![]() Love is simple – it ought to be, and that’s what this song is.Īmong the many interesting decisions Levy makes for this song, his sampling of Dennis Brown’s ‘Revolution’, which was also released in 1983, stands out. Such an error is avoided in ‘Black Roses’, which finds added depth as a result of Levy’s vocals. At times, that sophistication works, at others, it detracts from the message. A love song often appears intricately written. And while the practice seems redundant, the song’s beauty is to be found in that very fact. Got to keep, Got to keep the earth so cool, yeahįor the rest of the song, he drives home those sentiments. He stresses the importance of caring for this rare thing he’s found, and the lengths he must go to for its preservation. Location aside, we suspect that Levy’s intentions have less to do with where the ‘Black Roses’, and more so to do with the fact that they are especially rare – which is the sentiment he leans on throughout the song. However, literally examined, Levy’s ‘garden’ is far less likely to be home. Unless, of course, his home is in Halfeti, Turkey – the only place in the world ‘Black’ roses are said to be naturally occurring. After all, he was born in Clarendon, Jamaica. Levy shares that “ I’ve been travelin’ all over this world, yeah/I’ve never seen a Black rose in no other garden”. If his garden is to be synonymous with his home, then he most certainly would have encountered ‘Black Roses’ (unique Black Women) before. Unfortunately, the literal implications of ‘Black Roses’, as used in the aforementioned opening verse to the classic, pokes quite a few holes in the literary theory proffered above. Similarly, ‘Black Roses’, when taken on the metaphorical front, could be indicating the same, albeit with a few variations. Bearing quite a few parallels to the later released ‘Black Roses’ – most notably the explicit use of ‘Black’ to specifically describe his subject, Levy and his cousin made it clear that they needed a ‘Black queen’, and expressed confidence that God would grant them that. In 1977, while still a part of the band, the Mighty Multitude, which Levy had formed with his cousin, Everton Dacres, the duo released ‘My Black Girl’. A cursory glance at Levy’s history proves such expressions are not rare for him. Taken metaphorically, with the obvious connotation of ‘Black’ referring to race, and ‘Roses’ referring to women, Levy’s message may simply be a nod to some one-of-a-kind black woman he may have encountered back home. He highlights that in all his travels around the world, he has never encountered a black rose, except for only in his garden. ![]() Rooted in that commentary may be some hint as to Levy’s creative direction on the track, which was jointly written by himself and Hyman Wright. ![]() ![]() So you see, my garden is so special, oh yeah I’ve never seen a Black rose in no other garden I’ve been travelin’ all over this world, yeah To keep and care it, you’ve got to water it “To keep and care it, you’ve got to water it Whether or not he realized it, the view imposed by Levy’s rose-colored glasses earned him two specific advantages on that front: a uniquely creative lane in which to operate, and a fiercely original perspective that lends itself to the birth of classics, just as the track turned out to be. In another famous Shakespearean work, ‘Macbeth’, black symbolizes death and darkness. In William Shakespeare’s ‘Othello’, for example, the color black is used to symbolize evil, jealousy and betrayal. For Levy, black signifies the object of his affection. In those spaces, Black is symbolically tied to death, mourning and tragedy. It is uncertain whether Levy intended it, but his insistence on using Black Roses as a substitute for something special, parts ways with literary and mainstream traditions. For Barrington Levy, however, a love song that abandoned almost all the traditional references to love – most glaringly in this case a ‘Red Rose’ – for something dark, worked just as well. Produced by Hyman Wright and Percy Chin, ‘Black Roses’ was an interesting exercise in subverting expectations in a genre that thrived on being a little on the nose. Lonely? Say exactly that. Today, it resurfaces as the focus of our Throwback Thursday series. In 1983, Barrington Levy’s ‘Black Roses’ spread its roots all throughout Reggae music and the world, and subsequently became one of Levy’s most iconic tunes.
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