Bob Marley is not only the greatest reggae musician and the greatest musician of the 20th century, but the greatest musician of ALL time.
There was a point of time whenever I heard the name 'Bob Marley', I would think, "Oh, the reggae singer? Yeah, he is pretty good. I mean, his songs 'Jammin' and 'One Love' are pretty popular."
I really just saw him as another singer. However, when Pineapple Express came out, I heard a powerful song in one of the scenes. I looked up the lyrics and found out that the song was called, 'Time Will Tell' and it was sung by Bob Marley. I then did some research and I was hooked on 'No Woman No Cry', 'Natty Dread' and 'Redemption Song'. These songs were nothing like his popular songs like 'Three Little Birds'. No hate on the popular songs, because ALL of his songs are great, but, the message in 'Time Will Tell' and the way he delivered himself captured my soul like no other artist did before.
Recently, I would say in the middle of March, I stayed up late with my mother. We were in her room when she turned to a program that had Bob Marley's legendary London concert playing. I was feeling the vibe. I felt his spirit permeate through mine, which led me to grab my laptop, and to start downloading whatever I heard. My mother then told me to look up songs like, 'Zimbabwe', 'Africa Unite', and 'War'. She told me the story about how he died and about how he first started out with Peter Tosh and Bunny Wailer. Needless to say, I was intrigued.
So I kept researching, and have downloaded close to a 100 songs. However, I wanted to know more about him and his story, so I went to the local library and checked out a book, written by his wife Rita Marley, called, No Woman No Cry: My Life with Bob Marley. I read the book in two days. I learned that his father was a white naval captain and that his mother was a black woman from Nine Mile, a small parish in St. Ann, Jamaica. I learned how he was introduced to his wife Rita and that he lived in a recording studio because he had no place of his own at the time. I learned that he embraced Rita even though she had a child before they met. I learned that Rita and Bob moved to the countryside where Bob was born and that Rita would wash Bob's only pair of underwear every single night. I learned that Bob loved women and that he would sleep with and have babies with other women. I learned that he developed cancer in his toe from a soccer match which then spread to his lungs and brain, costing him his life at the tender age of 36.
I learned that after Peter Tosh and Bunny Wailer left the group, he asked his wife Rita and her two friends Marcia Griffths and Judy Mowatt (the I-Threes) to sing backup for him. I also learned about the religion and the way of life called Rastafari. Bob was a Rasta and Rasta's believed that Haile Sellasie I the First, King of Kings, Lord of Lords, elect of God, conquering Lion of the tribe of Judah of Ethiopia was the second coming. I learned that Rastafarians were the first to believe in living healthy, eating organic foods, growing dreads and smoking ganja for spiritual purposes.
Everyday, when I return from school, I go on Youtube to look up a Bob Marley video, whether it be a live concert clip, a tribute or an interview. I learned so much about this man, this myth, this legend and I am still learning today. As of now, I am waiting to check out Bob Marley's biography, Catch A Fire, written by Timothy White. Bob Marley was more than what some people see him as; he was more than weed, he was for the liberation of African peoples, the liberation of all people from what he called, 'Babylon'. Bob Marley was simply prophetic for the simple fact that he, as his wife Rita said, "could sing about songs he couldn't even talk about."
It is beyond sad that Bob Marley's life was taken so soon. However, I have come to realize that only the good die young. He has made me become even more close to God because I realize that if a man like him was created, there has to be a God and I can't wait until I meet Bob Marley in the other realm.
I conclude this post with my ten favorite Bob Marley & The Wailers songs (even though all of their songs are great):
1) Crazy Baldhead/Running Away
--"You're running away, but you can't run away from yourself. "
Technically, these are two different songs but they have the same background music (the bass line is slightly different). I love the live at the Rainbow Theatre version.
"I and I build the cabin, I and I plant the corn, didn't my people before me, slave for this country? Now you look at me with a scorn, then you eat up all my corn. We're gonna chase them crazy baldheads outta town."
2) Them Belly Full (But We Hungry)
--"A hungry mob is an angry mob." I mean how could this song not be great. It is basically talking about how 'downpressors' have been abusing the oppressed. The oppressed are hungry and Bob Marley is exclaiming that the "weak must get strong."
3) Guiltiness
-- "Guiltiness rests on their conscious, oh yeah." Pretty self-explanatory.
4) The Heathen
--This song touches my soul especially. Maybe it is Marley's melodic voice, or maybe it is the guitar or the bass or the drums playing, or maybe it is the I-Three's singing in the background. No, I think it is all of those things.
5) Zimbabwe
-- He wrote this song in the midst of Zimbabwe's liberation from British colonial rule. He even got to sing at Zimbabwe's Independence Day Celebration in 1980. It is sad that Robert Mugabe is now dictating the promising country.
6) Africa Unite
--"Africa Unite, unite for it's later than you think." Marley is expressing his feelings and his want for one Africa, which many people are now pushing for. I think it is a great idea and I feel that if Africa becomes one country and one continent, and adopts one currency, only then will Africa begin to prosper. "Africa unite, because your children want to come home."
7) War
--The lyrics to this song is directly pulled from Haile Selassie I the First of Ethiopia's famous speech that he gave to the United Nations. My favorite line: "That until that day [international equality] the dream of lasting peace, world citizenship, rule of international morality will remain but a fleeting illusion to be pursued but never attained."
8)Is this Love?
--'Is This Love?' is my future wedding song. Point. Blank. Period. :)
9)Waiting In Vain
--So, if a man sings this to me, I'll be his, instantly. No, but all jokes aside, this song makes me want to cry every time I hear it because I feel as if I am the type of woman he is talking about. Listen to the song to understand why.
10) Babylon System
--"Babylon system is the vampire, falling empire." This song has a powerful message and it leads me to think deeply about life and why I am here.
There it is. My top ten. Here are some other notable songs: 'Redemption Song', 'Roots, Rock Reggae', 'Lively Up Yourself' 'Duppy Conqueror', 'So Jah Seh', 'Natty Dread', 'No Woman No Cry', 'Concrete Jungle', 'Stir It Up', 'Exodus', and 'Jah Live'. So many more, but I'll stop now.
