Redemption Song and the Divination of Meaning

Did you ever wonder what constitutes Rastafarian practice? Basically it means sitting around with your brethren and smoking shit-tons of high grade ganja for hours reading the trippiest and most dramatic parts of the Old Testament looking for signs and portents, not least prophecy about how Haile Selassie is the living God. This is why if Bob Marley were alive today he would never be invited, ahem, to do a TED Talk or speak at Davos, must-do's for strivers everywhere. But it is why he could compose songs like Redemption Song, and, indeed, his whole body of work, which hits every listener with soul force and prompts them to think about life in a different, deeper way. I think Bob struck the better bargain. 

Last week, I wrote about the myth, or, shall we say, the conundrum of progress, or at least about trying to develop a different view of how we make a positive contribution to the world. Think about this song. It's not clear how this contributes to progress, except to the extent that it's good for the spirit and soul. The prophets he references didn't make a concrete difference. For example, Marcus Garvey led the Back To Africa movement, which never really panned out. I don't know. It's hard to quantify or document, but the world is better off for having Marley's music, and the music of all his brethren. I've chosen Joe Strummer's version, since I have previously posted Bob singing it. The particularity of Bob's devotion to Selassie didn't deter him from being a universalist, so I'm pretty sure he meant the song for all of us. Key line: "Emancipate yourselves from mental slavery."