Solitude: Lonely Lover / Lonely Soldier

Gregory Isaacs: Lonely Lover

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"Hey girl, you seem to be lonely, and I´m a lonely lover..." A perfect track for these Valentine times. That´s Gregory Isaacs, one of the grand voices in reggae music, desperately looking for a partner. But a line like "give me the right to own and control you, then I know just what to do" sure makes one wonder about his success rate.

Gregory Isaacs: Lonely Soldier

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And here´s another fine song of his that fits our theme like a glove. This time the Cool Ruler puts himself in the place of a soldier "off to fight a war, which they say will make man free..." He dearly misses the missus though.

2.42 - Maga Dog

Peter Tosh: Maga Dog

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Time for some reggae here at the Star Maker Machine. And as one of my fave songs by Peter Tosh just happens to clock in at 2.42, here we go. Ex-Wailer Tosh feels sorry for a country girl and helps her out, but she turns out to be a backbiter. So he compares her to a skinny (maga) dog... "Me no wan' fe see you 'round here". Great stop, start, turn around and do it again rhythm. "If you jump out of a frying pan, you´re bound to jump inna fire." Right on. Find this track on the Rebel Music anthology (Trojan records), a heartily recommended introduction to early reggae tunes. For more explanations about the song, including translations of the Jamaican patois used, look here.