Bob Marley's Redemption Song

In his, Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave, Douglass experiences the songs of his brothers and expresses his understanding of this passage. Through his use of structured diction, Douglass reveals the eternal enslavement of his mind caused by the deterioration of his slave self, exposing his apprehension of the songs.

He says that the British ‘stole’ Africans from their homeland and their families for their own good. The line ‘fighting on arrival, fighting for survival’ indicates two ideas about the soldier; first, they were sent to war as soon as they arrived and second, they were not only in a war for the U.S government but also for themselves. They faced with racial discrimination; they would paid less then a white soldier did and experience a greater threat when captured by the Confederate Army then a white did. He somehow correlates buffalo soldier with Rastafarians. Buffalo soldiers had crimped hair which gave them their name, whereas Rastafarians are best know by their hair style -dreadlocks. The 2 group have one more thing in common; ‘their histories were never been adequately told’ (Smith 18). On the following lines ‘if you know your history, then you would know where you are coming from’ Marley is trying to point out the importance of Africans at the wars that U.S Army had involved, and how they played an important role at establishment of U.S government. In his essay, Smith said that Marley sees the poverty in today’s society as the modern version of the slavery culture that

With rhetorical tact, Douglass uses his narrative to underscore the overwhelming desperation inherent to slave songs. Says Douglass, “The singing of a man cast away upon a desert island might be as appropriately considered as evidence of contentment and happiness, as the singing of a slave; the songs of the one and of the other are prompted by the same emotion.” Driven by an all-consuming

The Rastafari movement is a positive movement that promotes peace amongst all, self-respect, self -awareness, and respect for others.

By telling us this it shows us that the slaves were taught to not feel, and that there was no other way for them to live life. Everyone can relate to the fact that in the moment of a certain situation it might not seem too bad, but when you look back on it you really see how bad it really was, this is what Frederick Douglass was experiencing. By explaining how he felt while hearing the songs, it makes the reader feel the unknowing nature that all of the slaves had and it makes us see the injustice in the situation.

The first communication concept relates to empathy and empathic communication, both Bob and Ziggy Marley display this throughout their music. Empathy defined by Julia T. Wood, “is the ability to feel with another person, to feel what she or he feels in a situation. Our feelings tend to be guided by our own emotional tendencies and experiences” (78). In the fullest sense, this implies putting yourself into the other person’s shoes, to experience their life, so that you really understand and feel; pain, anger, frustration, joy, spiritual uplift and happiness. Bob Marley is empathetic in nature, he is “someone who appears to speak for the people. It is his music, his life story, his worldview and the way he carries himself -- he seems like an extension of the people and their leader. He seems like a sort of Cultural Senator, a man who represents his people” (Toure 2017). Bob Marley expresses empathy throughout his song “Get Up Stand Up,” by giving us examples of what life was like in the 1960’s in Jamaica. Paying close attention to the words and the connotations associated with those words, we can get an idea to what was going on during that era. From the beginning, reggae was political, as the work of Bob clearly attests. When he chants, “Get up \ Stand up \ Stand up for your rights!” you can feel how important this issue is to him. By translating this one lyric, you can imagine the details of his experiences and the emotions associated with them. The lyrics of this song relates to the struggles and inequality of the society and the harsh realities of a post-independent Jamaica. Nearly the entire song has a political slant to it in some shape or form. The political unrest which was taking place at the time was extremely intense, this song urged people to raise and stand up and fight for their rights and to be proactive.

Reason: A lot of emphasis of was placed on the effect these songs had on Frederick Douglass’ soul, and his view on slavery. Song was used as an outlet by the slaves to express their sadness and desolate emotions, a rallying cry and proof of their humanity, despite the dehumanization they faced as slaves.

The slaves sang, “… most when they are most unhappy. The songs of the slave represent the sorrows of his heart; and he is relieved by them, only as his aching heart is relieved by its tears…” (Pages 8-9). With the previous quote, Douglass uses a metaphor in which he compares the song to all the sorrow that the slaves have been through. As one can see, in order to relieve all the pain and misery that the slaves went through, they sang songs.

A spiritual journey dominates these songs, but the concern for physical freedom is there as well. The most pervasive image in the spirituals is that of the chosen people for the slaves believed that they had been chosen by God just as the Israelites had. They also believed that they understood better than anyone what freedom truly meant in both a spiritual and physical sense. The Old Testament characters that the slaves referred to in their songs experienced deliverance by God. The slaves believed that the same God that had granted them spiritual freedom would someday loose the chains of slavery. The wonderful flexibility of the spirituals allowed for that double meaning of freedom. For example, Frederick Douglass claimed that the line” I am bound for Canaan” in one of the songs he frequently sang meant that he was going North, not just that he would experience the freedom of the promised land in a spiritual sense. The flexibility and multiplicity of meanings also allowed for slaves to use these sacred songs as secret communication. Some songs, such as “Steal Away to Jesus,” were used to call a secret meeting where the people could worship without the supervision of the whites. Other songs, such as “Wade in the Water” served as coded directions for runaway slaves. With the eventual emancipation of the slaves, religious music of African Americans became prominently

The common theme found in both ‘ Narrative of the life of Frederick Douglas’ and the poem, ‘The Slave’s Dream’ is longing for freedom. Both passages show a man dreaming of freedom and one man is sad because of it and the other is so taken away by it he forgets about reality. It was often said that slaves sing to express their happiness, but Douglas argues it’s to express their sadness.

I was myself within the circle; so that I neither saw nor heard as those without might see and hear” (26). Douglass argues that only after moving away from a culture can one gain interpretation from it. There is tension here, between the literal meaning of the songs and the true meaning in which Douglas hopes to reeducate.

The lyrics of songs inspire people to think and do many things. Today, songs expressing the quality of being beautiful and important in society can be found. Songs encouraging love and taking chances within oneself and others are listened to. None the less, there exists songs expressing hatred, anger, sorrow, and feelings of desolation. Lyrics are limitless, they simply express that of the person's internal emotions. Songs can convey a misunderstanding or an unclear interpretation. Much like the lyrics of today, slave songs conveyed a deep and heart-wrenching message, that to many listeners, were never quite understood. Songs are simply an expression of truth. In an environment which otherwise punished truth,

When delving into the song and trying to grasp the meaning, it can be understood that the author really desires to be free and go back home to where he belongs and desires. The author or writer of the song does not like the idea of slavery, nor does he like being a slave himself, his perspective on the topic shows that he is not happy about the current situation and no one should because of how cruel slavery is. The author also uses certain rhetorical strategies, one of them being metaphors. They can be used to explain his sadness and other feelings he has about the topic of slavery. An example of this is,

Rastafari is, before it is anything else, a way of life. It offers approaches and answers to real problems black people face in daily living; it promotes spiritual resilience in the face of oppressive poverty and underdevelopment. It produces art, music and cultural forms, which can be universally recognized and appreciated. More important, Rastafari provides a positive self-image, an alternative to people who need and cannot find or accept one elsewhere. Even with its black foundation and orientation, Rastafarianism is open to anyone, of any race, who chooses to discover and is able to accept it.

Reggae music was a big part of Jamaican culture. Many artists practiced the style of reggae and some of the artists like Bob Marley influenced and showed people internationally all about this music. It originated around the time that Jamaica was being attacked by European countries like Spain and native people being taken into slavery. Bob Marley was born after the time of slave trading but whites still effected the native people and this is how he got his inspiration for his music.