Talk:Rivers of Babylon

Untitled
i dont feel this article is up to date the bonnie m version of this song is probably more obscure than the original at least in the context of modern pop culture it would have made more sence to include the sublime version of this song as they are a less obscure band and theres is by far currently the most well known version. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 68.5.18.29 (talk) 20:27, 7 August 2010 (UTC)

Is the tune original?
When I first heard "Rivers of Babylon" in 1985, it sounded very familiar. Finally, I realized where I'd heard it: it's the same tune to the folksong "How dry I am." (Lyrics: How dry I am, how wet I'll be, if I don't find the bathroom key.) Is "How dry I am a parody?" or did Rivers of Babylon steal the tune? Dblomgren 03:36, 15 December 2006 (UTC)
 * Who is King Alfa? I assume it's the same as King Alpha. Something to do with Rastafarianism it seems.--Moonlight Mile 00:06, 18 March 2007 (UTC)

This page(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/King_Alpha) should be added to the this one. --203.97.127.185 10:09, 1 April 2007 (UTC)

I first heard "Rivers of Babylon" performed by The Melodians in 1975 when a friend lent me the soundtrack to "The Harder They Come". At that time, I had only been listening to reggae music for a few months when San Francisco's KSAN-FM began to play that musical genre in addition to so-called underground rock that made the station famous. That summerI attended a midnight screening of "The Harder They Come." After that I began listening to Bob Marley and the Wailers, Toots & the Maytals & other reggae artists.

-- Johnny Too-Bad

Messed Up Article
This is a The Melodians song. Who the hell are these German disco thieves anyway? Article needs total rewrite, I dont even know where to start.202.153.4.250 (talk) 06:10, 16 December 2008 (UTC)
 * Those German disco thieves (of Caribbean background) are the ones who made the song famous and a big number one hit all over Europe in the 70ies. --El bes (talk) 03:53, 27 December 2008 (UTC)

Rewording needed
The first sentence, "Rivers Of Babylon is a popular disco version by German band Boney M. from 1978, penned by the late Brent Dowe and Trevor McNaughton of The Melodians.", doesn't fully make sense. Version? Also it reads like the song was only sung by Boney M. 84.203.34.194 (talk) 16:43, 28 June 2008 (UTC)


 * I've rewritten this. The article seems to have been produced by a Boney M fan who was only vaguely aware of the original, which was mentioned briefly. -Ashley Pomeroy (talk) 13:40, 25 August 2008 (UTC)


 * The Melodians deserve face booking. 1) They penned the song. 2) 'The Harder They Come' was partly responsible to introducing reggae music to the world. 3) Another commercially relevant cover (by Sublime) hews to the original. 128.95.197.138 (talk) 22:36, 13 April 2009 (UTC)Joel

Fair use rationale for Image:Rivers of Babylon Brown Girl.jpg
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Rastafarian
It is true that the song refers to the suffering of the Jews under Babylonian slavery, but in the Caribbean context, to what the video clearly makes reference, or even broader spoken to the American context, Babylon symbolizes the captivity under slavery in the New World and afterward to the racism in modern societies in the Americas, which the song also calles the "strange land" and where the song says the Rivers of Babylon, the video shows a river in Jamaica, not Euphrates. And the yacht where the band is seen on is a clear reference to going back to Zion, which means Africa. The whole song is like a hymn of Rastafarianism and the christian based black impoverment movement. --El bes (talk) 03:49, 27 December 2008 (UTC)

reggae or rocksteady?
The German article says this song is rocksteady, not reggae. It sounds like this is probably closer to the truth. Can someone with more knowledge than I look into this, please?--24.85.82.38 (talk) 05:20, 15 September 2011 (UTC)

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Daniel O'Donnell's Theme Song
Irish singer Daniel O'Donnell adapted this as his theme song, he ends every concert with it. Kewalaka1 (talk) 21:15, 4 May 2020 (UTC)

sublime 1992 cover worth a mention?
Maybe 2600:6C64:477F:D18A:506E:C1CB:5F54:5941 (talk) 15:07, 1 August 2022 (UTC)

Bruce Low
Just added a short hint to Bruce Low's version. Nothing big, but should not be forgotten, either. Just mentioned it here so you know who did it. Big Bene (talk) 13:37, 12 December 2023 (UTC)