Beyond his highly merchandised face,
overplayed music, and global icon Peace & Love status, legendary Jamaican
reggae artist, Bob Marley, was a revolutionary in the most noble
sense of the word. In his book Reggae and Caribbean Music, Dave Thompson comes up with a more accurate,
militant and radical description of the Smiling Marley we’ve been acquainted
with:
Bob Marley ranks among both the most
popular and the most misunderstood figures in modern culture… That the machine
has utterly emasculated Marley is beyond doubt. Gone from the public record is
the ghetto kid who dreamed of Che Guevara and
the Black Panthers,
and pinned their posters up in the Wailers Soul Shack record store;
who believed in freedom; and the fighting which it necessitated, and dressed
the part on an early album sleeve; whose heroes were James Brown and Muhammad Ali; whose God was Ras Tafari and whose sacrament
was marijuana. Instead, the Bob Marley who surveys his kingdom today is
smiling benevolence, a shining sun, a waving palm tree, and a string of hits
which tumble out of polite radio like candy from a gumball machine. Of course
it has assured his immortality. But it has also demeaned him beyond
recognition. Bob Marley was worth far more.
Highlighted by social justice and
solidarity, the one underlying and recurring theme in all of Bob Marley’s work
was Love: from the individual to the universal. In his 36 years of short,
well-loved life, he became one of the most powerful examples of the power of
art to channel goodness and reunite people of different nationalities,
background, education, social status, skin color—under the same human, original
constellation.
Years before Marley, one of his
idols and role models, Ernesto Che Guevara had
planted the seed:
“At the risk of seeming ridiculous,
let me say that the true revolutionary is guided by a great feeling of love. It
is impossible to think of a genuine revolutionary lacking this quality.”
It seems like Marley accomplished
through Art what Che Guevara tried to achieve through politics and
force. A more subtle, long-lasting type of revolution.
Because real love isn’t a fairy tale
or a Hollywood production but a revolutionary force capable of turning your
life upside down and challenging everything you thought you knew. Love is,
essentially, change.
Here
are some of the most beautiful and life-altering symptoms of such love, in the
longest quote on the subject, attributed to Bob Marley.
Whether this, as he says, only
happens once in a lifetime, can be argued. As for the rest, it is pure (pseudo)
scientifically proven heart / life expansion.
“Only once in your life, I truly
believe, you find someone who can completely turn your world around. You tell
them things that you’ve never shared with another soul and they absorb
everything you say and actually want to hear more. You share hopes for the
future, dreams that will never come true, goals that were never achieved and
the many disappointments life has thrown at you.
When something wonderful happens,
you can’t wait to tell them about it, knowing they will share in your
excitement. They are not embarrassed to cry with you when you are hurting or
laugh with you when you make a fool of yourself. Never do they hurt your feelings
or make you feel like you are not good enough, but rather they build you up and
show you the things about yourself that make you special and even beautiful.
There is never any pressure,
jealousy or competition but only a quiet calmness when they are around. You can
be yourself and not worry about what they will think of you because they love
you for who you are.
The things that seem insignificant
to most people such as a note, song or walk become invaluable treasures kept
safe in your heart to cherish forever. Memories of your childhood come back and
are so clear and vivid it’s like being young again. Colors seem brighter and
more brilliant. Laughter seems part of daily life where before it was
infrequent or didn’t exist at all.
A phone call or two during the day
helps to get you through a long day’s work and always brings a smile to your
face. In their presence, there’s no need for continuous conversation, but you
find you’re quite content in just having them nearby. Things that never
interested you before become fascinating because you know they are important to
this person who is so special to you.
You think of this person on every
occasion and in everything you do. Simple things bring them to mind like a pale
blue sky, gentle wind or even a storm cloud on the horizon.
You open your heart knowing that
there’s a chance it may be broken one day and in opening your heart, you
experience a love and joy that you never dreamed possible. You find that being
vulnerable is the only way to allow your heart to feel true pleasure that’s so
real it scares you.
You find strength in knowing you
have a true friend and possibly a soul mate who will remain loyal to the end.
Life seems completely different, exciting and worthwhile. Your only hope and
security is in knowing that they are a part of your life.”
But after the initial rocket-heart scientific discovery, when
your spaceship lands, Love (like Life) is a journey and if you want to keep
your travel companion near, you may need to add more substance to your trail
mix:
On
loving Her (or Him):
“You may not be her first, her last,
or her only. She loved before she may love again. But if she loves you now,
what else matters?”
On
loving Him (or Her):
“He’s not perfect. You aren’t
either, and the two of you will never be perfect. But if he can make you laugh
at least once, causes you to think twice, and if he admits to being human and
making mistakes, hold onto him and give him the most you can. He isn’t going to
quote poetry, he’s not thinking about you every moment, but he will give you a
part of him that he knows you could break.
Don’t hurt him, don’t change him,
and don’t expect for more than he can give. Don’t analyze. Smile when he makes
you happy, yell when he makes you mad, and miss him when he’s not there. Love
hard when there is love to be had. Because perfect guys don’t exist, but
there’s always one guy that is perfect for you.”
And when it seems like a losing
game,
“The winds that sometimes take
something we love, are the same that bring us something we learn to love.
Therefore we should not cry about something that was taken from us, but, yes, love
what we have been given. Because what is really ours is never gone forever.”
Finally, there’s no Marley (or no
love) without some kind of soundtrack:
Excuse me, god, is this love?
“Money
can’t buy life,” were Bob Marley’s final words to his son Ziggy.
It can’t buy love either. Like
anything worth our laughter, tears and sweat, it’s free and it’s been ours all
along, since the beginning of beginnings and through all ends and new
beginnings.
So, shall we claim it?
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