So, after Bob Marley – The Mellifluous Revolutionary, we get to Bob Marley – The Ambassador of Love, Peace and Joy. The great thing about Marley is that his feelings were never quiet and compromised – he wore his heart on this sleeve. Which makes him exactly my kind of guy! 

“Is This Love” was the Marley song we heard on the radio a lot. Marley’s statement of deep, deep love for Rita, his wife, this was Marley at his most sensual. What I really like about this song is the sense of carefree “we’ve just fallen in love and everything is going to great” feeling. The fantastic thing was that this was set to a reggae beat, which adds tremendously to the “we’re singing on the beach” vibe. Absolutely love this song, even 40 years later – can never listen to it without singing along. 

See, I want to love you – I want to love and treat you/ Love and treat you right/
I want to love you every day and every night
We’ll be together / With a roof right over our heads
We’ll share the shelter / Of my single bed
We’ll share the same room, yeah /Jah provides the bread

Unfortunately, we never saw the music video of this in India when we were teens, so “The Barry White Of Montego Bay” as someone called him, was the only interpretation I always had. However, I recently saw the music video. It is one of the cutest videos I have ever seen – it’s Marley at a children’s birthday party and you can see him at his most vulnerable, happy self. Maybe this was about love for children, for humanity? Anyway, do watch the video above – and see if you can spot a 9-year old Naomi Campbell!

“Waiting In Vain” is a song about yearning. A deep yearning and vulnerability that is so endearing. And so universal, right? It is one of most beautiful love songs that Marley ever wrote. 

But I know, now, that I’m way down on your line/ But the waitin’ feel is fine/
So don’t treat me like a puppet on a string/ ‘Cause I know I have to do my thing.
Don’t talk to me as if you think I’m dumb / I wanna know when you’re gonna come – soon.
I don’t wanna wait in vain for your love

This song wasn’t for his wife Rita though – it was for Cindy Breakspeare, the Miss World winner from ’76 who Marley had a torrid affair with. Cindy later bore him a son, Damien Marley who became a musician and a Grammy winner himself. Marley did have many relationships while still married to Rita (who was one of Marley’s back-up singers), but this one must have really hurt – it’s the one song Rita refused to sing whenever it was played live. 

On “Stir It Up” though, Marley takes the “Barry White of Montego Bay” vibe up a few notches. Again, written for his wife Rita, this one is more about expressing his love more physically (Marley takes it up another notch with “Kinky Reggae”! 😉). The lyrics cheesy as they are, are heart-warming, given how sincerely he sings them. This song was never on the radio in Delhi unfortunately and I had to wait till Legend came out in 1984 to discover it. Loved it then, love it now. 

And then, there’s Bob Marley – Embodiment of Cool! Which brings me to “Jammin”. Such a cool song! In Jamaica, “jamming” is about getting together to celebrate, singing and dancing…..just jamming, you know! And that’s the image this song always evokes for me. Rum. Sunshine. Friends. Chillin’. And, for a brief moment, this song also became a symbol of peace. Jamaica was in political turmoil, with violence breaking out all over the place. Marley flew in for a concert in Kingston and convinced the leaders of the warring factions to join him on stage and shake hands while he was singing …”Jammin” ! 

“One Love”, with its iconic “One Love! One Heart! / Let’s get together and feel all right” is one of Marley’s most famous songs. Full of peace and love. Sunshine. That groove is so chilled it should be used as hypertension medicine. What else can I say about this – except, that it has become one of the most famous songs of the century. Written around the same politically troubled times in Jamaica as Jamming, the BBC chose “One Love” as the Song of the Millennium. 

Watch. Listen. Enjoy…..Love. Peace. Joy ….I’ll have whatever he was smoking!