Africa Speaks Reasoning Forum

I can still remember the first Bob Marley song I ever heard. I was quite young and I got my first Walkman as a present, one of those dinky little ones with just the cassette. My older cousin had just begun to grow his locks and it was such a 'scandal' in his immediate family; his poor mother could have fainted.

I went outside and sat on my swing set and put it in. It is funny the things that stick in your head after all these years, down to the visual images. I remember the day was muggy and hot, and I can still see my small feet, dirty from running around the yard, swinging in the air just above the concrete.

Then I heard the first strains of this amazing guitar. Somehow it reminded me of little gnarled old men, with sad eyes sitting on front steps; so quiet yet so compelling, making you want to stop and look into their eyes and figure out what their story was. The song was "Redemption Song"

When Bob started to sing I was captivated. I was brought up listening to soca, old soul, rhythm and blues and some classical music, my mother being a piano teacher, but that particular song rang deep.

Well my attraction to Bob's music certainly began that day and I joined the ranks of so many thousands of others whom his voice, his music and his message had touched. On this the anniversary of his death, I share my first memory of him, and the lyrics of  'Redemption Song', my tribute to a warrior-poet and an inspiration. ~ yan



"Redemption Song"

Old pirates, yes, they rob I;
Sold I to the merchant ships,
Minutes after they took I
From the bottomless pit.
But my hand was made strong
By the 'and of the Almighty.
We forward in this generation
Triumphantly.
Won't you help to sing
These songs of freedom? -
'Cause all I ever have:
Redemption songs;
Redemption songs.

Emancipate yourselves from mental slavery;
None but ourselves can free our minds.
Have no fear for atomic energy,
'Cause none of them can stop the time.
How long shall they kill our prophets,
While we stand aside and look? Ooh!
Some say it's just a part of it:
We've got to fulfil de book.

Won't you help to sing
These songs of freedom? -
'Cause all I ever have:
Redemption songs;
Redemption songs;
Redemption songs.
---
---
Emancipate yourselves from mental slavery;
None but ourselves can free our mind.
Wo! Have no fear for atomic energy,
'Cause none of them-a can-a stop-a the time.
How long shall they kill our prophets,
While we stand aside and look?
Yes, some say it's just a part of it:
We've got to fulfil de book.
Won't you help to sing
Dese songs of freedom? -
'Cause all I ever had:
Redemption songs -
All I ever had:
Redemption songs:
These songs of freedom,
Songs of freedom.

Good thread to start!

My first memory of seeing Bob was on T.V. at 5 years old. Unfortunatley it was the day he died, May 11, 1981. I grew up in L.A. so I don't remember not hearing his voice at the beach and art and music festivals ALL the time, but I never knew that the rasta man's face I saw everywhere were images of him. It was a clip of a live performance of the song War quoted from H.I.M Haile Selassie. I  remember my parents listening to him intently and stopping all conversation, captivated by the T.V.(this is rare, most of the time they were yelling back at the T.V. about the lies and propoganda the U.S. news was feeding the public on racism, and politics, especially Apartheid and Zionism) so I knew someone special was on. I distinctly remember my mother looking down at me once the clip was over, with tears in her eyes saying..."That is why the U.S. corporate radio wouldn't play his music honey." That always stuck with me.

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 -
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.
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, yeah!

LIFE: A Short Story How Things Don’t Change

The first Marley song I ever heard is “Natural Mystic”. It was a little like “déjà vu” to me, as it is with most Marley Music Lovers when they first experience The Reggae, as I’ve heard. I remember it was at night, and I remember that I was COMPLETELY MYSTIFIED and thought : “Hey! What kinda music is this, so good?” … Anyway, I just want to admit that I became a lover of Bob’s music instantly!!! Looking back, over these past two decades, I can say Reggae  -- OR Bob’s music in particular -- has influenced my life and thought COMPLETELY!

My own “definition” of Reggae: Reggae is a rhythmic, “hesitant” music that touches the very core of where human emotions are born(e)!

Here is a dedication (borrowed from somewhere):

Man comes into this world -- (without his consent) -- and leaves it against his will. On earth, he is misjudged and misunderstood. In infancy, he is an angel; in boyhood,  he is a devil and in manhood, a fool. If he has a wife and family, he is a champ; if he is a bachelor, he is inhuman. If he enters a pub, he is a drunkard; if he stops out, he is a miser. If he is poor, he has no brains; if he is rich, he has had all the luck in the world and has used his brains! If he goes to church, he is a hypocrite; if he stays away, he is a sinner. If he gives to charity, it is for advertisement; if he does not, he is stingy and mean. When he comes into the world, everybody wants to kiss him; but before he goes out, most would rather kick him! If he dies young there was a great future before him; if he lives to a ripe old age, everybody hopes he has made a will!!

… !LIFE CAN BE A FUNNY PROPOSITION! …

It’s hard to please people, so keep smiling and do your own thing! Forget about what other people say, or when they lie that they have no problems, but then try to advise you how best to solve yours; for they themselves have wagon-loads of them!!

(http://www.african-poet.com/images/Skipper.GIF)
CAPTAIN SKIPPER and The Ball

Well unfortunately I never got to see any of Bob's great performances when he was alive all of them or majority i watched on tapes cause he passed on before ini was born.
But the first Marley Song I ever heard was No Woman No Cry I was proably 6 years old at the time and as i sat listen to him attentively just hearing the words

Then we would cook cornmeal porridge, say,
Of which I'll share with you, yeah!
My feet is my only carriage
And so I've got to push on through.
Oh, while I'm gone,
Everything's gonna be all right!
Everything's gonna be all right!
Everything's gonna be all right, yeah
Everything's gonna be all right!
Everything's gonna be all right-a!
Everything's gonna be all right!
Everything's gonna be all right, yeah!
Everything's gonna be all right!

