Fade Away was Junior Byles' best and most enduring work

I came across Junior Byles somewhere around 1972 when his song “Beat Down Babylon” was released. The Peoples National Party had won the General Election that year, and the lyrics of the song resonated with me as a 14 year old as it seemed to underline a kind of empowerment to young Black men and women constantly at the mercy of a color and class system that hardly represented any of us in Jamaica. Junior Byles recorded a number of other tunes subsequent to this including “A Long Way (1972)” and “Curly Locks (1974), ” but the song that really got to me however was "Fade Away," released in 1975. Fade Away was a deeply spiritual and socially conscious Roots Reggae song that critiques materialism, greed, and moral emptiness while warning of divine justice. In retrospect (as we reflect on his recent passing), Byles outdid himself when he penned and recorded this song. The lyrics carries a heavy emotional weight as they mix together sorrow, righteous anger, and a prophetic call for humility and love. Byles begins the song by targeting those who prioritize vanity, wealth, and selfishness over love and humanity. By saying "He who seeks of only vanity / And no love for humanity / Shall fade away..." Byles is essentially saying that material pursuits without moral grounding ultimately leads to spiritual decay. The emotion that it represents is a mix of warning and lament; almost like a biblical prophecy that is similar to Ecclesiastes' "vanity of vanities".

Junior Byles - Fade Away

Byles continues ;"The rich is getting richer every day / And the little that the poor man got / It shall be taken away." This is a direct commentary on systemic oppression and economic exploitation, all of which were common themes in 1970s Reggae consistent with Bob Marley’s "Them Belly Full" or Peter Tosh’s "Downpressor Man; "themes that are still applicable a full 50 years after the song’s release. Byles was pointing out the endlessness of the poor who are being crushed while the rich stands by heedlessly. Byles then points out that "the man who worships silver and gold / Shall surely, surely, surely lose his own soul." This was a Rastafarian-influenced warning that materialism corrupts the spirit; an echo of Jesus’ teaching; "what profits a man to gain the world but lose his soul?" taken from the Book of Mark 8:36. There is a kind of urgency and doom being pointed out by Byles where the repetition of "surely" feels like a preacher’s crescendo. Byles then points to our hypocrisy and lack of love when he states "One who's always acting smart / And don't carry no love in his heart / Shall fade away" Here he is stating that intellectual arrogance or cunning without compassion is worthless. It was a representation of his disgust with false superiority, and an echoing Psalm 1 "The wicked will perish like chaff". He exhorts Divine Judgement and Warning that "God is here and there and everywhere / And He knows when you play the game unfair", a clutch of his Rastafarian belief in Jah (God) as omnipresent and just, and that Exploitation won’t go unpunished. These lines evoke the Book of Amos, where God sees oppression and promises reckoning. Apart from the powerful lyrics, the song came across then (and still does) as somber, cautionary, yet defiant. The repetition of "fade away"felt then as it still feel to me like a funeral dirge for the morally bankrupt. The slow haunting climb of the Bass guitar as it drives the rhythm amplifies the gravity of the song in much the same way that the Abyssinians’ anthem "Satta Massagana" or The Congos" classic “Row Fisherman, Row."

Fade Away as a song resonated with me as a youngster because even as a 16 year-old, its raw truth of how society rewards greed but pays scant regard to the twin pillars of man's worth which is in love and justice. Fade Away is a protest song and a spiritual hymn in one, where Byles wasn’t just singing, but also testifying. The power of “Fade Away” as a song lies not only in its simplicity but also in its unshakable moral conviction. It is a reminder that legacies built on exploitation and selfishness crumble, while love and righteousness endure. FADE AWAY LYRICS- Junior Byles 1975 (c)

He who seeks of only vanity

And no love for humanity

Shall fade away, fade away

He who checks for only wealth

And not for his physical health

Shall fade away, fade away

Though some believe in diamonds and pearl

And feel like they're on top of the world

They shall fade away, hear what I say

The rich is getting richer every day

And the little that the poor man got

It shall be taken away

Do you hear what I say?

Yeah, hear what I say

The man who worships silver and gold

Shall surely, surely, surely lose his own soul

Then fade away

One who's always acting smart

And don't carry no love in his heart

Shall fade away

God is here and there and everywhere

And He knows when you play the game unfair

So people beware

Or else you fade away!

Hey, beware!

Or dare you fade away?

You gotta fade, gotta fade, gotta fade now

The rich is getting richer every day

And the little that the poor man got

It shall be taken away

Do you hear what I say, hey?

Hear what I say

One who's always acting smart

And forgetting to carry love in his heart

Shall fade away