now
I've got to reach Mount Zion
The highest region
If you a bull-bucka
Let me tell you that
I'm a duppy conqueror, conqueror
Yes, mi friend, mi good friend
Dem set me free again, mh
Yes, mi friend
Dem turn me loose again
Don't try to cold me up on this bridge, now
I've got to reach Mount Zion
The highest region
If you a bull-bucka
Let me tell you
I'm a duppy conqueror, conqueror
Yes, mi friend, mi friend, mi friend, mi friend
We deh a street again
Yes, mi friend, mi friend, mi friend
Dem set me free again
Don't try to show off
Fi make yuh friend dem laugh, what a la-la
For I will cut you off
And I will take the last laugh
I'm crying
Yes, mi friend
Me deh a street again, yeah
Yes mi friend, mi friend, mi friend
Dem set me free again, ooh, yeah, mmh
Bars could not hold me
Force could not control now
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I believe that Bob used to be scared to play / sing in front of people, so before they started performing on stage, they decided to play in a cemetery and perform for the spirits. They figured if they could play in such a 'scary' place, that playing for live people would be easy, hence the name of the song. Yes Duppy means evil spirits etc...so they were performing for the spirits and he conquered his fears.
I don't know if Mr. Kevin here got the words right to this song, I'll find out the lyrics and post them.
this song was written after he was released from jail on a ganja charge, i think he is trying to tell the world that pot is ok and that its his right to smoke it. and the lyrics on here are wrong.
Im a Duppy Conqueror, Conqueror.
not to b critical or nethin but ur sorta misin partsa a da song
According to Paul Theroux's Mosquito Coast, a Duppy is your exact opposite; incarnated as a person right now also walking the earth. Therefore, it can be assumed that you and it would probably not get along very well - and actually destroy each other. Bob is saying quite a lot when he says he has the power to defeat such a person!
A duppy is like an evil spirit... Bob had the spiritual power to conquer them. It talks about this in "Catch the Fire", his biography.
Yes - catch a fire talks about a duppy that visited Bob while he was sleeping. Rita was in the room with him. I think in the song it can also mean conquering ones own demons - the negitive things that make you worry so !
I've been to Jamaica a couple of times and have become aware of some of their slang terms. A duppy is an evil spirit that comes to you in your dreams. It can haunt your soul and try and defeat you as a person. Such dreams are considered to be bad luck in Jamaica. Bob said when he was alive that he had the same ghost visit him several times and then all of the sudden he conquered it and the dreams stopped. This song is about conquering duppy's which not many people have said they have done.
Actually it was Lee Scratch Perry who wrote this song. because Bob was down and tiered and Scratch believed it was an evil spirit. But to tell Bob that he was strong enough to conquer his duppy.(see dgtty's comment) he wrote him this song.