February 2024 is a very special moment for reggae music lovers around the world, including Indonesia. The biopic movie, ‘Bob Marley: One Love’ by Paramount Pictures was officially released on 21 February and stayed for a week in cinemas in Indonesia.

A great interest and enthusiasm that led to both satisfaction and disappointment. Satisfaction because Bob Marley‘s story finally came in a movie to commemorate the legend and inspire the world, especially the young generation about Bob Marley’s life and struggle through reggae music, namely spiritualism, revolution, resistance, love and peace.

On the other hand, there is also a sense of disappointment and dissatisfaction because the 107-minute duration turns out to be very limited and not effective enough to summarize and present in full with a clear flow about the essence of Bob Marley’s 36 years of life. It is not as expected if we compare it to other major artist biopic movie such as Freddy Mercury in ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ (2018) or if we happened to read some of Marley’s biography books especially those written by Roger Steffens (2017), ‘So Many Things to Say‘ and Hettie Jones, ‘No Woman No Cry: My Life with Bob Marley‘ (2005). The fast-paced and jumpy plot shows how much the screenwriters and directors struggled to give a representative portrait of the legend. But despite the many criticisms of the movie’s sincerity and accuracy, Kultur must appreciate it as an extraordinary work of art. 

There are several main aspects that are highlighted or emphasized in this biopic, including the significance of Marley’s role as a reconciler in the midst of the political conflict that was raging and dividing Jamaica at that time.

The community was practically divided based on political affiliation to the two parties, Jamaica Labor Party (JLP) and the socialist People National Party (PNP). This long and bloody political conflict not only involved the leaders of the two parties, Edward Seaga (JLP) and Michael Manley (PNP) but also gangster leaders Claudie Massop (JLP) and Bucky Marshall (PNP) as depicted in the movie.

In its political framing, Bob Marley is considered to have affiliated and become a sympathizer of PNP. In the book ‘So Many Things To Say‘ it is mentioned that Bob Marley had previously performed in a musical performance sponsored by the party. Bob’s closeness to the PNP as the ruling party at that time was due to its policies that were felt to be more accommodating to the Rastafarians. Bob tried hard to be neutral and purely wanted to contribute to the peace of the Community. However, the political tensions were getting stronger in the run-up to the election and it was very risky for his safety. In December 1976, a few days before the ‘Smile Jamaica‘ concert launched by the government to minimize tension in the community, Bob and his group ‘The Wailers‘ were targeted by unknown people who were allegedly ‘the rude boys’ or gangsters ordered by the JLP in an attempt to cancel the concert. Bob survived the assassination attempt and went into self-imposed exile for a year in London while working on his next album ‘Exodus.‘ He finally decided to return at the persuasion of Claudie and Bucky, the two gangster bosses, to undertake a peace mission through a historic concert, the ‘One Love Peace Concert‘ in April 1978 which became the climax of this biopic. Some say the concert was a success but the fact remains that escalation continues and society remains segmented. The concert may have at least lifted some of the weight off his shoulders and given him some relief for a while. There was so much pressure and expectation on him as the voice of the people. A consequence of his popularity as the superstar of a troubled country. All the attention and expectations were on him.

Another side that becomes the highlight in this movie is the role of Rita Marley who was so central as Bob’s companion ‘in high tide or low tide’.

When we look at this movie, the real hero is actually Rita. As the expression “Behind every great man is a great woman.” How her persistence and loyalty in accompanying Bob both as a wife, a mother to her children, and to her professionalism as a backing singer with Marcia Griffiths and Judy Mowatt (I-Threes). Furthermore, Rita is even more like a muse or goddess of inspiration for Bob in creating various phenomenal works, such as ‘No Woman No Cry’.

Just like Rita’s memoir written by Hettie Jones, the song ‘No Woman, No Cry’ is a window into Bob’s life. Specifically, how through the lyrical message we understand and interpret Bob’s world view. “Art is a window into which we perceive the world.” Through it we examine the message personally, his relation with Rita, communally to the people of Jamaica, the place where he works and in a broader context to the place where this song is heard and interpreted in Indonesia.

In the memoir, Rita said that Bob always wrote his songs honestly about what he really lived and experienced. Most of his songs are portraits of reality. They are news, education and prophecy. 

Bob is blessed with the ability to write poetic and lyrical lyrics. He is good at stringing words together with a variety of rich language styles. His anonymity and euphemism techniques can wrap up social commentary sweetly and without vulgarity accompanied by contemplative and consciousness-suggesting roots reggae music.

He is a great poet. A genius lyricist as said by Kwame Dawes in his book ‘Lyrical Genius’.

