August 2022.
“One love, one heart, Let’s get together and feel alright” Bob Marley
For those who know me personally, I am not particularly musical. I don’t play any instruments, aside from a short-lived attempt at the clarinet as a teenager - mostly inspired by Lisa Simpson and her saxophone. However, I really enjoy listening and dancing to an eclectic mixture of musical styles and tunes.
Earlier this year, I used some pre-covid theater vouchers I was given as a birthday present (thanks to my parents encouraging me as I don’t typically visit theaters), to see ‘Get Up, Stand Up’, the Bob Marely musical in London’s west-end. It is a cliche, but due to frequently visiting Notting Hill Carnival in my youth, I have developed a passion for Bob Marley’s music, as well as Drum and Bass music. Recently at the venue Melkweg in Amsterdam, these two combined as I watched an incredible live orchestra and DJ, called Symphonica feat. Mr Switch, performing brilliantly the history of Drum and Bass, one violinist wore the Bob Marley inspired Ajax football shirt on stage. Bob Marely’s son has sung the unofficial football club anthem, Bob Marley’s Three Little Birds, at the Ajax stadium. The Bob Marley foundation, a non-profit based in Jamaica, continues the legacy of his work through a variety of impact-driven social programmes. Bob Marley’s music lives on in many different ways.
I am not an expert regarding Bob Marley’s life and legacy. As with every single human being, none of us are perfect, including him. I am not attempting to explain Bob Marley’s own intentions or your individual reactions, but simply my own feelings when I listen to his music. We are each unique beings and will have our own reactions, part of the beauty of human diversity! For me Bob Marley’s music is so infectious, often when I listen it immediately brings a smile to my face and makes me want to sing and sway. It isn’t just the melody and rhythm alone, but also the words which accompany his music.
Many of Bob Marley’s most well known songs and quotes can have deep meanings. For example, among the most well known is ‘One love’. Like the song, I genuinely believe the world would be a much better place with more love and respect shared among all humankind. This may sound trite, but when I heard this song in the theater and looked across at a stranger who smiled back at me, it filled me with a fuzzy warm sensation.
“Me only have one ambition, y’know. I only have one thing I really like to see happen. I like to see mankind live together – black, white, Chinese, everyone – that’s all.” Bob Marley
Another song which features in the musical is the title track; ‘Get up, stand up’. Reading the words which were written fifty years ago, “Eh, get up, stand up, Stand up for your rights!; Get up, stand up, Don't give up the fight!”, they still resonate today. Without disclosing all the details of the musical, at a brief point, images of the Grenfell tragedy and climate emergency flash up as this song is being performed. For me, this sparked new conversations after the show and different ways of thinking about these issues in a way scientific reports and data never could. It made me cry. It made me take action.
“Truth is the light, so you never give up the fight.” Bob Marley
Throughout my life, music has often made me dance, sing, laugh, cry, get angry and spur me to take action. We each have our own unique musical taste and reactions to listening, or perhaps don’t enjoy music at all. It is so very human! Art and music are powerful. They are acts of human expression, special creative areas which set us apart from other creatures. Art is often subjective and worth so much more than the financial value put upon it. Yes, some people will be drawn to a Banksy piece due to its financial value, but often it is the simple graphic message which resonates the most. It reflects something about us, our culture and society.
“Don’t gain the world and lose your soul. Wisdom is better than silver and gold.” Bob Marley
Some social areas around community, peace and justice are covered by the “S” of E,S,G (Environmental, Social, Governance) and United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, goal 16. The Inner Development Goals also have some great examples to aid personal reflection. However, the “S” and things related to humans are typically hard to measure and put a financial value upon. This piece of music by Max Richter, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, set to music in different languages is a beautiful reminder. For me it goes far further than reading plain text about human rights; it makes me feel the importance of this topic.
Some people will be skeptical. We increasingly live in a data-driven world filled with technology and machines which don’t have complex human emotions. There are also more practical initiatives which incorporate sustainability and music, such as Rave the Planet recently in Berlin and Earth Percent. The dancehall musician Sean Paul has used public interviews to highlight the negative impacts of climate change to beaches and coral reefs in Jamaica, where he grew up.
“One good thing about music, when it hits you, you feel no pain.” Bob Marley
If you are lucky to have holidays over summer or simply have a brief moment to listen to music today. Why not think about how it makes you feel and perhaps even act. We are sentient beings, who are defined in lots of different ways and have thoughts in many ways beyond our day jobs. And as Bob Marley sings in his song, ‘Could you be loved’; it is part of our role to “Say something! Say something! Say something!” if we see things which could be better in the world.
Among all our human technology, data, reports and the many intellectual challenges of sustainability, I hope we don’t forget about human feelings and our emotions, most importantly love. As Bob Marley said we can “Conquer the devils with a little thing called love” . Perhaps this is ultimately the biggest motivator for actions to help our planet and societies thrive.