Born February 6th, 1945, Robert Nesta Marley was a legend from day one. The mind frame of this man was above and beyond every other human being around him. He may have looked up to many preachers and followed religious beliefs but he gained the respect of everyone who met him, or even heard of him, and Bob Marley lived a life with one purpose – to bring the world together and find freedom for all.
Bob Marley grew up in Jamaica through some of the most political warfare that any of us could imagine. And through it all he wrote and sang some of the most powerful lyrics ever recorded. To this day, even after Marley’s death in 1981, the record companies are still making millions off of his music, his passion and his life. Some songs were about freedom, some songs were about unity, and some songs were about love, but all songs were about Bob, about his life, about his strife, and about what he believed was right.
On this Legends birthday, I want you all to recognize the lyrics to the song War off the album Rastaman Vibration:
“Until the philosophy which hold one race superior
And another
Inferior
Is finally
And permanently
Discredited
And abandoned –
Everywhere is war –
Me say war.
That until there no longer
First class and second class citizens of any nation
Until the colour of a man’s skin
Is of no more significance than the colour of his eyes –
Me say war.
That until the basic human rights
Are equally guaranteed to all,
Without regard to race –
‘Tis 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.
And until the ignoble and unhappy regimes
That hold our brothers in Angola,
In Mozambique,
South Africa
Sub-human bondage
Have been toppled,
Utterly destroyed –
Well, everywhere is war –
Me say war.
War in the east,
War in the west,
War up north,
War down south –
War – war –
Rumours of war.
And until that day,
The African continent
Will not know peace,
We Africans will fight – we find it necessary –
And we know we shall win
As we are confident
In the victory
Of good over evil –
Good over evil, yeah!
Good over evil –
Good over evil, yeah!
Good over evil –
Good over evil…”
This was most likely the most powerful song ever sung by Bob Marley and the Wailers, not just for it’s lyrics, but actually from where the lyrics came from. Ethiopian Emperor Haile Selassie I (Imperial Majesty and Leader of Rastafarians) read this speech in his Ahmaric language in the UN in 1963 which was written by Lorenzo Tazaz. Bob Marley and the Wailers turned it into a song by using the part of Selassie’s speech that calls for equality among all without regard to race, class, or nationality in his hymnal cry for peace. It also asserts, quoting Selassie directly, that until the day of an equal society, there will be war. In the original speech, Selassie urged U.N. officials and country representatives to disarm nuclear weapons, and to end international exploitation (specifically with Africa). The song honors Haile Selassie I while calling for action against racial inequality and international injustice. The part of the speech used by Bob Marley was preceded by the following words:
“Last May, in Addis Ababa, I convened a meeting of Heads of African States and Governments. In three days, the thirty-two nations represented at that Conference demonstrated to the world that when the will and the determination exist, nations and peoples of diverse backgrounds can and will work together. In unity, to the achievement of common goals and the assurance of that equality and brotherhood which we desire.”
Some seriously powerful lyrics recognized and relayed to the world by the Legend – Bob Marley.
Understand it, and respect it
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