Sunday, October 25, 2009
The Meaning of 'One Love'
I started researching the Rastafari religion because i've always enjoyed reggae music, especially the music of Bob Marley. Bob Marley was one of my original ideas for a research topic, but I decided I knew too much about him already. This first post is about one of his songs though "One Love." In the book i'm reading right now From Garvey to Marley: Rastafari Theology it discusses the origin of the phrase I'm sure Bob Marley is referencing in the song One Love. Marcus Garvey is quoted in the book saying "One God! One Aim! One Destiny!" as the motto for the organization he created, the Universal Negro Improvement Association. It was this phrase encouraging African-Jamaicans and Africans all over the world to look to Africa together for support and pride that inspired the Rastafarian religion. The one God is in reference to looking towards Ethiopia for religious pride as its mentioned in the Old Testament. Pslam 68:31, "Ethiopia shall soon stretch out her hands unto God." The one aim is Marcus Garvey's goal of building up Africa economically, and the one destiny is his goal of prosperity and success throughout the African nations. In Marley's song you can hear the One theme over and over again as he asks God for forgiveness for those sinners and gives his own praise to God. The idea of ONE is constantly referenced in the Rastafarian religion, as it encourages Africans to unite together for strength and unity. Its no surprise as Marcus Mosiah Garvey is thought to be a holy prophet in the Rastafarian religion.
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Really interesting facts about the rastafarian religious, alot of the religious aspects have been lost in the new trendy scene of rastafarians, basically people who smoke weed and listen to Bob, there fore calling themselves rasta. That might be an idea to try because most people associate rastafarians with Bob Marley, and that's it. Let us know about the other religious and historical figures involved, and their their influence has carried the religion into modern times.
ReplyDeleteThere is two ideas that immediately jump out at me that I would look into if this was my topic: 1) the ideology/philosophy of rastafarians vs the actual ramifications of their life style. and 2) the music itself, now this is just me but I'd talk about different reggae artists and the how the genre itself is evolving.
ReplyDeleteReggae music is starting to fuse with rap or gangster rap and there is a whole subculture of reggae that would seem alien to bob marley. that is a interesting way to go