Redemption Song Discussion - Bob Marley

This song is a poem! Every sentense a book summary, each word a verse. Let me share the information below as we discuss for further enlightment.

"Redemption Song"
                    Source of lyrics: http://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/bobmarley/redemptionsong.html

Old pirates, yes, they rob I;
Sold I to the merchant ships,
Minutes after they took I
From the bottomless pit.
But my hand was made strong
By the 'and of the Almighty.
We forward in this generation
Triumphantly.

Won't you help to sing
These songs of freedom?
'Cause all I ever have:
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? Ooh!
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 have:
Redemption songs;
Redemption songs;
Redemption songs.

[Guitar break]

Emancipate yourselves from mental slavery;
None but ourselves can free our mind.
Wo! Have no fear for atomic energy,
'Cause none of them-a can-a stop-a the time.
How long shall they kill our prophets,
While we stand aside and look?
Yes, 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
All I ever had:
Redemption songs:
These songs of freedom,
Songs of freedom.

'Old pirates, yes, they rob I' I, and 9-12 million Africans were robbed of our freedom and sent to the Americas as slaves

'Minutes after they took I' 15% died en route, the others suffered greatly

'Sold I to the merchant ships' from the European Empires, who’d grown rich supplying colonies with human labor 'From the bottomless pit' The survivors were put straight to work in appalling conditions, with no way out.

'We forward in this generation' the first step: a landmark 1722 legal decision ruled slavery wasn’t supported by English law

'But my hand was made strong' by the same people who made it weak: the European Empires, specifically Britain 'By the ’and of the Almighty' well, Brits, initially aimed to abolish the slave trade then slavery throughout the Empire

’Cause all I ever have' 1807 Slave Trade Act banning the slave trade, and ensuring the Navy would enforce it

'Triumphantly' The Abolition of slavery: 1st mass protest campaign in modern history, paved the way for the rest 'Won’t you help to sing' William Wilberforce MP, did 'This songs of freedom?' he relentlessly campaigned for change from within parliament for 26 years

The pirates who 'rob I' so to speak were the African tribes who attacked and pillaged one another. Or actual pirates who 'robbed' a slave ship.

The fight to end slavery continued until 1833, when the Anti-Slavery Act was passed 'Redemption songs' It was the tireless activism of parliamentary and public campaigners that did it 'Redemption songs' and the same techniques are just as capable of ending injustices today COMMENTS OF THE ABOVE FOLLOWED AS

"Wont you help to sing, these songs of freedom" is a desperately sad line which is asking the listener to not only help protest racial injustice but to understand that the singer, Bob Marley, has spent his entire life listening to and pondering redemptive politics and redemptive historical perspective instead of focusing on future possibility. "All I ever had, were redemption songs..."

The merchant ships were the European powers. The bottomless pit is the deepest decks of a slave ship. The hand of the almighty refers to God, or King Selaisse in Bob's case. .......................

I think what the chorus meant was that in numbers, we can gain redemption rather than just keep singing redemption songs as individuals. The simplicity of the chords, the melody, and the power of the message just blows me away every time.

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The beginning of this song is about Joseph (from the bible) and how his brothers threw him into a pit then sold him into slavery. Joseph was later sold to a wealthy Egyptian merchant. smile emoticon ........................

I shared the above info from...http://www.one.org/us/2013/06/14/the-true-meaning-of-bob-marleys-redemption-song/

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I got interest into the lyrics of the song with this statement..'But my hand was made strong'...My view is that the main tool for the slave farms was the hand- not machines. The hand being made strong was by the result of increased production from the farms for the benefit of colonising powers. With him considering the blessing of Almighty brings in the external guide whom the workers hoped in. They were spiritual. And He made their hands take from the farms to the streets- fighting, writing, demonstrating etc

He quotes Gurvey's famous words of 'Emancipate yourself...' and then mourns his death...'For how long shall they kill our prophets...' and I doubt his attitude towards 'de book'. Is he sceptic of its writings or does he auger with them?

Long live Marley.