Israelites

Album: Intensified (1968)
Charted: 1 9
Play Video
  • Get up in the morning, slaving for bread, sir
    So that every mouth can be fed
    Poor me Israelites, ah

    Get up in the morning, slaving for bread, sir
    So that every mouth can be fed
    Poor me Israelite

    My wife and my kids, they packed up and leave me
    Darling, she said, I was yours to be seen
    Poor me Israelites

    Shirt them a-tear up, trousers is gone
    I don't want to end up like Bonnie and Clyde
    Poor me Israelites

    After a storm there must be a calm
    They catch me in the farm
    You sound your alarm
    Poor me Israelites

    I said I get up in the morning, slaving for bread, sir
    So that every mouth can be fed
    Poor me Israelites

    I said my wife and my kids, they are packed up and leave me
    Darling, she said, I was yours to be seen
    Poor me Israelites

    Look me shirts them a-tear up, trousers are gone
    I don't want to end up like Bonnie and Clyde
    Poor me Israelites

    After a storm there must be a calm
    They catch me in the farm
    You sound your alarm
    Poor me Israelites
    Poor me Israelites, poor me Israelites, poor me Israelites Writer/s: Desmond Dekker
    Publisher: Universal Music Publishing Group
    Lyrics licensed and provided by LyricFind

Comments: 2

  • AnonymousI am sure I heard this song much earlier than 1968, it was in 1963, summer, on a rock channel in Salt Lake City. Doesn’t anyone else remember?
  • Lasse from Finlandif I remember correctly on a Swedish radio program back in the days they said that Israelites is slang in Jamaica for “idiots or stupid people “ I believed it until now. It wasn’t true then and it isn’t true now
see more comments

Editor's Picks

Hawksley Workman

Hawksley WorkmanSongwriter Interviews

One of Canada's most popular and eclectic performers, Hawksley tells stories about his oldest songs, his plentiful side projects, and the ways that he keeps his songwriting fresh.

Penny Ford of Snap!

Penny Ford of Snap!Songwriter Interviews

The original voice of Snap! this story is filled with angry drag queens, video impersonators and Chaka Khan.

Queen

QueenFact or Fiction

Scaramouch, a hoople and a superhero soundtrack - see if you can spot the real Queen stories.

Into The Great Wide Open: Made-up Musicians

Into The Great Wide Open: Made-up MusiciansSong Writing

Eddie (played by Johnny Depp in the video) found fame fleeting, but Chuck Berry's made-up musician fared better.

Jimmy Webb

Jimmy WebbSongwriter Interviews

Webb talks about his classic songs "By the Time I Get to Phoenix," "Wichita Lineman" and "MacArthur Park."

American Hits With Foreign Titles

American Hits With Foreign TitlesSong Writing

What are the biggest US hits with French, Spanish (not "Rico Suave"), Italian, Scottish, Greek, and Japanese titles?