Steel Pulse – Babaylon Makes The Rules/Devil’s Disciples [12′ Version]

The lyrical themes on Tribute to the Martyrs were even darker, angrier, and more politically confrontational than those on Handsworth Revolution. Yet strangely, the music itself was warmer and much more inviting. Where songs like “Prediction” and “Soldiers” on the debut deliberately held the listener at arm’s length (the better for singer David Hinds to shake his finger in your face), the songs on this album engage the listener — either directly challenging the (presumably Babylonian) listener’s ability to keep Rasta down (“Unseen Guest”) or forcing the listener to consider the details of various martyr’s stories (“Biko’s Kindred Lament,” “Uncle George”). Even “Sound System,” ostensibly an expression of dancehall exuberance, sounds mainly defiant. But what really sets this album apart from its predecessor is the melodies, which, while still often fairly dry, are sometimes unbelievably powerful. The best examples are “Jah Pickney — R.A.R.,” which is based on a swooningly lovely vocal hook combined with a lovely percolating keyboard part, and the even better “Babylon Makes the Rules,” which takes a lyrical message of despair and turns it into musical victory by means of one of the most exalted call-and-response melodies in the history of reggae music. Most critics will tell you that Handsworth Revolution is the crucial Steel Pulse album, but don’t be fooled: Get this one and True Democracy and you’ll have most of the band’s essential studio recordings. (Even better, pick up the two-disc Sound System: The Island Anthology compilation, which includes all of Handsworth Revolution, Tribute to the Martyrs, and Reggae Fever (Caught You), and which includes an eight-minute disco mix of “Babylon Makes the Rules.”)
Lryrics :
(2) A weh dem a go do when the time comes around
A weh dent a go sek

Cos

My people are in a mess
But nobody wants to know
Cos when you’re down and out and oppressed
You’ve got to fight your battles from the
Lowest of the low
So keep your distance and take your stance,
Cos this could be your utmost chance.

You’ve had all night and day to
Consider and pray
You’ve brought fire on my head and
Now you must pay.

CHORUS

Babylon makes the rules
Babylon makes the rules
Babylon makes the rules
Babylon makes the rules
where my people suffer…

Take Rastaman culture for instance,
Dem think is political joke,
But we people know better then that,
Cos what keeps us together is
Jah Herb that we smoke

I and I know the truth of it all,
Cos we have smashed our heads
‘gainst that wall,
And now I seh we must create a scene,
We must recapture our culture
by any means.

CHORUS
Babylon makes the rules
Babylon makes the rules
Babylon makes the rules
Babylon makes the rules
where my people suffer …

Count the times we’ve been let down,
And left us in despair,
And woe betide that evil man,
Who giveth not a care.
You’ve gotta check yourself just
One more time,
Reassure your mind –
Cos those who are chosen
by the father’s hand
Must not get left behind.

Rasta seh – guidance
(4) But Backrah seh different still

Babylon makes the rules but
Jah love will carry I home