Bob Marley's "Redemption Song": The Rhetoric of Reggae and Rastafari

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Bob Marley's "Redemption Song": The Rhetoric of Reggae and Rastafari


       Since its founding in the 1930s, the Rastafarian movement has grown to the point where it has become a major cultural and political force in Jamaica. During its existence, the movement has challenged Jamaica's neo-colonialist society's attempts to keep whites at the top and blacks at the bottom of the socio-economic structure.
       Because of its controversial actions, the movement has evoked responses from observers that range from "hostility" to "curiosity" (Forsythe 63). On one hand, Rastafarians have been criticized because of their belief that Haile Selassie, the former emperor of Ethiopia, is God and that marijuana (ganja) should be used as a religious sacrament. On the other hand, the Rastafari have been praised for their continual resistance to and confrontation with oppression, racism, and the exploitation of the poor and underprivileged (Campbell 1).
       Unfortunately, most early studies of the Rastafarian movement create a distorted image of the group. Jamaica's national newspaper, the Daily Gleaner's, anti-Rastafarian perspective led many to conclude that the Rastafarians were Black Marxist "racists" whose "criminality" was linked to drug-addiction. As an example of the distorted image, Morris stated the following:
       They are vehement in their attacks on the government, the white man, imperialism and Christianity, and their eloquence is touched by that naivete which derives...from an almost total ignorance of the world, economic affairs, and any sense of history. This is not to say that they do not have a cause; it is simply to state that whatever case they may have, they parody it with their odd speech, dress and behaviour. (89)
       Despite the often negative image projected in the press and other writings, the Rastafarian movement has grown at a rapid rate. In 1977, an estimated 75,000 native Jamaicans were followers of Rastafari (Davis and Simon, Reggae Bloodlines, 63). By 1988, Barrett conservatively calculated the membership of the worldwide movement to be 300,000 (2). Forsythe observed that Rastafarianism "represents a growing force wherever sizable West Indian communities are found--in Britain, Canada, the USA and in the Caribbean" (63).
       There are several possible explanations for the rapid growth of Rastafari. One major factor in its expansion was the emergence in the late 1960s of reggae music, a derivative of American rhythm and blues and Jamaican ska. Reggae helped spread the philosophy of Rastafari to the wider Jamaican audience and the world. During that period of time, Bob Marley and the Wailers were the principal popularizers of reggae. Before Marley's death in 1981, the Wailers, with albums like Burnin' (1973) and Survival (1979), articulated a message of liberation and redemption which had "the power to transform a world of injustice and war into one of peace and love" (Reid 172). By 1986, the Wailers' ten albums had sold more than 20 million copies (Jennings 69).
       Marley and his music were significant forces in the increased popularity of the movement. Barrett felt that the growth of the movement was "largely due to the charismatic personality of Robert Nesta Marley" (213). Davis and Simon proposed that the Wailers' music had thrust "the Rasta cosmology into the middle of the planet's cultural arenas, and suddenly people [wanted] to know what all the chanting and praying and obsessive smoking of herb [were] all about" (Reggae Bloodlines 63).
       Because Marley's music was such a powerful force in the rise of the Rastafarian movement, there are many popular and scholarly writings which focus on Marley and his music. An analysis of Marley's songs provides explanations of the success of his music as well as larger insights into the persuasive power of music, particularly music calling for significant changes in society.
       Although the Wailers were founded in the early 1960s, only with Catch a Fire in 1973 was the band's influence truly felt outside Jamaica. Because the ten years from 1973 to 1983 included the period of Marley's greatest success, this study will focus on a selected sample of 40 songs, covering the interval between Catch a Fire (1973) and Confrontation (1983).
       Marley's use of powerful metaphors assisted in expressing and popularizing Rastafarian ideas. His utilization of religious and social metaphors established a dichotomy between good and evil, provided strategies for action, and offered a solution for peoples' problems by advancing the concept of repatriation. The ambiguous nature of the metaphors and the high level of identification Marley created with his audience made the songs effective as protest music.
       Musically, reggae is powerful because it is effective in areas with high illiteracy. In those regions, the music acts as a catharsis which helps free people from the problems of the external world. Reggae disseminates information and offers the poor an opportunity to participate publicly in voicing opinions which would normally be censored by the government (Davis, "Talking Drum..." 34).
       Rein and Springer observed that in previous studies lyrics were "counted, evaluated, and analyzed to a fine degree, while the music [was] scarcely mentioned or simply ignored" (252). Because most previous studies focused mainly on the discursive elements of music, there may be a lack of understanding of the meaning and impact of the music and therefore scholars may make less than thorough judgments of songs with social and cultural implications. In other words, an understanding of the aesthetic conditions of musical styles is fundamental to understanding the persuasive impact of music. Before turning to an analysis of reggae's lyrical and musical dimensions, it may be useful to discuss some findings of existing research on music as communication.

