Released October 1968 (1968-10) Genre Reggae | Recorded 1968 Length 2:35 | |
B-side "My Precious World (The Man)" by Beverley's All Stars Label Pyramid Records - PYR 6058 (UK)
Uni Records 55129 (USA) | ||
"Israelites" is a song written by Desmond Dekker and Leslie Kong that became a hit for Dekker's group, Desmond Dekker & The Aces, peaking in 1969. Although few could understand all the lyrics, the single was the first UK reggae number one and among the first to reach the US top ten (peaking at 9th). It combined the Rastafarian religion with rude boy concerns, to make what has been described as a "timeless masterpiece that knew no boundaries".
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Song
The best known Jamaican reggae hit to reach the Hot 100's top 10, it was written almost two years after Dekker first made his mark with the rude boy song, "007 (Shanty Town)". Dekker composed the song after overhearing an argument: "I was walking in the park, eating corn [popcorn]. I heard a couple arguing about money. She was saying she needs money and he was saying the work he was doing was not giving him enough. I related to those things and began to sing a little song: 'You get up in the morning and you're slaving for bread.' By the time I got home, it was complete." The vocal melody is syncopated and is centred on the tone of B flat. The chords of the guitar accompaniment are played on the offbeat and move through the tonic chord [B flat], the subdominant [E flat], the dominant [F], and the occasional [D flat], viz, [B flat] - [E flat] - [F] - [B flat] - [D flat]. It was one of the first reggae songs to become an international hit, despite Dekker's strong Jamaican accent which made his lyrics difficult to understand for audiences outside.
Despite "Israelites" being recorded and released in 1968, the Uni 45 discography shows its cataloguing in 1969. In June 1969 it reached the Top Ten in the United States, peaking at #9 on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart. It hit number one in the United Kingdom, Netherlands, Jamaica, South Africa, Canada, Sweden and West Germany.
"Israelites" brought a Jamaican beat to the British top 40 for the first time since Dekker's number 14 hit "007 (Shanty Town)" in 1967.
The disc was released in the UK in March 1969 and was number one for one week, selling over 250,000 copies. A global million sales was reported in June 1969.
Dekker had two more UK Top Ten hits over the next year, "It Mek" and his cover of Jimmy Cliff's song, "You Can Get It If You Really Want".
Dekker recorded on the Pyramid record label, and when its catalogue was acquired by Cactus Records in 1975, "Israelites" was re-issued in a first-time stereo mix. Just over six years after the original release, the song again reached a Top Ten position in the United Kingdom.
Cover versions
An early cover of the song, a rockabilly version by the "Travelin Troubadours", on the Roto label. was released on the album "Mondo Frat Dance A Go-Go" by Arf Arf Records.
The song has been covered by the Swedish punk rock band, Millencolin. It was also covered by Madness for their cover album The Dangermen Sessions Vol. 1 (2005) and by Apache Indian for his single "The Israelites" (2005).
In 1987 the Catalan ska band Skatalà recorded a cover version with changed lyrics named embolingats (meaning "drunk" in the Catalan language).
In 2000 Oysterhead covered the song during their first live performance at the New Orleans Jazz Fest.
In 2008 the Wellington International Ukulele Orchestra covered the song, both in live concerts, and on their EP, A Little Bit Wonderful. This version was used in a television advertisement for Whitcoulls booksellers in New Zealand.
Canada's Reid Jamieson covered the song on his 'Songs of 69' collection.
In 2010 Israeli garage band Electra recorded a cover version as a B-side for their debut single, "Coming to Get You!"
Contemporary usage
"Israelites" was used in a 1990 television advertisement for Maxell audio cassettes, and was parodied in the British TV advert for Vitalite from 1987 to 1995. The song is infrequently used in the UK soap opera EastEnders mainly played by shopkeeper Patrick Trueman who has been shown to favour the song.
Xaphoon Jones of the hip-hop group Chiddy Bang used a sample of "Israelites" for the song "Get Up In The Morning," which would become the first track on their mixtape The Swelly Express. Maxi Priest and UB40 mimicked the song's melody and chord progression in their 2008 collaboration, "Dance Until the Morning Light", from the UB40 album TwentyFourSeven.
"Israelites" was featured on the soundtracks of the Gus Van Sant 1989 film "Drugstore Cowboy" and the Bart Freundlich 2009 film "the Rebound", and it is the opening song on the soundtrack to Nigel Cole's 2010 film "Made in Dagenham".
The Vampire Weekend track "Ya Hey" mentions this song in a poetic interlude.
The song is heard playing on a radio near the end of the motion picture A Walk On The Moon (1999), but does not appear on the soundtrack for the film.
The Flash TV series used it to open season 2, episode 19, "Back to Normal" (2016).