Wednesday, September 21, 2011

Lee "Scratch" Perry's Words of Wisdom

On September 10th I had the great pleasure of seeing dub legend Lee "Scratch" Perry perform live at B.B. King's in NYC. Everything about the show was absolutely incredible, including the simultaneously hilarious and illuminating proclamations Mr. Perry made between songs. Here are a few that I was sure to remember...

Disclaimer: Lee Perry is a 75-year-old black Jamaican. I am a 26-year-old white American. Needless to say, there may be some minor discrepancies between what I heard and what was actually said. Nevertheless, I'm fairly certain that most of these quotes -- with the possible exception of the last one, which was the final phrase he uttered before exiting the stage -- are accurate.

"Stress, thou be gone. Problems, they be gone."

"There will be no one to save the government from their sins. There will be no one to save the government from their crimes."

"I don't drink alcohol anymore, I don't smoke anymore. The only thing I have to keep me happy is craziness."

"Why you not dream of me? Jesus not coming back. He send me."

"Love your shit and get rich. Goodnight."