The Maytals '54 46 Was My Number' (official audio)

The seminal version of the Maytals' 1970 reggae anthem, '54 46 Was My Number'.

Led by the dynamic Frederick ‘Toots’ Hibbert, the Maytals became one of Jamaica's leading acts in the early Sixties, their gospel-influenced style perfectly suiting the driving sound of ska and, towards the close of the decade, the upbeat rhythms of reggae.

Early in 1970, the trio's anthemic ‘Monkey Man’ became one of Trojan Records’ earliest UK chart successes, while later that year, they cut an updated version of their rock steady hit, '54 46 Was My Number' that quickly became widely regarded as a reggae classic.

Since then, the song has been covered by an array of artists, including British reggae band Aswad, Jamaican jazz legend Ernest Ranglin, dancehall stars Buju Banton and Yellowman, Kiko Bun for the televised series of "This Is England", Vanilla Ice and Canadian Idol singer, Earl Stevenson Vanilla Ice, as well as various ska-punk bands, notably Sublime, Ska-J, Fighting Gravity.

It has also been sampled by Major Lazer & Bad Royale and Foxy Brown, while its bassline forms the basis of Rebel MC & Double Trouble's 1989 hit 'Street Tuff' as well as 'The Bridge is Over' by KRS-One.

Famed UK punk rock band the Clash paid tribute to the song in 'Jail Guitar Doors', which closes with Joe Strummer singing '54-46 was my number, Right now someone else has that number'.

The Maytals' original version appears in the sci-fi film "Repo Men", the TV series "Narcos: Mexico" and, most recently, the 2018 documentary "Rudeboy: The Story of Trojan Records".

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54 46 WAS MY NUMBER LYRICS
Written by Frederick ‘Toot’s Hibbert & Brian Atkinson
Copyright Control

Stick it up mister
Hear what I say, sir, yeah
Get your hands in the air, sir
Ooh, yeah, and you will get no hurt mister, no, no, no

I said yeah (I said yeah)
What they say (listen what they say)
Don’t you hear, I say yeah (I said yeah)
What they say (listen what they say)

Do you believe I would take something with me
And give it to a policeman?
I wouldn't do that
And if I do that, I would say, "Sir,
Come on and put the charge on me"
I wouldn't do that
No, I wouldn't do that

I'm not a fool to hurt myself
So, I was innocent of what they done to me
They was wrong, oh listen to me one more time,
They were wrong, oh, yeah

Give it to me one time (huh)
Give it to me two times (huh-huh)
Give it to me three times, yeah (huh-huh-huh)
Give it to me four times (huh-huh-huh-huh)

54-46 was my number, oh
Right now, someone else has that number
One more time, 54-46 was my number, was my number
Right now, someone else has that number

I said yeah (I said yeah)
Listen what they say (listen what they say)
I said, help me now (yeah yeah)
Listen what they say (listen what they say)

Give it to me one time (huh)
Give it to me two times (huh-huh)
Give me, give me, give me, give me, give me, give me, give me, give me, give me
No, no, no, no

Oh yeah, 54-46 was my number, oh yeah
Right now, someone else has that number

#Tootsandthemaytals #5446 #TrojanRecords