"War" by Bob Marley
Until the philosophy which hold one race
Superior and another inferior
Is finally and permanently discredited and abandoned
Everywhere is war, me say war
That until there are no longer first class
And second class citizens of any nation
Until the color of a man's skin
Is of no more significance than the color of his eyes
Me say war
That until the basic human rights are equally
Guaranteed to all, without regard to race
Dis a war
That until that day
The dream of lasting peace, world citizenship
Rule of international morality
Will remain in but a fleeting illusion
To be pursued, but never attained
Now everywhere is war, war
And until the ignoble and unhappy regimes
that hold our brothers in Angola, in Mozambique,
South Africa sub-human bondage
Have been toppled, utterly destroyed
Well, everywhere is war, me say war
War in the east, war in the west
War up north, war down south
War, war, rumors of war
And until that day, the African continent
Will not know peace, we Africans will fight
We find it necessary and we know we shall win
As we are confident in the victory
Of good over evil, good over evil, good over evil
Good over evil, good over evil, good over evil
Robert Nesta Marley was born February 6, 1945 and died May 11, 1981(Wikipedia). He lived in St. Ann, Jamaica and later moved to Trench town to search for work. He was the lead singer, songwriter and guitarist for The Wailers, and Bob Marley and the Wailers. Songs like "War", "Jamming", and "No Woman No Cry" were a few famous songs he put together himself as well as with the Wailers(Wikipedia). Bob was also known for spreading Jamaican music and the Rastafarian movement worldwide.
The song "War" has eight stanzas and a two-line stanza. It is very narrow and is in the center of the page. All together it consists of thirty two lines.
"War" talks about the fight for equality. "Until the color of a man's skin Is of no more significance than the color of his eyes(stanza 3)." In those lines he is saying if when we can see a man's skin color as unimportant, then we will be able to move forward and become equal. That until the basic human rights are equally Guaranteed to all, without regard to race, Dis is war (stanza 4). This stanza is clearly saying that people that cannot look beyond race or skin color, we will always be at war with each other. Until that day, lasting peace is like a dream, rule of international morality will remain an illusion that we want to come true but never will (stanza 5). While the unhappy regimes hold our brothers captive in Mozambique we will always be at war. Until they are toppled, or destroyed, we are at war with one another (stanza 6). War is everywhere. War up north, war down south. Rumors of war are spreading which can get other countries involved (stanza 7). Bob Marley says until that day, Africa will never see or know the meaning of peace. Which means we will always fight and we find it necessary. And us Africans are sure that we will win because we are confident in the victory of good over evil (stanza 8).
Throughout the song, there are a few symbols. The symbols in this song seem to be war; color of a man's skin; (line 10), Africans; (stanza 7), human rights; (stanza 3), peace; (stanza 4), and good over evil (stanza 8).
The name of the song is war which is a little self explanatory. Throughout the song he talks about all of the things that keeps this earth and the people from equality and peace. "Color of a man's skin" which could be black, white, brown or yellow should not matter to us as people. "Africans" where black people originated from. By him mentioning Africans, we know that he is talking about the suffering they have faced for decades. "Human rights" or the universal rights we all have as humans is talked about because we don't all have equal rights. "Peace" which is happiness, or relaxation is what he is fighting for. Peace is like an illusion that we wish the world would embrace and enforce. And "good over evil" is a saying that many Jamaicans believe in. It means that no matter how bad things are looking, we always have faith and always know that good defeats evil anytime.
The tone in this song is built around the word "war." Although the name of the song is war, it is repeated in each stanza. That indicates that the word war is very important to the rest of the song. The way the writer uses the word indicates that it can be international, personal, or both. The tone of the writer in this song would have to be faithful, hopeful, courageous, and confident. The way he feels about the war that is going on is tragic. And according to the song, "We Africans will fight (stanza 7) shows that the writer is of an African descent and believes in peace and harmony. And with that said, he is willing to fight and will not restrain from helping his brothers and sisters as well as the earth find it.
Connotation is a subjective cultural or emotional coloration in addition to the explicit or denotative meaning of any specific word or phrase(Wikipedia.org). Which means connotation is what a word or phrase is trying to imply or what is the certain meaning behind the word. According to linguistics, denotation is the specific dictionary definition of a word. According to the American Heritage Dictionary, war is a period of armed conflict between nations, states, or parties. The connotation meaning of war could be isolation being that when people are at war, everybody has their own isolated territory from their enemies. The meaning of war can mean anything from conflict, struggle, or attack.
"War" is a song about the conflicts that people (African American) went through and still face today. The title is self explanatory but in the song we see how war manage to stay alive amongst them. By reading this song you can see that the writer believes in human rights and does not discriminate against race, or color of skin. It also shows that the government has a part in the war we face. There is war throughout the world but the writer points out that African Americans deal with a more harsh war that they encounter all the time. This song is also about having faith and confidence in ourselves. Even though we face war every day, it is up to us to overcome each battle until the real war has begun. In the last stanza we see that the writer shows that he has patience, which is one important tactic in defeating an opponent. The writer is patient because he believes in good over evil, where we are the good, and the war is the evil trying to split the world into pieces.
Works Cited
1. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bob_Marley
2. http://www.thirdfield.com/html/lyrics/war.html
3. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Connotation
4. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Denotation_(semiotics)
06/10/16
9 years ago