So no, woman, no cry;
No, woman, no cry.
I seh, O little - O little darlin', don't shed no tears;
No, woman, no cry, eh.

that song Became so much comfort to me cause on that fateful day I lost my grandfather and that song was playing
on the radio and from that day on I was a Marley fan,Always will be....

(http://images.art.com/images/PRODUCTS/shdws/large/10048000/10048509.jpg)

yes yan, i hear you! somehow everyone has good memories when it comes to bob marley. well i remember two of my little brothers and myself listening to my father play the guitar and sing 'Redemption Song' to us. we were all sitting in the gallery in the late evening time when electricity went and despite the fact that we couldn't watch television we were glad that we were with our dad. to be honest, the first time that i heard bob marley's music was when my dad sang his music. the irony of the matter is that my dad absolutely hates anything to do with Rastafarians but even he could not resist the enchanting voice of the legend. anyway, one of the reasons that i love bob marley's music so much is because it reminds me of the good times that my father and i had. not that we don't anymore, but we aren't as close as we were then....you know how it is when you've grown up. anyway, when the moment arises, my dad and i would sing a few of marley's songs. these are some of the better moments that we share 'cause we can hardly ever agree on anything else. bob marley's music can definitely bring people together...even if its only for a while and under false pretences.

Greetings

It as been a long while since I posted a message but this thread calls for my contribution as it was on hearing the lyrics and music of the wailers and Bob that began my journey for spiritual enlightment.

I was 11 or 12 years old and my eldest brother is playing an album he has just bought called "Catch a Fire". The first track Concrete jungle places a picture in my mind that completely explains what my family were telling me about living in Kingstown in Denham Town.

I go to see my brother and ask him who this band are and where are they from, he tells me to ask my mother. When I ask she tells me that they are the first spiritual rude bwoys, that come to change the world and she was right.

It took 3 months of saving every penny I ever got to buy my own copy and I played it on her gram practically everyday for the next 10 years and bought every album ever since. While my school friends were into jackson 5, led zepplin and cream, I had the wailers and Bob.

Thank you Robert Nesta Marley for your works and message, they helped me through life and now help my 2 daughters to see the world as it really is.

To this day I still have that album with the album cover as a lighter. Regardless of the excellent marketing of Chris Blackwell the music and lyrics resonated through my very soul and suddenly every thing around me began to make complete sense.

Peace

Dredi

I like what a Rasta told to me once when I was listening to him sing Bob Marley, "one don't have to be in the Bible to be a prophet.  Listen to these words."  My appreciation & insight grew tenfold instantaneously...

peace...
Nesta was most defineatly dangerous to the
white power structure.....thats why the CIA
set up that ambush at hope road.....
Nesta also was given Selassie's ring which
has great meaning.....
but i cannot think about Bob without thinking
of Peter and Bunny......
I hope to build with Bunny one day.....

Just a little Tribute.....to..
(http://www.bobmarley-foundation.com/ba1.gif)
MY DISTANT TEACHER

My distant teacher
Distant teacher
Every song a lesson
Every song a sign
My distant teacher
BOB MARLEY his name
Educator his reign
The world his class room
With prophesies he came
Monumental prophesies of what will remain.
Buffalo soldier, Dread lock Rasta
Taken from the homeland, to the heart of the carry-beyond
My distant teacher taught me, to open my eyes and look within
Are you satisfied with the life you are living?
Rasta man live up, Rasta man don’t give up.
Sun is shining, and the weather is sweet
Makes you want to move, your dancing feet
To the rescue, here H.I.M. come
See them fighting for power
But they know not the hour
So they’re bribing, with their guns, spare parts, and money
Trying to belittle our, integrity now
Through political strategy, they keep us hungry
And when you got to get some food
Your brother got to be your enemy now
Ambush in the night, but every thing’s gonna be alright
They say the blood runs, and it runs through our lineage  
And our hearts, hearts of hearts divine
But John say them coming, with the truth from an ancient time.
Every man’s got the right, to decide his own destiny
And in this judgement, there is no partiality
So arm in arms, with arms, we will fight this little struggle
Cause that’s the only way we can overcome this little trouble
How good, and how pleasant it would be, before God and man
To see the unification, of all Africans
As it’s been said already, let it be done
We are the children, under the sun.
We are the children of the, higher one.
They made their world so hard, everyday we got to keep on fighting
They made their world so hard, everyday the people are dying
From hunger and starvation
Take of the veil from off your eyes, step into the future of realise
Check out the real situation, we are coming in from the cold
Emancipate yourself from mental slavery
None but ourselves can free our minds
Have no fear for atomic energy, cause none a dem can stop JAH time
How long shall they kill our prophets, while we stand aside and look
Some say it’s just a part of it, we got to fulfil the book
Won’t you help to sing, another song of freedom
Cause I ever have, REDEMTION SONGS
But to the rescue, here H.I.M. come
MY DISTANT TEACHER

Just had to say....as i was reading these tributes, i was listening to the Natty Dread album, and i began to cry a little, because the words that were written and pictures posted were inspiring and very beautiful. As i did this, a certain song came on the headphones..."NO Woman NO Cry"!!! Coincidence? naw....JAH LIVE- FEEL JAH POWER AND LOVE!!!

BE BLESSED....THANKS TO OUR INCREDIBLE PROPHET JAH MARLEY!!!

THERE'S A NATURAL MYSTIC BLOWING THROUGH THE AIR
IF YOU LISTEN CAREFULLY NOW YOU WILL HEAR...hear it?