May 11, 2009- Remembering Bob Marley

Photo by Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images

The late, great Bob Marley used music as a means to communicate about love, war, and all that we try to do to keep the two in perfect balance.  I feel lucky to have been alive during a part of his lifetime, as I do have memories of Bob Marley in life.  With some of my family’s heritage in the West Indies (Guyana), I think of reggae as one of the main music forms I heard in the house growing up as opposed to disco and early rap and many children of the 70s and 80s in the US would likely recall.  I remember speaking with my cousins about Marley’s death.  As young as we were, we understood enough to know that his passing was a big deal.

As an adult, I understand more about Bob Marley, his lifestyle, and the things he did that may have attributed to him getting cancer and ultimately his death.  However, nothing could take away from the fact that Marley could write and perform reggae like none other and was a poet and prophet.  Whether recording alone or along with the Wailers, he left us with a symphony of music that is absolutely timeless.  For any mood you’re in, he has written and/or performed a classic that speaks to your soul.  I don’t think I can even pick a favorite.

36 years young, and I gasp as I recognize that Bob Marley died at the very age I am today.  What an inspiration, and yet so sad at the same time.  In such a short life, he left a profound legacy that I can’t even begin to imagine being able to do in my entire lifetime.

Thinking of you today, Bob Marley, May 11, 2009.

Bob Marley bio…

Bob Marley and the Wailers “Them Belly Full”