Boney M - Brown Girl In The Ring (Video, Lyrics, & Comments)

Boney M, May 29, 2015

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Edited by Azizi Powell

Revised: March 5, 2017

This pancocojams post features a video of Boney M singing the Caribbean children's song "Brown Girl In The Ring" in 1979. This post also provides the text of that version, as well as comments about the "Brown Girl In The Ring" game song.

The content of this post is presented for folkloric and entertainment purposes.

All copyrights remain with their owners.

Thanks to the unknown composer/s of this original children's song and thanks to the composer of Boney M's version of this song. Thanks to Boney M for their musical legacy, thanks to all those who are quoted in this post, and thanks to the publisher of this post on YouTube.
-snip-

The version of the Boney M video that was originally showcased in this post is no longer available (as of March 5, 2017). I embedded another video of Boney M singing that song. 

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INFORMATION ABOUT BONEY M
From http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boney_M.
Boney M. is a vocal group created by German record producer Frank Farian. Originally based in West Germany, the four original members of the group's official line-up were Liz Mitchell and Marcia Barrett from Jamaica, Maizie Williams from Montserrat and Bobby Farrell from Aruba. The group was formed in 1975 and achieved popularity during the disco era of the late 1970s. The group has sold more than 50 million albums worldwide with most sales in the UK and Germany.

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INFORMATION ABOUT THE BONEY M VERSION OF "BROWN GIRL IN THE RING"
From http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brown_Girl_in_the_Ring_(song)
"Arguably the most popular version of the song, Boney M.'s version was originally a single B-side to the group's #1 hit single "Rivers of Babylon" (1978). When "Rivers of Babylon" had slipped to #20 in the UK charts, radio stations suddenly flipped the single, seeing "Brown Girl in the Ring" going all the way to #2 and becoming a hit in its own right. Liz Mitchell had previously recorded the song in 1975 with the group Malcolm's Locks, as the B-side of their single "Caribbean Rock"...

"Rivers of Babylon/Brown Girl in the Ring single is the sixth best-selling single of all time in the UK with sales of 2 million.[3]
1993 Remix."

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LYRICS: BROWN GIRL IN THE RING*
(Boney M version)

Brown girl in the ring
Tra la la la la
There's a brown girl in the ring
Tra la la la la la
Brown girl in the ring
Tra la la la la
She looks like a sugar in a plum
Plum plum

Show me your motion
Tra la la la la
Come on show me your motion
Tra la la la la la
Show me your motion
Tra la la la la
She looks like a sugar in a plum
Plum plum

Blue Hill water* run dry
Got nowhere to wash my clothes
Blue Hill water* run dry
Got nowhere to wash my clothes

I remember one Saturday night
We had fried fish and Johnny-cakes
I remember one Saturday night
We had fried fish and Johnny-cakes

Beng-a-deng
Beng-a-deng

-snip-
*These lyrics were added to the March 5, 2017 embedded video's discussion thread by Ashraf Ali (in January 2017). Asharaf Ali gave "Blue Hill water" as "old headwaters". I believe "old headwaters" is an incorrect transcription. "Blue Hill" refers to a location in Jamaica).

Here are some explanations about words in this song:
"ring" = circle

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"in the ring" = standing in the middle of a circle

"She looks like a sugar in a plum" - My guess is that this means that the girl looks very sweet.

**
"johnny-cake"
From http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johnnycake
"Johnnycake (also jonnycake, johnny cake, journey cake, shawnee cake and johnny bread) is a cornmeal flatbread that was an early American staple food and is prepared on the Atlantic coast from Newfoundland to Jamaica."

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