So, much to my disappointment ‘Marley’ was not the prequel to Marley & Me but it is nevertheless worth seeing. There’s lots of dead legends and i think i have preconceived notions about who they were, often based on the very little i know about them. I used to think i was intuitive person but have slowly come to realise i like to combine massive generalisations with a vivid imagination. So learning more is always good.
Things i knew about Bob Marley before watching the documentary
- He made reggae music
- He is iconic as an image
- He smoked a lot of weed
- People who are really into him smoke a lot of weed
- He was Jamaican
- He had dreadlocks
- He often wore big hats
Things i know after the documentary
- Bob Marley’s first home was smaller than my shed, he was the son of a Jamaican woman and a white man. His mum had him at about 17, his dad did not stick around to be part of his life. He spent his first years in a small country town and was given a lot of stick for being bi-racial.
- Bob and his mother moved to Trench Town in Kingston when he was about 12. He already loved music and from then on he made it is main focus. He left school when he felt it was necessary to focus on music.
- Bob wasn’t born a rasta, he chose it because they accepted him and he felt the rastas had the same thing inside them as he did.
- Bob Marley was all about peace, love and unity. I knew this but i didn’t fully know the extent of it before watching the documentary. He ate well, exercised and had a lot of self discipline and was hugely charitable to people who needed it when he had it. He would not support any particular side in politics believing that no matter who you vote in, they will be the same, he just. wanted. peace. love. and unity. He wanted to make music that was spiritual. He believed in God and that if he was doing the best he could, whatever must be will be. Even at a a hugely tense free concert he played in Jamaica shortly after being shot in his home. This is conviction. And this is beautiful to me.
These were the things i identified with. The way he dances on stage with his eyes closed looked exactly how i feel i’m dancing when i’m doing the real, happy dancing that only happens when you know you’re connected to everything and it’s perfect and you start feeling the music in the tips of your fingers. Perhaps it’s a bit like abstract expressionist dancing. You feel it, it happens. It’s freedom and the best feeling in the world and you have to treasure the moments of it you get. Maybe it all sounds a bit silly but you’ve probably done it in your kitchen or bedroom at some point too. ;)
As a Baha’i i also identified with being dedicated to peace, love and unity. It has to be in a practical sense, not just words and Bob did this. He wasn’t a preacher, he was a doer and i think this is what made everything about him infectious.
It was great to learn about a legend deeper than just the music genre and the drugs. Nobody is perfect, that’s for damn sure, and the documentary did focus on the great stuff and not the flaws. But honestly i don’t care. I can appreciate bias. It contained beautiful truths that i took home with me after.
I’ve sworn to myself that i’ll listen to reggae for the whole summer just to see what happens if i do. I’m not sure that was the point of the film. But maybe i’ll just find more music to listen to that has truths and thoughts that are big. That would suffice. Suggestions welcome.
peace love and unity.
elva.x
Also i recommend this playlist
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=videoseries?list=PL5061FEDDBE36E426&hl=en_US]
And if peace, love and unity and knowing how to be happy in mind, body and spirit are important to you, you may find Positive Life magazine a good read. You can find it free in health food stores or order it online from here. I work for them sometimes, so I’m biased, but it makes a nice change from glossy fashion magazines full of adverts and skinny b*tches.