Freedom Songs

Cassidy Gardner

DiIorio

Comp. 2

Freedom Songs

A man dressed in a cowboy hat, raven black blazer, a pair of tight levi's and two sharp snakeskin boots looks to have nothing in common with a man dressed in a hat of long, knotted dreadlocks and a cotton t-shirt with the colors green, yellow and red stretched across the chest. However, in many ways they are similair. Much more than their clothing, they are two musical wonders born to send the message of peace through their music. Bob Dylan and Bob Marley come from two very different backgrounds yet their influences and opinions led them both to be legends who positively impacted people of all ages.

Robert Nesta Marley was born in a small rural Jamaican village by the name of Nine Miles. He grew up with a caucasian dad who later abandoned the family and a black mother who kept the growing family together and strong. This inherited mixture gave him a valuable perspective. Though a majority of his time was put into speaking out for the black diaspora, this did not prove a hatred for white people, rather a hatred for someone to undeservingly act is if they are better than another. In the song "War," by Marley, directly targets this point with headstrong lyrics ;"Until the philosophy which hold one race superior to another and another inferior is finally and permanently dicredited and abandoned, everywhere is was, me say war."

Later in the 1950's he and his mother Cedella moved to Kingston, Jamaica where bad behavior and poverty impacted Robert so deeply that it became an important subject to sing about for his later albums. Complaints of such issues arose in such songs as"Them Belly Full" where he sang "Cost of livin' gets so high. Rich and poor they start to cry. Now the weak must get strong. They say oh, what a tribulation. Them belly full but we hungry. A hungry mob is an angry mob. A rain fall but the dirt it tough. A pot cook but you no 'nough." Marley and his mother Cedella lived in a government tenant yard which was a cramped area where poor people, the majority being black, made their homes. This was a place where " your dreams might raise you or kill you"(Rolling Stone, 62). In Robert's case it raised him and caused him to haveing more personal lyrics, closely related to Kingston.

Though he had his life in Kingston to write about, the genre of his music would have to change to something of a slower melodic tone from ska which was presently the popular music in Jamaica. Such harsh issues would not be well received

from already a stereotyped rough and rigged sounding music.

Ska could be described as beautiful , meaningful with rough edges that made it more edgy. Later reggae was founded and it fit him like a glove. Reggae was better used for storytelling and an easier outlet for world commentary. Marley wanted to bring together everyone and made that very clear in one of his most popular songs , "One Love" where he said, " Let's get together and fight this holy armagiddyon, so when the man comes there will be no doom. Have pit on those whose chances grow t'inner; there ain't not hiding place from the father of creation." This lyric implied that the only way for the world to ever truly be accepted was to work together and hide no light. Reggae was slower, more peaceful and a clear harmonious feeling jumped out of each beat. His music then became more and more personable talking about the ghetto and the failure of society to stand up.

A common misinterpretation was that Bob Marley was singing about easy peace. However, he was singing about how hell had somehow turned into the new heaven. He wanted the government and the general public to realize the growing problems of racism and poverty. This was a breakthrough in music as a person found a way through music to speak and relate to people who grew up in similar straits. He gave a voice to these problems and gave him the start to a lasting career. As his music career started to take off in Studio One, a popular recording studio for many other arising stars, there he met his life long partner, Rita Anderson who inspired him to look deeper into different cultures. Later on, Robert and his wife transformed themselves into Rastafarians, as the culture was just starting to arise in the sixties. Rasta's viewed Western Society as corrupt and suffering. Rastafarianism would help him find a new depth in his music, addressing issues such as economic and class systems, injustice and Western politics. This was his start to his path to being a legend and later started to grow as a hit making machine with songs such as "Redemption Song", "No Woman No Cry" and the remake of Eric Clapton's " I Shot the Sheriff". Then when Marley was at the top of his career he died, May 11th, 1981