MUSIC AS COMMUNICATION
       As a type of mass communication, "recorded or publicly performed music speaks directly to society as a cultural form" (Lull 364). According to Lull, music communicates on three levels: "physical" (dancing), "emotional" ("feeling" the music), and a "cognitive level" (processing information) (368). Music not only communicates meaning on these levels but "encourages movement" and active participation and socialization through "dancing" and the "mouthing [of] lyrics" (Lull 368).
       Scholars have distinguished three persuasive components which distinguish music from other forms of communication. First, music is repetitive in nature. The persuasive elements of music are created through redundancy. Redundancy is "the borrowing of a line from another well-known song" (Booth 244). Redundancy can occur intrinsically or extrinsically. Intrinsic redundancy occurs when the artist borrows musical or lyrical elements from past works while extrinsic redundancy involves borrowing elements which are specifically related to a targeted audience (Gonzalez and Makay 4-9).
       Second, music emphasizes the nondiscursive because it operates on a physiological mode which affects the human body:
       [Music] literally touch[es] our body intimately in a greater variety and succession of different ways than the spoken word, employing a broader range and a larger variety of different melodies, rhythms, and chord progressions, and instrumentations than are possible with only the spoken word. (Chesebro, Foulger, Nachman, and Yannelli 117)
       Third, music is an experiential form of communication. As an artistic form, music involves a collection and pattern of "personal experiences" (Chesebro 118). Since music is connotative in nature, the listener can place his/her interpretation on the song. As Chesebro, Foulger, Nachman, and Yannelli note, "the musical form functions as one of the essential vehicles for sharing highly personal and esoteric experiences" (118).
       As a vehicle for sharing personal experiences, reggae can be classified as protest music. As a reaction to injustices, protest music is a vehicle for musical artists to identify an antagonist, the source that is to be blamed for suffering, and offer solutions to escape from problems in the existing social order.
       In order to achieve its goals, protest music uses a political message encapsulated within the celebratory tone of music. Knupp states that protest songs often sacrifice instrumentality for expressiveness, that is, the songs "attempt to evoke consciousness while circumventing intellectual activity" (386).
       Protest songs do not present formally constructed logical arguments. Rather, protest songs present messages in a general form. Song writers create messages which "thrive on ambiguities, sweeping assertions, and panoramic criticisms rather than on specific issues, policies, and arguments" (Knupp 384-85). In addition, protest songs are simplistic because they often disregard concrete historical references (Knupp 385).
       Stewart, Smith, and Denton proclaimed that most protest songs "described the present, identified one or more devils, listed demands or solutions, and urged listeners or participants to act" (230). In an analysis of 714 protest songs, they found the following:
       [The songs] tended to be negative rather than positive, pessimistic rather than optimistic, general rather than specific, and mild rather than abrasive in language. While most songs were addressed to the in-group rather than to potential legitimizers or the opposition, they were not "movement centered." (230)
       Protest songs may fail to perform important persuasive functions. Knupp argued that protest songs "could be of little use in recruiting new members from those who do not sympathize with the movement" (388). In addition, most protest songs perform largely in-group functions because they are "too negative and ambiguous to be directly attractive to anyone other than movement members or sympathizers" (Knupp 388).
       Stewart, Smith, and Denton suggest that attention to the past and future would be helpful in legitimizing the movement for members and non-members (231). In addition, attention to the past and future could help the movement legitimize its goals, establish the urgency of the problem and portray the future more effectively. Finally, the researchers suggest that more attention to the self could assist in reducing feelings of inferiority and act as counterarguments to established institutions.
       Despite the questionable benefits of songs to protest movements, Knupp believes protest music to be effective when there is a high degree of ambiguity and when music speaks to a listener's experience and social conditions (386).

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THE RHETORICAL DIMENSIONS OF METAPHOR
       Classical and contemporary authors differ in their discussions of the role of metaphor in communication. Classical writers described metaphor as a trope, an embellishment of ordinary language (Foss 187-88). To classical authors, metaphor was considered part of extraordinary, not ordinary language.
       However, contemporary theorists view metaphor as part of ordinary language. Lakoff and Johnson state that "metaphor is pervasive in everyday life, not just in language but in thought and action" (3). Contemporary language theorists have transformed the narrow view of metaphor to the idea that all thought is metaphorical. Modern ...

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