Remember when mama would give us chocolate tea with the foam on top
And how we used to run barefoot even when the road was hot
Remember how we used to jump fence to steal mango from the neighbor’s tree
And how we used to play football in the middle of the road in 98 degrees
Remember how your mother would dress you in that tight church suit
And how we used to play football in the street with green breadfruit
Remember getting up on Saturday mornings turning on the TV to watch Ring Ding
And listen to Miss Lue teaching us the culture and showing us how Jamaicans can really sing
Remember how we couldn’t wait for church to be over to go to the river and catch crayfish
And how we used to laugh at how Salt-fish was the most expensive ingredient in our national dish
Remember how the little children would hide behind their mothers from the Junkanoo Parade
And how they couldn’t go to bed after hearing a duppy story because they were so afraid
Remember when someone died, even though we were sad, we would look forward to the Nine-night
Seeing all the men drinking their white rum and the women singing old church songs dressed in all white
And how after they finish roasting the goat, over the goat testicles the old men would fight
And when we saw the jerk pork and the Mento band, we knew that everything was going to be alright
Remember how certain foods were only prepared on certain days
And when it came to our Sunday dinner, we wouldn’t let anything get in our way
Sunday’s recipe would call for chicken with rice and peas alongside a glass of carrot juice
Saturday would call for Yam, Duplin and Banana in our Cow Skin soup
Remember after a hard day’s work we would look forward to sitting under the Ackee tree
And how we would fall asleep after feeling the nice cool breeze
Remember at festival time we would find ourselves watching TV to see who would win the song contest
Rooting for those who put on a great performance and who was dressed the best
Do you remember where you were when you first heard Roy Ryan’s festival song, Fever?
And how all the radio stations in the island would play the song over and over
Do you still feel that pride swelling up inside you when you hear Eric Donaldson song, Sweet Jamaica?
Do you remember the May Pole dance, old folks making music with Dutch pot cover and spoon and Grater?
Do you remember where you were when our athletes shocked the world in Beijing?
Do you remember the disbelief on our faces when we realized what we were seeing?
Remember how long it took for us to realize that we were the fastest
And how it took us Jamaicans, to bring down the Bird Nest
Remember when we saw Usain Bolt for the first time
And how he was beating his chest before crossing the finish line
Remember how that day was so peaceful, no crimes, no enemies, only friends
What a sight to behold, do you remember Jamaicans, do you remember when?