Sing it one more time, Bob

"Emancipate yourself from mental slavery, none but ourselves can free our minds" Bob Marley

I have always admired Bob Marley as a person, speaker and singer. His vision of life to me is much more intelligent than many expensively educated figures we now have to listen too.  

In countries striving for 'freedom of oppression' as he put it, his songs act as an anthem of freedom to the oppressed and they blare it from every sound system in capable hands. Though as most of these countries where this now happens, English is not a first language and so people can not fully understand the words, the rhythm still stirs a feeling of rebellion in the ones that offer to listen.


In these same countries where Presidents have to pay large amounts of money to have their smiling faces made visible on any free space, billboards, brick walls and other propaganda vehicles. The poor will still gladly spend what little money they have on T-shirts or other items of clothing with Marley's face printed on it. Tuk-tuk drivers cover their vehicles in the red, yellow and green of Rastafaria, and in Weligama there is even numerous fishing boats painted too.

What amazes me is that he was just a simple county boy, who was educated on the streets of one of the poorest and most violent places on earth, Kingston's ghetto, Trench-town in Jamaica. 

Below are a couple of my favorite quotes taken from the lyrics of his songs.

"Open your eyes and look with in. Are you satisfied with the life you're living?"

"When one door is closed, don't you know another is open"

Comment any good ones you like?

Looking forward to watching the new documentary of his life, "Catch a Fire" :-)