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Sub Category : Miscellaneous

Today's song of the day is Redemption Song by Bob Marley and the Wailers. Written by Bob Marley in 1979, it was his last single before he died. It was a much different type of song than Marley had previously recorded and lives on as his masterpiece. Let me know what you think.

Redemption Song

Old pirates, yes, they rob I
Sold I to the merchant ships
Minutes after they took I
From the bottomless pit
But my hand was made strong
By the hand of the Almighty
We forward in this generation
Triumphantly

Won't you help to sing
These songs of freedom?
'Cause all I ever have
Redemption songs
Redemption songs

Emancipate yourselves from mental slavery
None but ourselves can free our minds
Have no fear for atomic energy
'Cause none of them can stop the time
How long shall they kill our prophets
While we stand aside and look? Ooh!
Some say it's just a part of it
We've got to fulfill the book

Won't you help to sing
These songs of freedom?
'Cause all I ever have
Redemption songs
Redemption songs
Redemption songs

[Guitar break]

Emancipate yourselves from mental slavery
None but ourselves can free our mind
Wo! Have no fear for atomic energy
'Cause none of them-a can-a stop-a the time
How long shall they kill our prophets
While we stand aside and look?
Yes, some say it's just a part of it
We've got to fulfill the book

Won't you help to sing
These songs of freedom?
'Cause all I ever had
Redemption songs
All I ever had
Redemption songs
These songs of freedom
Songs of freedom

The original release of the album had this song as an acoustic one and without any signs of reggae style: just Bob Marley's voice and acoustic guitar. An alternate version with full-band arrangement was released as a single in the UK and France in October 1980 and was included in the 2001 re-issue of the album as a bonus track.
This song was Bob Marley's last single before his death on the 11th of May 1981.
Some lyrics of this song were derived from a speech by Marcus Garvey, the Pan-Africanist orator and a prophet of the Rastafari culture.

Freedom and redemption, main themes of the song, reflect Marley's beliefs. He was a very spiritual singer and he inspired the people of Jamaica with his songs.

Stevie Wonder covered this song for his compilation "Stevie Wonder - Song Review: Greatest Hits" (1996).