HARRY BELAFONTE - MATILDA

MATILDA

HARRY BELAFONTE

COMPOSER: HARRY BELAFONTE

WHERE: LIVE AT CARNEGIE HALL

COUNTRY: U.S.A.

ALBUM: MY GREATEST SONGS

LABEL: SONY

STAMP: RCA

GENRE: CALYPSO

YEAR: 1998

Harry Belafonte (born Harold George Bellanfanti Jr.; March 1, 1927) is an American singer, songwriter, actor, and social activist. One of the most successful Jamaican-American pop stars in history, he was dubbed the "King of Calypso" for popularizing the Caribbean musical style (originating in Trinidad & Tobago) with an international audience in the 1950s. His breakthrough álbum Calypso(1956) is the first million-selling LP by a single artist. Belafonte is perhaps best known for singing "The Banana Boat Song", with its signature lyric "Day-O". He has recorded in many genres, including blues, folk, gospel, show tunes, and American standards. He has also starred in several films, most notably in Otto Preminger's hit musical Carmen Jones(1954), Island in the Sun(1957), and Robert Wise's Odds Against Tomorrow(1959).

Belafonte was an early supporter of the Civil Rights Movement in the 1950s and 1960s, and one of Martin Luther King Jr.'s confidants. Throughout his career, he has been an advocate for political and humanitarian causes, such as the anti-apartheid movement and USA for Africa. Since 1987, he has been a UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador. In recent years, he has been a vocal critic of the policies of both the George W. Bush and Barack Obama presidential administrations. Harry Belafonte now acts as the American Civil Liberties Union celebrity ambassador for juvenile justice issues.

Hey! Matilda, Matilda, Matilda, she take me money and run Venezuela.

Once again now!

Matilda, Matilda, Matilda, she take me money and run Venezuela.

Five hundred dollars, friends, I lost:

Woman even sell me cat and horse!

Heya! Matilda, she take me money and run Venezuela.

Everybody!

(Matilda,) Sing out the chorus,

(Matilda,) Sing a little louder,

Matilda, she take me money and run Venezuela.

Once again now!

(Matilda,) Going 'round the corner,

(Matilda,) Sing out the chorus,

Matilda, she take me money and run Venezuela.

Well, the money was to buy me house an' lan'

Then she got a serious plan,

A-hey, ah!

Matilda, she take me money and run Venezuela.

Everybody!

(Matilda,

Matilda,

Matilda, she take me money and run Venezuela.) Once again now!

(Matilda,) Going 'round the corner,

(Matilda,

Matilda, she take me money and run Venezuela.)

Well, the money was just inside me bed,

Stuck up in a pillow beneath my head.

Don't you know,

Matilda, she found me money and...

Everybody...

(Matilda,

Matilda,

Matilda, she take me money and run Venezuela.)

Once again now!

(Matilda,) Hooma locka chimba,

(Matilda,) Bring me little water,

Matilda, she take me money and run Venezuela.

Women over forty?

(Matilda,

Matilda,

Matilda, she take me money and run Venezuela.)

Everybody!

(Matilda,) Goin' round the corner,

(Matilda,) Bring me little water,

 Matilda, she take me money and run Venezuela.

Well, my friends, never to love again,

All me money gone in vain!

Uh, heya...

Matilda, she take me money and run Venezuela.

Everybody!

(Matilda,

Matilda,) Oom, ba-locka-chimba!

(Matilda, she take me money and run Venezuela.)

Sing a little softer!

(Matilda,

Matilda,

Matilda, she take me money and run Venezuela.)

Everybody!

(Matilda,

Matilda,) Sing out the chorus!

Matilda, she take me money and run Venezuela.