The song was originally released on the band's own label, Clinch Records, as "Far Away Land." Donald Manning was encouraged by the success of his brother Carlton's band Carlton and the Shoes, and the song was inspired by Carlton's b-side to "Love Me Forever," a spiritual track called "Happy Land." Donald suggested the band register "Far Away Land" as "Satta Massagana" (Ethiopian Amharic for "give thanks") and re-record it for Studio One in March 1969. The band pressed the record and delivered it to stores themselves, but even the thriving Jamaican music scene was not quite ready for something so ahead of its time.
Maverick producer and Studio One founder Coxsone Dodd was unconvinced of the song's worth, thinking it too sad, slow and absorbing to spark interest in the record-buying public. Therefore, the song sat on Dodd's shelf until the band bought the tape back from him and re-released it on Clinch in 1971. It was then that the song took off, confirming that listeners were looking for something new and that the Abyssinians' belief in their own worth was not unfounded.
Producer Joe Gibbs had recently struck gold with "A So," a dancehall instrumental recorded with the Destroyers that had versioned "Satta Massagana." The original was now in high demand, and it went from being a track owned almost exclusively by DJs to a popular seller among reggae fans. Sensing the aesthetic and commercial potential in dancehall, DJs and producers versioned the song hundreds of times over in the next few years, including Bongo Herman, Jackie Mittoo, Tommy McCook and Vivien Hall, Dillinger, Big Youth and the Abyssinians themselves, who recorded "Mabrak" in response to "A So." Coxsone Dodd, realizing his mistake, recorded and released his own version of the song as well.
The song's use of Amharic stems from Donald Manning's Rastafarian religion, which was in part influenced by the omnipresent study of the language in Kingston in the 1960s. Donald's brother Neville taught the language in the Jonestown area, and the band learned the language from Ethiopian books sent through England. The band gave the song's affecting melody to a top-notch group of studio musicians, resulting in the track's spontaneous arrangement, and its tight harmonies and religious lyrics had "Satta Massagana" on the tongues of dancehall fans nationwide. "Many consider it the national anthem of Rasta..." writes All Music Guide. "For the Abyssianians, it was a reflection of their own deep faith."
Had the Abyssinians never recorded another song after "Satta Massagana," they would still be remembered as one of the most important acts in reggae history. Fortunately, the band continued recording throughout the '70s, scoring with singles including "Declaration of Rights" and "Let My Days Be Long." They also performed "Satta Massagana" in the popular reggae films "Roots, Rock, Reggae" in 1976 and "Rockers" in 1978. When the band split up in 1980, Donald Manning enlisted his brother Carlton and singer David Morrison, and the trio continued to perform under the Abyssinians moniker. Since then, the original band has reunited periodically, recording a new album in the early '90s and touring Europe and the United States in 2005. They also performed at the 12th Annual Sierra Nevada World Music Festival and the 10th Annual Monterey Bay Reggae Festival, still playing their hearts out for the fans and building on the legacy that started with "Satta Massagana."