The Mudcat Café TM
Thread #78060   Message #1399857
Posted By: GUEST,Azizi
05-Feb-05 - 11:03 AM
Thread Name: Bob Marley a neatnik?
Subject: ADD: Redemption Songs (Bob Marley)
Brucie- Well Alright Now!!

JennyO- Thanks for posting those lyrics!

Another Bob Marley composition that I love is "Redemption Songs".

See this excerpt, followed by the song's lyrics:

"Redemption Song" was a plaintive, almost Dylanesque acoustic spiritual song, devoid of any trance of reggae. When he sang it, he wore the expression of a playful child, but his voice bore the authority of a Biblical patriarch.

A universal tune, another Bob Marley song that has become a standard, 'Redemption Song' is like a final statement in a career, a summation of all the themes and thought that had created it. "You've got to live out the book." An earnest acoustic version closes the Uprising album while a live version recorded at a show in Pittsburgh, Pennslyvania, on September 23, 1980 - the last concert Bob performed -appears on Songs of Freedom. "There was a feeling of a whole era coming to a climax. Everyone felt that he knew something was going to happen," says Rita Marley.

end of quote.

[Robert Nesta Marley died of cancer shortly thereafter, but his spirit lives on.]

REDEMPTION SONGS {Words by Bob Marley}

Old pirates yes they rob I
Sold I to the merchant ships
Minutes after they took I from the
Bottom less pit
But my hand was made strong
By the hand of the almighty
We forward in this generation triumphantly
All I ever had is songs of freedom
Won't you help to sing these songs of freedom
Cause all I ever had redemption songs, redemption songs

Emancipate yourselves from mental slavery
None but ourselves can free our minds
Have no fear for atomic energy
Cause none of them can stop the time
How long shall they kill our prophets
While we stand aside and look
Some say it's just a part of it
We've got to fulfill the book

Won't you help to sing, these songs of freedom
Cause all I ever had, redemption songs, redemption songs, redemption songs

Emancipate yourselves from mental slavery
None but ourselves can free our minds
Have no fear for atomic energy
Cause none of them can stop the time
How long shall they kill our prophets
While we stand aside and look
Yes some say it's just part of it
We've got to fulfill the book

Won't you help to sing, these songs of freedom
Cause all I ever had, redemption songs
All I ever had, redemption songs
These songs of freedom, songs of freedom

---

Ms. Azizi