It must also be admitted that not all of the songs recorded by Bob Marley were his own work, but there were also active contributions from personnel in The Wailers, and even from his closest friends. In addition, there were also legal and royalty issues that had not been resolved with ‘JAD’, the record company owned by Danny Sims, Johnny Nash and Arthur Jenkins who oversaw Bob before (1968). At that time Bob did not get royalties from his songs because of the clausal agreement. All songs created by Bob will go to the label. So that some of his songs with labels after that, namely, Cayman and Island Records (1973-1976) were deliberately misattributed to other people nearby. The reason was so that he could get a claim over it. Chris Blackwell came to realize this tactic around 1974, but Island still paid mechanical royalties to these deliberately misattributed writers.

As is known, the credit for the song ‘No Woman No Cry’ was given to Bob’s friend Vincent (Tata) Ford even though it was written by Bob. According to Rita, this was done as a form of repayment for Vincent’s kindness, who was like a father figure to Bob when he was still living in difficulty in Trench Town. 

No one thought at the time that this song would become a masterpiece that is very popular throughout the world. But Bob seemed to have a vision and prophecy far ahead of the greatness and success of this song, where he sang “in this great future, you can’t forget the past ”. The song ‘No woman, No cry’ is like the anthem of Bob Marley’s fans and reggae music lovers.

“No Woman, No Cry”, featured on the album “Natty Dread” was released in January 1975 and reached number 22 in the UK charts where it stayed for 9 weeks. The live version at the Lyceum Theatre, London was included on the compilation album “Legend” (1984) whose sales were certified Diamond (over 600,000 copies) in the UK. In 2004, the live version was ranked No. 37 in Rolling Stone’s 500 greatest songs of all time. It was later inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 2005. 

The song has achieved many milestones even in modern times. Among others, on 22 April 2022, ‘No Woman, No Cry’ was certified platinum in the UK. The information was released by the British Phonographic Industry (BPI) and recorded a “Brit Certified Silver Award” based on its sales of over 600,000 copies in the UK. The official music video of “No Woman, No Cry” released in July 2020 has been viewed more than 45 million times, while the live recording of June 1977’s “No Woman, No Cry” at London’s Rainbow Theatre has been viewed more than 56 million times since its release in June 2020. However, the live version in 1979 at Harvard Stadium, Boston, during the Amandla Festival has the highest number of views at 166 million since its release in 2008.

‘No Woman, No Cry’ has also been covered by many other artists such as the Fugess, a hip hop group from America in 1996. And the latest cover version is by Tems, a Nigerian singer and became one of the soundtracks in ‘Black Panther: Wakanda Forever‘ in 2022. Tems’ version was well received by fans and quickly rose to the No.1 spot on the Billboard Global Digital Song Sales list. It also reached position 7 on the US Afrobeats Songs Chart and position 50 on Billboard’s US Digital Song Sales list. The most recent achievement of this rendition was in 2023 where Tems successfully won the Best International Song category in the 54th NAACP (National Association for the Advancement of Colored People) Image Awards, an award to honor the achievements and talents of people of color in the fields of film, television, theater, music, and literature.

Behind all the long list of success of this song, we want to know what exactly the story that Bob wants to share?

Kultur wants to explore the story behind the song which is a must know for us as fans of Bob Marley and reggae music. In Indonesia, the melody refrain of ‘No Woman, No Cry’ is quite popular and is often interpreted as “no woman (girlfriend), no need to cry” or “single men don’t be sad.”

Kwame Dawes in his book ‘Lyrical Genius’ says that the song ‘No Woman, No Cry’ does have ambiguity of meaning and is often misunderstood especially by non-Jamaican audiences. This is because ‘No Woman, No Cry’ is very socio-historical and biographical. It is characterized by the locality of the Jamaican land. It has very specific geographical references such as, “Government Yard in Trench Town,” and allusions rooted in Jamaican language and culture. The lyrics of Bob Marley’s songs and reggae songs from Jamaica generally would use ‘Patois’ (Patwa), a creole English language that is very different from the standard English we usually hear or use. Hence for us in Indonesia, it certainly requires more effort to be able to understand it.

Dawes further explained that, although it is written consistently in the song lyrics as ‘No woman, no cry’, it is more accurate in the Jamaican vernacular (patois) version to be “No woman, ‘nuh’ cry” The word ‘nuh’ or ‘uh’ here is the vowel sound form of the word ‘no’ which is the same as the word ‘don’t’. So, the title and refrain of the song “No woman, no cry” is a form of pleading and trying to convince the lover (woman) not to cry or stop crying: “No Woman, nuh [don’t] cry.”

