“Jamaica Farewell” is a mento about the beauties of the West Indian Islands. The lyrics for the song were written by Lord Burgess (Irving Burgie). Lord Burgess was born in Brooklyn, New York in 1926. His mother was from Barbados and his father was from Virginia. The song first appeared on Harry Belafonte’s phenomenally successful album Calypso. It reached number fourteen on Billboard’s Pop chart.

Though many, including Belafonte himself, have said that the song was popular in the West Indies since long before Burgess, it is believed that Burgess compiled and modified the song from many folk pieces to make a new song, and it is clear that it was Belafonte who popularised the song outside the Caribbean Islands. Burgess acknowledged his use of the tune of another mento, “Iron Bar”.

The Kingston Trio, who led the folk revival of the late 1950s, took their name from the title of this song, though they only recorded it many years later, in 2006.