When Bob Marley took the stage in Cologne in June 1980, he was already ill. However, his charisma captivated the eight thousand people who came to listen to him. Nearly a year later, Marley died of cancer at the age of 36. However, his political and spiritual messages remain alive to this day and will continue to live on in his songs.
Bob Marley introduced reggae and its messages to the world. So much so that UNESCO declared his music part of the intangible cultural heritage of the world.
Rastafari, a young religious teaching
At the age of 22, Bob Marley discovered Rastafarianism - a religious teaching that is almost a hundred years old. It is said to have originated when Haile Selassie I was crowned Emperor of Ethiopia on November 2, 1930. A few years earlier, Jamaican activist Marcus Garvey had predicted that a powerful black king would be crowned in Africa who would bring liberation to black people.
Selassie's real name was Ras Tafari Makkonen. Ras means prince in the Amharic language spoken in Ethiopia. Rastafarians accept him as the second coming of Jesus Christ and worship him as God among men. Much of Rastafarian belief is actually related to the Bible, especially the Old Testament.
Rastafarians believe in a return to Africa - also spiritually - to the promised land of Ethiopia. Black Jamaicans are descendants of slaves who were deported from Africa to the Americas and the Caribbean.
Rastafarians want to overcome the cultural divisions created by the enslavement of their ancestors through their faith. It is about living as natural and close to nature as possible, about the principles of love and peace, about justice, unity and equality - and about the fight against Babylon - a synonym for the Western world, which has brought so much misery to the African people. Babylon is also used for Jamaica, where their ancestors were enslaved.
Skin color does not matter
Rastafarians oppose any form of political, cultural or religious division of people. They are a worldwide movement with followers of all races. Currently, the total number of followers of Rastafarianism is between 700 thousand and one million.
Rastafarians wear their hair in so-called "dreadlocks" to distinguish themselves from the upper class in society. The historical roots of dreadlocks are associated with the Mau Mau defense forces, who rebelled against the British colonialists in Kenya. The often mentioned smoking of marijuana serves more to broaden one's horizons than to intoxicate, and is not necessarily part of the Rastafarian religion.
Bob Marley made reggae famous
Bob Marley, who is considered the first superstar from a developing country, Rastafarian music is also famous around the world. It originated in the 1960s in Jamaica - a time of social unrest and gang wars. DJs who played music on the streets created this style as a mixture of genres - mento, ska, soul, jazz.
The relaxing, yet lively rhythm is ideal for spreading messages - love and peace. The lyrics of Bob Marley's songs include a lot of religious rhetoric, but are also related to people's everyday lives. He talks about discriminated minorities, ghettos, slavery and injustice. And Rastafarianism has many common themes with Marley's music.
The song "Get Up Stand Up” was written after Bob Marley visited Haiti and saw the poverty in which the people there lived under the dictatorial rule of François Duvalier. In the song, Marley calls on people to fight for their rights and not give up. It is considered the unofficial anthem of Amnesty International.
Marley's Legacy: Redemption Song
The song Redemption Song is Bob Marley's legacy. It has been recorded several times, but was originally intended to be a single version, sung with only guitar accompaniment. In it, Marley quotes Rastafarian prophet Marcus Garvey, who in 1937 said: "Emancipate yourselves from your spiritual bondage, no one but ourselves can free our minds". The bondage in which our ancestors lived must be erased from the minds of people - only then will they be spiritually and truly free.
Bob Marley wrote this song knowing that he would probably die soon. It continues to inspire people around the world to this day.