‘No Woman, No Cry’ is a personal narrative and is clearly rooted in a specific set of experiences. Bob places the song in a specific place and time from the opening lines. The first and second lines of each stanza repeat the same lyric fragment, namely:

“I remember when we used to sit, In the government yard in Trenchtown”

Bob specifically refers to the location or geographical reference, Trenchtown. What is it that makes this place so special and wants to be remembered by Bob? It is described that Trenchtown is a densely populated slum area in Kingston, the capital of Jamaica. Most of the housing in this area is subsidized by the government but many are in poor condition because they are not well organized and lack maintenance. The poor economy as a result of the prolonged political conflict has direct implications for the people, especially those from the lower classes. It is very difficult to find a well-paid job. However, many villagers come to the city hoping that it offers a better chance of success.

Similarly, Bob and his mother Cedella left their hometown of Nine Miles, St.Ann. While in Trench Town, they were homeless and settled with Taddy Livingstone, Bob’s stepfather and also the biological father of Bunny Livingstone, his compatriot in The Wailing Wailers. Taddy and Cedella’s togetherness did not last long, although their relationship produced a daughter named Pearl. They eventually separated and Cedella migrated to Delaware, America with Pearl in tow while Bob was left with Taddy. After Cedella left, Taddy did not treat Bob well. This caused Bob to not feel at home and had to hitchhike here and there. The audition room at Studio One owned by Coxcone Dodd was one of Bob’s residences. But it is said that the room was haunted. Bob had a bad experience of being terrorized almost every night. Rita was even possessed while staying with Bob at that place. This story inspired his song ‘Duppy Conqueror’ (ghost conqueror).

Sad and compassionate about Bob’s homeless condition, Rita, who at that time also lived with her aunt Viola, begged Bob to be allowed to live with them. Although initially strongly opposed, Viola finally granted it after Bob and Rita got married in 1966.

It was 18A Greenwich Park Road, a most beautiful house for a ‘subsidized house’. A wooden building with a tin roof, part of a government housing scheme. But it had a veranda and a courtyard, something unusual in Trench Town according to Rita’s description in her memoir. She also added that it was this yard that Bob referred to as the ‘government yard’ in the song ‘No Woman, No Cry’.

Although there is another possibility, due to Rita and Bob’s ups and downs relationship with Viola who often gets involved in arguments, Bob sometimes hitchhikes at his best friend, Vincent ‘Tata’ Ford’s place. A kitchen that doubles as a bedroom, the place where Bob and Rita first made love.

“oba..observing, dem hypocrites, mingle with the good people we meet”

The words ‘hypocrites’ and ‘good people’ in the next part of the lyrics show a paradoxical relationship. The meeting of positive and negative is part of real life, especially in ghettos like Trench Town. The hard life that leads to criminal acts often makes it difficult for people to distinguish between friends and foes. Unstable economic and political conditions can change everything including the social order such as the relationship between individuals in a community. This situation has implications for the next line:

“good friends we have and good friends we’ve lost along the way”

It is natural for a person to look for friends to share and support especially during difficult situations. This is also what Bob experienced in Trenchtown where he had many friends who later influenced him positively to change his life. As is known, his meetings with some of his best friends such as Bunny Livingstone, Peter Tosh, Joe Higgs, Mortimer Plano have led him to recognise Rasta music and spiritualism. Two fundamental things that are at the core of his life and creativity. But friendships can change. As told in Roger Stefens’ book, the relationship between Bob and his friends was filled with many intrigues because of their respective interests. Among other things, such as his problems with Peter and Bunny which killed the initial trio ‘the Wailing Wailers’. Bob eventually formed a new group ‘Bob Marley & The Wailers’ with the inclusion of new personnel such as the Barreth brothers (Aston & Charlie), Tyron Downie, Earl Lindo, Junior Marvin, Al Anderson, Marcia Griffith, Judy Mowatt, Rita Anderson. And also how Bob was furious with Mortimer, his spiritual teacher who turned out to be a hypocrite because of money and prostitution. Joe Higgs, a vocal mentor who felt left out and royalty issues with Coxsone Dodd, who was like a father figure to Bob but turned out to let him down.

In the final line of the first stanza there is a contrasting comparison between the future and the past:

“In this great future you can’t forget your past”

The great future refers to vision, hope and prediction. The glory of the present is the optimism achieved from the hope of the past. By looking at the great future, Bob soon realized that he could not deny the view of his past situation. All that is sweet and good behind the suffering will always be remembered. He clearly said that the past for him was a place called Trench Town. This place is a slum area but Bob does not reject or deny it. Instead, he embraced and accepted the situation and immortalized it in memory. Trench Town is not just a place name but part of a proud identity as he sang in the song ‘Trench Town’:

“We come from Trench Town, …can anything good come from Trench Town?”

