"Dat" is a song by Jamaican singer

Pluto Shervington Leighton Keith "Pluto" Shervington (13 August 1950 – 19 January 2024) was a Jamaican reggae musician, singer, audio engineer, and record producer. Life and career Leighton Keith Shervington was born in Saint Andrew Parish, Kingston, Jamaica ...

, released as a

single Single may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * Single (music), a song release Songs * "Single" (Natasha Bedingfield song), 2004 * "Single" (New Kids on the Block and Ne-Yo song), 2008 * "Single" (William Wei song), 2016 * "Single", by ...

by him, on the Opal Records record label, in 1976. The single reached number 6 in the UK Singles Chart on 6 March 1976, staying in the charts for a total of eight weeks. It was Shervington's biggest hit in the UK. The song is about a

Rastafarian Rastafari is an Abrahamic religion that developed in Jamaica during the 1930s. It is classified as both a new religious movement and a social movement by scholars of religion. There is no central authority in control of the movement and much ...

, contrary to the

faith Faith is confidence or trust in a person, thing, or concept. In the context of religion, faith is " belief in God or in the doctrines or teachings of religion". According to the Merriam-Webster's Dictionary, faith has multiple definitions, inc ...

, trying to buy pork without actually naming it to the butcher, within earshot of his "brethren", thereby saving enough money to be able to afford

marijuana Cannabis (), commonly known as marijuana (), weed, pot, and ganja, List of slang names for cannabis, among other names, is a non-chemically uniform psychoactive drug from the ''Cannabis'' plant. Native to Central or South Asia, cannabis has ...

:Rasta Ozzy, from up the hill :Decide fi check on 'im grocery bill :And when 'im add up de things 'im need :Di dooney done, weh him save fi buy little weed

Unable to get the butcher to take the hint, he asks for a pound of "Dat t'ing dere". Although released in the UK as a

novelty song A novelty song is a type of song built upon some form of novel concept, such as a gimmick, a piece of humor, or a sample of popular culture. Novelty songs partially overlap with comedy songs, which are more explicitly based on humor, and w ...

, it reflects on the financial situation faced by many people at the time in the ghettos of

Kingston, Jamaica Kingston is the Capital (political), capital and largest city of Jamaica, located on the southeastern coast of the island. It faces a natural harbour protected by the Palisadoes, a long spit (landform), sand spit which connects the town of Por ...

. On 19 February 1976 Shervington appeared on video, performing the song, on BBC's ''

Top of the Pops ''Top of the Pops'' (''TOTP'') is a British record chart television programme, made by the BBC and broadcast weekly between 1January 1964 and 30 July 2006. The programme was the world's longest-running weekly music show. For most of its histo ...

'' and appeared again in the video the following week on 4 March.

Trojan Records Trojan Records is a British record label founded by Jamaican Duke Reid, Lee Gopthal and Chris Blackwell in 1968. It specialises in ska, rocksteady, reggae and dub music. The label currently operates under the Sanctuary Records Group. Th ...

capitalized on this success by reissuing his first single, "Ram Goat Liver", which peaked just outside the top 40 in the UK. Larkin, Colin (1998), ''The Virgin Encyclopedia of Reggae'', Virgin Books,

References

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External links

"Dat"
at Discogs.com
Pluto Shervington
at 45cat.com 1976 songs 1976 singles Novelty songs Reggae songs