A Long Way From Home

When I was immersed in Chinese and forbidden from English at Middlebury in summer 2003, I CRAVED this song.  I thought about it every day.  Sang it in my mind.  Tried not to.  Didn't want the English infiltrating my brain.  It was totally weird.  And I was totally weird for being the kid that took the language pledge to totally unnecessary extremes.

After our last morning of meetings with our professors, two of my friends and I stuffed our gear into The Silver Bullet (an old Chevy Corsica that had already been cinematically immortalized) and drove south for New York and eventually Pennsylvania.

I pushed play, and we listened.  Neither of them had heard it before, and we listened quietly for about a minute.  Then Jordan, from the backseat, broke the silence...

Reggae.  But without the Jamaicans.

Dreadlock Holiday is track 1 on Bloody Tourists.  And, while you're listening, I have a question: What does cricket have to do with reggae?

(download)