This suggests that all of these circumstances have taught him positive lessons about caring for others in the community, wisdom about how to relate to others and most importantly the capacity to hope and believe in a better future.

The second stanza of the song is very rich in rhyme and assonance as in the words ‘light’ and ‘night,’ ‘wood,’ ‘would,’ ‘through,’ and ‘porridge, carriage’:

“And the Georgie, would make the fire light, I seh logwood burnin’ through the night. Then we would cook cornmeal porridge, half of which I share with you, yeah. My feet is my only carriage so I’ve got to push on through.”

Elements like this characterize Bob’s genius in writing his lyrics. Once again the specific Jamaican local context appears through the word ‘cornmeal porridge’. Cornmeal porridge is a highly flavored staple food for Jamaicans, especially the lower class. A healthy and filling meal that is usually enjoyed by children and adults. The song lyrics describe Bob eating cornmeal porridge and sharing it with his girlfriend:

“Then we would cook cornmeal porridge, Half of which I share with you”.

This moment is romantic in nature but different from the romanticism portrayed in most songs, which is more of a pleasant fantasy. This unique romance is rooted in the unpleasant realities of a hard life. Bob expresses the beauty of sharing with loved ones in circumstances that are limited due to poverty.

The narrative pattern of anonymity and the use of pronouns, ‘you’ does not clearly mention the name of the person, but when referring to the story, it is actually Rita. When staying at Aunt Viola’s house or Vincent’s place, they often cooked their own food. Rita also sometimes cooked to entertain Bob’s friends who came to visit them.

The portrait of poverty is evident in the lyric line:

“And then Georgie would make the fire light As it was log wood burning through the night”

It turns out that Bob and Rita are not alone but are accompanied by a friend named Georgie. Here the ‘anonymous’ pattern changes by not using ‘pronouns’ but directly mentioning people’s names. Georgie is the only ordinary figure mentioned in Bob’s song. This is a form of appreciation for his services. According to Rita, Georgie was Bob’s best friend who used to come and make sure that they had something to eat by bringing milk, vegetables and fruits. He prepared the fire to cook the cornmeal porridge. This cooking was not done inside the house but in the courtyard using firewood because other fuels like gas were expensive for them. Living with limitations in a harsh densely populated environment makes people have to be able to share. Sharing shelter and food.

The following portrait of poverty appears in the line:

“My feet are my only carriage So I’ve got to push on through”

This line of lyrics gives an allusion that Bob is a pedestrian. That is the only vehicle that takes him anywhere. He literally compares the vehicle of poverty, ‘feet’, with symbols of wealth such as luxury vehicles, motorbikes and cars, although he does not mention it explicitly in the lyrics.

Walking to and from Studio One, where they work, is a routine image of Bob, Bunny and Peter. It was on one of these trips to the studio that Bob finally crossed paths and became acquainted with Rita. Walking is an easy way to socialize, greet each other and share feelings in Trench Town. Something that may be difficult to do by driving. This image of walking and greeting each other is sung by Bob in the song ‘Natty Dread’: “Then I walk up the first street, And then I walk up the second street to see, then I trod on through third street, and then I talk to some dread on fourth street…”

All the distress described in the previous two stanzas is then assured by Bob in a high tone full of optimism and excitement through the lyrical lines:

“Everything’s gonna be alright”

This statement is not a word of comfort or a form of rationalization of a depressed psychological state but a tone of optimism and hope that behind it all there is a positive message to be gained and there is a glorious future.

The song ‘No Woman No Cry’ is a masterpiece whose lyrical language is very well organized. It is a unique love song. A poem that simply captures and reflects the emotions of the human soul in a time and place setting seamlessly and efficiently.

Overall, Bob wants to emphasize the memory between him and a woman he loves. Although the figure of the woman is ambiguous, it can be assumed that all the narratives of this song are directed at Rita Anderson, his wife. She is the only woman who lived together and experienced the difficult times in Trenchtown before Bob became successful and famous.

The song ‘No Woman, No Cry’ does not use clichéd love words like most love-themed songs. Instead, it discusses in detail the daily problems and complexities rooted in Jamaica and its culture. Bob consciously and intentionally presents a love song through language that is honest as it is. A language that doesn’t wander and spout love gimmicks. The core of the main message that becomes the attitude of this song is optimism, that despite suffering, hope is never lost.

(yedi)