The legend, Bob Marley was truly a philosopher.
He was a person who offered through his song-writing skills, his views or theories on profound questions in ethics, metaphysics, logic, politics and other related fields.
It wasn’t until after his death that I visited Jamaica for the first time.
Despite this, I visited the Bob Marley Museum at 56 Hope Road in Kingston, Jamaica where the legend resided.
After paying the fee to go on a guided tour, I met Neville Garrick (his art and graphic designer who died last year in 2024).
He showed us around as he told us stories of how Bob Marley was inspired to write his songs.
He informed us that one morning, his backing singers, the I Threes, a trio featuring Marcia Griffiths, Rita Marley, and Judy Mowatt, who had not been paid for some time, decided to confront Bob.
They then pitched up by his doorstep and asked for payment.
This is when he told the Threes not to worry and came up with the song: Three Little Birds (Pitch by My Doorstep).
Neville then explained that one of the most famous choruses in Marley’s music, Three Little Birds which a lot of people refer to as Don’t Worry (About A Thing ) was written then.
He said the song promotes positivity in the face of adversity.
Through a simple song, the repeated choruses and verses make the message clearer. It is a theme song for many events and it goes like this:
Don't worry about a thing
'Cause every little thing gonna be alright
Singing, "Don't worry about a thing
'Cause every little thing gonna be alright"
Rise up this morning, smiled with the rising sun
Three little birds pitch by my doorstep
Singing sweet songs of melodies pure and true
Saying, "This is my message to you-ou-ou"
After he had moved to Hope Road, his White neighbours in this posh suburb did not like the idea of a group of ganja-smoking Rasta men living next-door to them and making noise by playing drums and singing all night. They protested but all in vain.
This is when he came up with the song Bad Card part of which lyrics go something like this:
“ I want to disturb my neighbour
'Cause I'm feelin' so right
I want to turn up my disco
Blow them to full watts tonight, eh
In a-rub-a-dub style. “
Then you draw a bad card.
Next. The song "Exodus" by Bob Marley is a call for spiritual and physical liberation, drawing on the Biblical Exodus story and the Rastafarian quest for freedom.
Marley fled to London after an assassination attempt in Jamaica, and the song reflects his personal journey and the hope for a "movement of Jah people" to find a new spiritual homeland, (exodus) leaving oppression ("Babylon") behind.
But Marley saw God as a liberator, a deliverer from political and personal oppression. In his song “Exodus,” he sang:
“Jah come to break downpression, rule equality, wipe away transgression, set the captives free.”
Marley's heartfelt message of unity, peace and religious devotion, “One Love” has become his most enduring hit.
The song was released three different times. During the time that he was a Rastafarian, Marley supported the legalisation of cannabis or "ganja", which Rastafarians believe is an aid to meditation.
Marley began to use cannabis when he converted to the Rastafari faith from Catholicism in 1966.
Marley was arrested in 1968 after being caught with cannabis but continued to use marijuana in accordance with his religious beliefs.
Of his marijuana usage, Marley said, "When you smoke herb, herb reveal yourself to you. All the wickedness you do, the herb reveal itself to yourself, your conscience, show up yourself clear, because herb make you meditate. Is only a natural t'ing and it grow like a tree."
Marley saw marijuana usage as a vital factor in religious growth and connection with Jah, and as a way to philosophise and become wiser.
Due to his beliefs that ganja makes one wiser, the songs: Excuse Me While I Light Up My Spliff, Ganja Gan, Ganja In My Brain, Weed, Medication, Got To Have Kaya Now and many more were written.
Marley was a Pan Africanist and believed in the unity of African people worldwide. His beliefs were rooted in his Rastafari religious beliefs.
Marley was substantially inspired by the teachings of Jamaican political activist, Marcus Mosiah Garvey and had anti-imperialist and pan-Africanist themes in many of his songs, such as Zimbabwe, Exodus, Survival, Blackman Redemption and Redemption Song.
The lattermost draws influence from a 1937 speech given by Marcus Garvey in Nova Scotia, Canada..
Marley held that independence of African countries from European domination was a victory for all those in the African diaspora.
In the song Africa Unite, he sings of a desire for all peoples of the African diaspora to come together and fight against "Babylon"; similarly, in the song Zimbabwe, Marley marks the liberation of the whole continent of Africa, and evokes calls for unity between all, both within and outside Africa.
He was inspired to write this song after he was invited to celebrate Zimbabwe’s independence in 1980:
Every man got a right to decide his own destiny
And in this judgement there is no partiality
So arm in arms, with arms, we'll fight this little struggle
'Cause that's the only way we can overcome our little trouble
Brother, you're right, you're right
You're right, you're right, you're so right
We gon' fight (we gon' fight), we'll have to fight (we gon' fight)
We gonna fight (we gon' fight), fight for our rights
Natty Dread it inna (Zimbabwe)
Set it up inna (Zimbabwe)
Mash it up a inna Zimbabwe (Zimbabwe)
Africans a liberate (Zimbabwe), hmm
No more internal power struggle
We come together to overcome the little trouble
Soon we'll find out who is the real revolutionary
'Cause I don't want my people to be contrary
Bob Marley's inspiration came from various sources, including his mother's singing, Rastafarianism, the teachings of Marcus Garvey emphasising Pan-Africanism and African heritage, the social and political struggles in Jamaica, and from mentors like Joe Higgs.
His experiences in Trench Town, the political climate in Jamaica, and the spiritual message of Haile Selassie1 also deeply influenced his music, giving it messages of unity, peace, and resistance against oppression.
Indeed, Marley was a true philosopher who, like Jesus Christ, died at a young age in his thirties.
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