Complex sentence: The song was originally written and performed in the style of a Jamaican ballad; and tells, in simple verse--chorus form, the first-person story of a Jamaican sailor returning to the island to see his lady love.
Split into simpler sentences: The song was originally written and performed in the style of a Jamaican ballad. It tells, in simple verse--chorus form, the first-person story of a Jamaican sailor returning to the island to see his lady love.