Song 669: This week the playlist comes around to Jamaica Farewell by Harry Belafonte, written by Irving Burgie, and you can find a YouTube video of it by clicking on the title. This enticing ride started grabbing everyone's ears not long after I began kindergarten, and I might very well have heard it there, though I don't remember specifically when and if I did. When the following summer arrived, I got to spend time with friends in the playground areas of the kindergarten and nearby elementary school, and sometimes someone would bring along a radio, so we would get to hear popular songs as we played our games and rode the swings, and this anthem surely enlivened those activities multiple times. At some point at least once in the next few years when I attended that elementary school, the class grouped together and sang this tune in unison. I might have even heard this gem on the family car radio, since it would not have bothered the adults the way an Elvis hit would have. I decided to add the shiner to the collection a few weeks ago when the sad news came along about Mr. Belafonte leaving the land of the living, but he did manage to pass his 96th birthday, unlike Mr. Presley, who didn't even get halfway there, so it might be sad to say Harry was on his way, and that he won't be back, but we can thank him for moments in life he gave us where there were sounds of laughter everywhere.
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