A Hospital of all places,November 2014,post operation,drugged up and fed up,the light at the end of the tunnel feeling less warm every minute,except for one saving grace,in this grey dull building,one image stood out.Bob Marley in a psychedelic collage of colours with the words
"Don't worry about a thing
'Cause every little thing gonna be alright",
Those words from the song "Three Little Bitds",the only thing to latch onto in this dire prison of disinfectant smelling hell.
I had listened to Bob Marley for years but this was the first time I heard him.He reached into the depths of all that was wrong and pulled it out with two simple lines.
I realised then the importance of Bob Marley and how words and music can affect your life.I thought of his quote straight away,
'When music hits you,you feel no pain',
I felt the physical pain,but not the mental pain.my love of music was catching fire again.
You may have thought this was story was all about Marley and his music,from this bit on it is but I wanted to explain the impact music can have on a persons life and mental state,even my own first hand experience.
I'd love to start by saying Bob Marley was a simple man,but it would be untrue,he was very complicated and set in his beliefs,like the cancer that killed him in 1981,a simple amputation would have saved him,but that was against his religion.
Lets start at one of his most triumphant moments,when he showed the world the power of music.
ON December 3, 1976, two days before the ‘Smile Jamaica’ concert organised by Prime Minister Michael Manley, tragedy struck in the country’s capital.Reggae star Bob Marley, main act for the Heroes Circle event, was shot at his Hope Road home during rehearsals for the coming show.Also shot was his wife Rita, manager Don Taylor and Lewis Griffiths, a member of the Twelve Tribes of Israel.The irony being the 'Smile Jamaica' concert organised to ease political tensions which were firing high in Jamaica at the time.And Bob of course been used by both sides but some felt with elections due,that by doing the 'Smile Jamaica' concert,Marley was supporting the then government led by Michael Manley,whether Marley wanted it or not, he was now a political figure.Marley wanted it to be a nonpartisan, completely apolitical event. He didn't want to be seen as supporting either party but simply wanted to perform for his people.
Bob was shot in the upper arm. Doctors warned him that removing the bullet might cause him to lose control of his fingers. Thus, the bullet would remain in his arm for the rest of his life. Marley couldn't imagine a world in which he wasn't able to play instrument.
Marley refused to be deterred by this violent incident, and two days later, on Dec. 5, he delivered an inspired performance before 80,000 people. It was one of the most monumental shows of his career.When asked why he did it,Marley is quoted as saying
"The people who are trying to make this world worse aren't taking a day off. How can I?"
After the concert Bob left Jamaica to recuperate and work on his new album,his most radical and revolutionary work,'Exodus',all the events have inspired this work of genius which crossed over to the mainstream and brought Bob Marleys music to a larger,mainstream audience.
Nobody was ever arrested for the shooting.Bob died of cancer on the 11th of May 1981 in Miami,Florida,still carrying the bullet and message of hope.
