Jamaica Farewell

Words & Music by Lord Burgess
Recorded by Harry Bellafonte, 1956


A                        D
Down the way, where the nights are gay,

         A           D           A  E7    A
And the sun shines daily on the mountain top,

A                   D
I took a trip on a sailing ship,

             A        D        A   E7  A A
And when I reached Jamaica, I made a stop.


Refrain:

E7       A              D
But I'm sad to say, I'm on my way,

  E7                A
Won't be back for many a day,

     A        A7              D       Dm(7)
My heart is down, my head is turning around,

           A            E7      A
I had to leave a little girl in Kingston town.


Sounds of laughter everywhere,
And the dancing girls sway to and fro,
I must declare, my heart is there,
Though I've been from Maine to Mexico.


Repeat Refrain:


Down at the market, you can hear,
Ladies cry out while on their heads they bear,
Aki rice, swordfish are nice,
And the rum is fine any time of year.


Repeat Refrain:

The lyric and guitar chord transcriptions on this site are the work of The Guitarguy and are intended for private study, research, or educational purposes only. Individual transcriptions are inspired by and and based upon the recorded versions cited, but are not necessarily exact replications of those recorded versions.