I sent an e-mail to some people after trying to figure out the exact lyrics to “Rivers of Babylon” by the Melodians on the soundtrack to the Jimmy Cliff movie “The Harder They Come”. This website then took me to an analysis of references to Psalms in Reggae lyrics.

This is what my expert said:
“The captors are telling the Israelites to sing and obviously the Israelites don’t feel they have much to sing about. However, they do sing and here is something they sing about – the destruction of their captors v. 8 ‘O daughter Babylon, you devastator! Happy shall they be who pay you back, what you have done to us!’ (and the most disturbing of the verses – v9 ‘Happy shall they be who take your little ones and dash them against the rock!’)

The Babylonians would not have been able to understand the lanugage of the Israelites so they may get their song but they have no idea that the Israelites are singing for the Babylonians destruction. Kind of a weird twist.”

My favorite lines are:
“So, let the words of our mouth
And the meditations of our heart
Be acceptable in Thy sight.
Oh, Fari!”