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LT → English (Jamaican) → Linton Kwesi Johnson → Making History → English
  • Linton Kwesi Johnson

    Linton Kwesi Johnson

    Making History → English translation

  • 2 translations
    English, German
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Making History

Click to see the original lyrics (English (Jamaican))
Now tell me something,
Mister government man,
Tell me something.
 
How long did you really think
You could keep us under your heel,
When the truth is revealed,
About how you grab and steal,
About how you made your crooked deal
 
Well down in Southall1,
Where Peach2 has fallen,
The Asians, they've created a human wall,
Against the fascists and the police here,
And they've showed that the Asians have plenty of zeal,
 
It's no mystery,
We're making history,
It's no mystery,
We're winning, victory.
 
Now tell me something,
Mister police spokesman,
Tell me something
 
How long did you really think,
We would take your baton licks,
Your jackboots3 kicks,
Your dirty bag of tricks,
And your racist politics.
 
Well down in Bristol4,
They had no pistols5,
But they chased the Babylon6 away,
Man, you should've said you're a Babylon
How they really ran away,
You should've said you're a Babylon,
They dug them up that day.
 
It's no mystery,
We're making history,
It's no mystery,
We're winning, victory.
 
Now tell me something,
Mister right wing man,
Tell me something.
 
How long did you really feel,
We would've groveled and squealed,
When so much murder has been concealed,
When we're wounded and can't heal,
When we feel the way we feel.
 
Well there was Toxteth7,
And there was Moss Side8,
And a lot of other places,
Where the police has to hide,
Well there was Brixton9,
And there was Chapeltown10,
And a lot of other places that were burned to the ground.
 
It's no mystery,
We're making history,
It's no mystery,
We're winning, victory.
 
Original lyrics

Making History

Click to see the original lyrics (English (Jamaican))

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Comments
malucamaluca
   Sun, 17/08/2014 - 21:55

Thank you, I think in the last verse he mentions some names of places were there were riots,
"brixtan" I recognize as Brixton, a neighbourhood in London which is known for riots that took place there because the police had implemented a stop-and-frisk policy

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brixton#1980s:_Riots_after_police_actions_a...

Other names I did not recognize, maybe someone from London or England would know more...

citlālicuecitlālicue
   Sun, 17/08/2014 - 22:19

You think you could translate this to German?

malucamaluca
   Sun, 17/08/2014 - 22:33

Yes, I will (try)...

citlālicuecitlālicue
   Sun, 17/08/2014 - 22:09

I added more places, take a look. What could 'babylan' mean? Babylon?

malucamaluca
   Sun, 17/08/2014 - 22:12

Yeah, it's Babylon. In Rasta slang Babylon can also mean the "system", government, police etc.

citlālicuecitlālicue
   Sun, 17/08/2014 - 22:17

I looked it up: "Babylon: Jamaican, establishment systems, often applied to the police. Derived from the Rastafari movement". Anything else? I think it looks okay now ^^; thanks for helping me out.

malucamaluca
   Mon, 18/08/2014 - 00:03

Did the german translation, a few things I unerstood differently from you...

citlālicuecitlālicue
   Mon, 18/08/2014 - 02:28

I read your German translation, and I read this part again:

wi woulda tek yu batn lick
yu jackboot kick

I translated it as:
We would take you back and lick,
Your jackboots

And I see you used 'Schlagstockhiebe...', so would it make sense if I said:
We would take blows from your baton,
A kick from your jackboots...

malucamaluca
   Mon, 18/08/2014 - 02:47

I was just kinda guessing that lick means blow
I'd translate:

We would take the blows from your baton,
The kicks from your jackboots...

or

We would take your baton licks
Your jackboot kicks

:)

citlālicuecitlālicue
   Mon, 18/08/2014 - 02:56

I used the second one. I'm not confident enough to translate this to Spanish (because I'm not sure if I got the meaning of it right to regular English), but feel free to give it a try if you want.

malucamaluca
   Mon, 18/08/2014 - 03:27

This here I understood differently, too

How lang yu really feel
yu coulda keep wi andah heel

-> How long did you really think
You could keep us under your heel

malucamaluca
   Mon, 18/08/2014 - 03:32

An here I guessed

wen wi woun cyaan heal
-> when we are wounded and can't heal

malucamaluca
   Mon, 18/08/2014 - 00:07

Modified the format a little bit, too
:)

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