There's perhaps no musical genre—at least in my personal experience—quite as relentlessly upbeat and cheerful as ska: the bright horns, walking bass line, the jazz and blues inspired fluidity of movement. As the winter and rain continue to linger in Portland, I find myself continuing to go back to the likes of Don Drummond, Dandy Livingstone, the Skatalites, and more modern ska incarnations, like the Slackers. However, few songs have ever hit me quite like
Justin Hinds & the Dominoes' "Carry Go Bring Home," a number one hit in Jamaica in 1963. I originally heard the track in Whit Stillman's impeccable 1998 cult classic,
The Last Days of Disco, and have been unable to escape its grasp ever since. In the song's chorus, Hinds asks, "How long shall the wicked reign over my people?" Instead of anger or sadness, he inflects the song with an uplifting energy that creates a hopeful tone about as potent and intoxicating as music gets.
Justin Hinds & The Dominoes - "Carry Go Bring Home"
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