GET UP, STAND UP... FOR "MARLEY"

Ok, in these times of political turmoil and uncertainty, what better man to remember than Bob Marley, who brought us immortal songs like “Get Up, Stand Up”.  The combination of his unbelievable musical talent, his Rastafarian spiritualism and social messages made him an immortal musician, a phenomenon if you will, that will live on in the collective consciousness for ever. Or pretty damn close to for ever. But we must not forget that Bob Marley was, at the end of the day, a man. As you may imagine not exactly a simple man, not a person that one could find easy to understand. But if we make a bit of an effort to understand the man behind the myth, it might deepen our understanding. Give us more to think about, as it were. So let us take a step behind the curtain and see what the true Bob Marley was like.

Now I say “step behind the curtain” but of course, Bob Marley was quite famous for his openness in all things. And as a public figure his life story such as it is, is well known. So I don’t think it makes much sense to summarise it in this second paragraph traditionally reserved for the plot. Besides, this would retract considerably from the effect of the documentary. Marley is a wonderful, candid account of Bob Marley’s life, starting from his earliest years and going right through to his death. It mixes honest, no hold barred interviews with the people closest to him including his children and original footage of both concerts and interviews with the man himself. That Bob Marley was a musical genius goes without saying. It isn’t even worth discussing. But what of his faults? He was many things, but an angel was not one of them…

And then there is the “social” side of his life. By this I don’t mean his social life. I mean the social messages imbued in his songs. His spirituality. Marley’s life wasn’t an easy one. Growing up as a poor, mixed-race youth in Jamaica meant that he not only had to contend with poverty and the prejudice brought up by not being white, he also had to contend with not exactly being black either. It is possibly this rather harsh start in life that made one of his main social messages the call to fight against injustice, to struggle for peace, unity and harmony. For people to bypass all prejudices that life, “the system” or whatever you like to call it has imposed on us and come together to struggle for the things in life that are truly important. And it is this immortal message that has made his music so timeless.

Although it is sad that the message is still needed and does not happen “automatically” as it were, I think Bob would be happy to know that out there in the world there are people listening to his music, picking up the message and above and beyond just spreading it, leading by action and example. Yeah, you know what I’m talking about…