What famous Bob Marley song really exemplifies the culture and his beliefs?
One of the most important songs he ever sang is called “Jah Lives” and it was important because he sang that song when Selassie was declared dead in 1975. Marley wrote and recorded that song within two weeks of Selassie’s passing. It was a statement to the world and fellow Rastafari that God could not parish off the face of the Earth and certainly not the Rasta man’s conception of God. Also, when Bob Marley sang the racial song “War,” all he was doing was putting Selassie’s words to music. He was singing a speech that Selassie made to the UN in October 1963. How did you first become interested in the Rastafari movement? I always knew that I was going to do work with a black diasporic community. I had been at graduate school too long, and I really wanted to get into the field and some money became available to work in the eastern Caribbean and I said, “I’m going to do this Rasta thing.” If there was a single moment that was transformative in my mind, it was the second day I was in Jamai
