Chase the Devil
From The Art and Popular Culture Encyclopedia
"I'm gonna send him to outa space, to find another race."--"Chase the Devil" (1976) by Lee Perry and Max Romeo |
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"Chase the Devil" is a reggae song, recorded in 1976 by Max Romeo, with the backing of Lee "Scratch" Perry's house band, The Upsetters.
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Background
Composed by Perry and Romeo, "Chase the Devil" was released on the album War ina Babylon in 1976. Also in 1976, The Upsetters recorded a version with different lyrics. The track, called "Croaking Lizard" and credited to The Upsetters and Prince Jazzbo, was included in their album Super Ape. Later, Perry made a dub remix of both versions, called "Disco Devil".
Meaning
In a BBC interview recorded in 2010 Romeo describes the meaning of the song. He explains that the devil is everything negative in our minds, the iron shirt is our strength of spirit that allows us cast out the devil.
Track listing
- 7" UK Single
- A. Max Romeo – "Chase the Devil"
- B. The Upsetters featuring Prince Jazzbo – "Croaking Lizard"
- 7" French Single
- A. "Chase the Devil" – 3:25
- B. "One Step Forward (Oye Oye Reggae)" – 5:00
Use in popular culture
- "Out of Space" by The Prodigy (1992) sampled the song.
- The same sample was used by Mellow Trax for his 1999 song Outa Space.
- Kanye West has used samples from "I Chase the Devil" to produce Jay-Z's hit song "Lucifer", which appeared on Jay-Z's 2003 release, The Black Album.
- The song was featured on the reggae radio station K-Jah West in a popular video game Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, released in October 2004.
- "Iron Shirt" by Dreadzone sampled the song.
- Madness covered the song for their cover album, The Dangermen Sessions Vol. 1, released in 2005.
- Skazi recorded a cover on their album Total Anarchy (2006).
- "Iron Shirt" by The Qemists (2006) sampled "Chase the Devil".
- Earl Sixteen released his version of the song in 2008.
- "Chase the Devil" was also used in the 2011 film Paul.
- In 2010, Dr. Martens included the song as performed by N.A.S.A. in 50 Years of Dr. Martens covers album.
- A sample from the song was used on "Lucifer", a track by Coki, in 2011.
- Azealia Banks samples the song on the track "Out Of Space" from the Fantasea mixtape.
See also