Produced in 1998 by Manasseh and Markie Lyrics aka Jah Lingwa of the R.D.K. Hi-Fi Sound System, Judith’s “Such Is Life” is a really cool cover, a fantastic female reading, of a song written by Trinidadian musician and singer Kenrick Randolph Patrick aka Lord Creator. Patrick first cut the track in 1968, after an 18 month prison stretch for cannabis possession, as a rocksteady side for Vincent “Randy” Chin, at 17 North Parade. However, it was later radically reimagined with Lee “Scratch” Perry.* 

Perry’s version is a classic, bounced down, dizzy, deliriously degraded – tape heads cleaned with an old, funky sweater, tapes themselves buried in the back yard and then resurrected – Black Ark production. All the instruments blurred into a mutated maze for stoned / opened minds to explore. The song was a highlight amongst highlights on a Seven Leaves compilation of Perry’s work, titled “Heart Of The Ark”, which I found in the racks of Berwick Street’s Daddy Kool, when the album was reissued in 1993 (it was originally released 10 years earlier). 

“Such Is Life” is, without a doubt, one of my favourite, most treasured reggae tracks. When it spins I am sent, rewound, sitting on the back seat, in friend’s car, somewhere, sometime in the mid-90s, completely wasted after a whole weekend on it. I can clearly recall the cassette playing and hitting the song. Lord Creator seeming to, spot on, sum up my, then, current circumstances – “Trials and tribulations”  – the state I was in. Lost in all sorts of self-medication. Moments away from a trip to the E.R., and, a subsequent nervous breakdown. Drink and drugs dropping me to a lifetime low. 

“The road might seem dark and cloudy, but in time it will be bright and sunny.” 

When I heard the Judith remake, which was new to me, recently, I was again struggling with changes, stuff that felt out of my control, and the song, saved me again, serving as a reminder that I’d bottomed out once before and managed to pick myself up from the floor. Survived. Its lyrics immediately lifted my spirits, and allowed me to call upon, remember a younger more resilient, shit, sharper self. 

Lord Creator and Judith both sing, “It’s a dog gone funny situation.” When once it was substance abuse. Now, it’s prescription meds.

*Scientist was my introduction to dub. From there Augustus Pablo’s melodica made the path into roots easy. Lee Perry, though, for a long, long time just blew my mind. He could do no wrong. Everything he did contained something unexpected, unique, and, for me, he practically became a genre of his own. I have 2 whole shelves, one 7s, one 12s and LPs dedicated to his recorded legacy. 

Judith’s “Such Is Life” will be reissued on Partial Records.