1969
BETTER HERRING * THE PIONEERS * ATTACK 8011 * UK
The title of this muscular Early Reggae cut, Better Herring could easily be taken as a misspelling for Better Hearing, but it is in fact Herring which is part of a very old saying Neither barrel the better herring. The saying still in common use in Jamaica means, quite simply: much of a muchness; not a pin to choose between you; six of one and half a dozen of the other. The herrings of both barrels are so much alike that there is no choice whatever. In Spanish: "Qual mas qual menos, toda la lana es pelos." The saying was in common use in England at least as far back as the early 15th century as it was used by Johnson in his Tale Of A Tub; and later in Pasquin by Fielding in 1736. Another old Jamaican proverb on the subject of herrings is: "When herrin' mauger, him bone show". (mauger, meaning, meager or thin) so, I.e.: Bad deeds will reveal themselves.
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