I've been listening to my large collection of reggae songs all day today, but the ones I played the most were Bob Marley songs. Not only do I love the musicality of reggae, but I love the positive messages that roots reggae has. Bob Marley is the king of that...in my eyes. When a lot of people think of Bob Marley, they think of a "pot head." He was much more than that, though. He was uneducated, yet was one of the most free-thinking people of our time. His messages are powerful and in a world full of evil he used his music to spread the word of resistance and positivity. Unfortunately, some people don't acknowledge this, and many more don't realize the purpose of his music. Lucky for me, I grew up with my parents listening to his music (I mean what Ethiopian or African doesn't listen to Bob Marley?? lol jk), so I understood his songs. These three songs below were ones that particularly mirrored what I was thinking or feeling today. Here are a few excerpts from the lyrics and what the songs mean, or what they represent to me.
Wake Up and Live!
Life is one big road with lots of signs,
So when you riding through the ruts,
Don't you complicate your mind.
Flee from hate, mischief and jealousy!
Don't bury your thoughts; put your vision to reality, yeah!
Wake up and live, now
Wake up and live!
I love this song. It motivates me. To me it means to live your life, stay rooted in the present, make your dreams a reality, and not to let anything distract you from that.
Babylon System
We refuse to be
What you wanted us to be
We are what we are
That's the way it's going to be, if you don't know
You can't educate I
For no equal opportunity
Talking about my freedom
People freedom and liberty
Yeah, we've been trodding on
The wine press much too long
Rebel. Rebel.
We've been trodding on the
Wine press much too long, Rebel.
Babylon System is the Vampire
Sucking the children day by day
Me say the Babylon System is the Vampire
Sucking the blood of sufferers
Building church and university
Deceiving the people continually
Me say them graduating thieves and murderers
Look out now
Sucking the blood of sufferers
This song is referring to the oppression in Jamaica, but it can apply to all the oppressors of the world and how we need to rebel against them.
War
Until the philosophy which holds one race
Superior and another inferior
Is finally and permanently discredited and abandoned
Everywhere is war, me say war
That until there are no longer first class
And second class citizens of any nation
Until the color of a man's skin
Is of no more significance than the color of his eyes
Me say War
That until the basic human rights are equally
Guaranteed to all, without regard to race
Dis a War
That until that day
The dream of lasting peace, world citizenship
Rule of international morality
Will remain in but a fleeting illusion
To be pursued, but never attained
Now everywhere is war, war
This is one of my favorites. The lyrics are derived from Ethiopian Emperor Haile Selassie's speech to the UN General Assembly in 1963. It's basically a cry for peace and equality among all regardless of any differences we may have.
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