The Revolutionary Words Of Bob Marley’s “Get Up Stand Up”

12 Pages 2911 Words

Bob Marley gave the world brilliant and evocative music, his work stretched across nearly two decades and yet still remains timeless and universal. “Bob Marley and the Wailers” worked their way into the very fabric of our lives through there unique music.
Bob Marley’s religion and beliefs were his guiding and inspiration for most if not all of his greatest hits. There is one particular piece that sings to the heart of what Bob Marley really sang about; the political and religious parts of his life. And no other song represents what Bob Marley truly means than “Get Up Stand Up.” This short ballad was what connected Marley with all people as well as meaning behind the Rasta’s who looked to it as the call-to-arms. It was with this song that Bob Marley established a controversial and critical power and reputation with people of the world. The song called to fellow Rastafarian people to resist persecution for there culture and beliefs. Bob Marley’s ballad of “Get Up Stand Up” confirmed and committed himself to his role as a revolutionary messenger and as a social and political icon of the people’s music.
When examining Bob Marley’s thoughts and reasoning when writing this revolutionary song it is also very important to consider the roots of his legend and the roots of his religion. The first superstar from the Third World, Bob Marley was one of the most charismatic and challenging performers of our time and his music could have been come from only one source; the street culture of Jamaica.
In Rhoden Hall to the north end of Jamaica, Bob Nesta Marley was born. His mother was an eighteen-year-old black girl called Cedella Booker while his father was Captain Norval Marley, a white quartermaster attached to the British West Indian Regiment (Makin, 16).
The couple married in 1944 and Robert Nesta Marley was born on February 6, 1945. Norval Marley’s family, however, applied constant pressure and, although he provided f...