Bob Marley

Bob Marley


I've just been floored by my newly purchased Bob Marley 'Legend' cd. I waited about a week before I listened to it and my road trip to Brighton seemed like an excellent opportunity.


I was amazed by the artistry, the production the performances - everything about Bob Marley's music is simply stunning. It's as if I've never properly heard his music before. And to be fair, the last Bob Marley music I owned was all on vinyl back in the olden days.


Consider me re-aquainted. Enlightened, actually.


His music is a paradoxical mix of sweetness, anger, hope and unattached bliss. All delivered with the eloquence and skill of a musical master. A genius. Bob Marley was that special.


I mean, who cannot hum a Bob Marley song off the top of their head? His music is probably more instantly recognisable than the Beatles.


The man instinctively understood melody and lyrics brilliantly and weaved them into the most happy and poignant music in recorded history.


When it came to vocal performances and nuances Bob Marley was an alchemist....instinctively manipulating and melding 'energy' to effortlessly carry the listener through his tunes.


If you don't know what I mean, here's an example.... in the song " Satisfy My Soul" in the 2nd part of the song he unexpectedly calms the feel down alot, almost whispering the words like he's praying "when we bend a new corner, i feel like a sweepstake winner..." Most artists would belt that line at that point in that song. Not Bob, though. The Alchemist is fully confident in his art that he lets the emotion dictate the pace...not his intellect. That's the trait of a master, in my opinion.


Lyrically, Bob's message was simple: take it easy, love your neighbour, don't give up on social justice, and that we all need "something" (redemption songs) to get us through the human experience.


Bob Marley is more than just an artist on a roster. He was a blessing to us all.