Bob Marley

Due to my ethnocentric interest in music growing up, I had little inkling about the enormous talent of Bob Marley. I probably hadn't heard any of his music much before his death in 1981, though my interests were expanding in those college years and I had some idea what reggae and ska were, though I didn't know the difference between them.

Today I know much more of Marley's music, if only because his songs are not a great part of the mainstream. You know a guy a musician has reached a certain, often dubious, status when their song is used for a commercial, as his "One Love/People Get Ready" has been. Also, I'm sure the first Marley song I ever heard was Eric Clapton's cover of his "I Shot the Sheriff," which was a big hit for Clapton.

I'm currently reading a novel set in Jamaica during the '70s in which Marley is a key part, so I thought I'd get caught up on my cultural deficit and listened to Legend: The Best of Bob Marley and the Wailers. It is, of course, great, but I was surprised that I knew about the half of the songs. Culture will seeks its own level, I guess.

Marley and his group (which included Peter Tosh and Bunny Wailer) started in the early '60s, but changed course due to his conversion to Rastafarianism and his growing of dreadlocks. He became one of the first stars of "world" music, which I guess means he was famous all over the world, not just in his own country, and played music which is not traditionally Western (although reggae and ska has a lot of roots in American R&B). He was not only a great singer and musician, but also a spokesman for leftist politics. "Get Up Stand Up" is, when you really look at it, an incendiary song, and "Redemption Song" has a powerful message.

I think my favorite song of his is "Buffalo Soldier," which not is great musically, but has a great lyric:

"I'm just a buffalo soldier,
In the heart of America
Stolen from Africa, brought to America
Said he was fighting on arrival
Fighting for survival
Said he was a buffalo soldier
Win the war for America"

Marley also brought performed some beautiful love songs, such as "No Woman, No Cry" and "Could You Be Loved." But I think his strongest legacy is as a man who took no shit and firmly stated his beliefs, and brought reggae to a much wider audience.

To tell you the truth, I still can't tell you the difference between reggae and ska. I just associate you with the sound of a steel drum, to show you what an ignoramus is. But, with music, I know what I like, and I like Bob Marley. His death at 36 from cancer was a major loss to the entire world.