Hey! Are we coming to the end of the world?
As Bob Marley put it in the song: War
War in the eastWar in the westWar up north, andWar down s outh
Is it time for apocalypse now?Apocalypse is a word that means “the end of the world” — or something so destructive it seems like the world has ended, like the event of a major earthquake. The apocalypse is the total destruction of the world, as prophesied in the Biblical book of Revelation.
Bob Marley, the Jamaican reggae superstar and philosopher prophesied long ago about what is happening in the world today.
Apart from floods, hurricanes and earthquakes, there is the evil brutality of wars such as the Israeli war in Gaza , the Russian war on Ukraine, the Rwandan-backed M23 war in the Democratic Republic of Congo, the war in Sudan and many more .
There must be reason why people want to kill one another. Marley in his War lyrics gave us some of the reasons why as he sang:
Until the philosophy which hold one raceSuperior and another inferiorIs finallyAnd permanentlyDiscreditedAnd abandonedEverywhere is warMe say war
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That until there are no longerFirst-class and second-class citizens of any nationUntil the colour of a man’s skinIs of no more significance than the colour of his eyesMe say war
That until the basic human rightsAre equally guaranteed to allWithout regard to raceDis a war
That until that dayThe dream of lasting peaceWorld citizenshipRule of international moralityWill remain in but a fleeting illusion to be pursuedBut never attainedNow everywhere is warWar And until the ignoble and unhappy regimeThat hold our brothers in AngolaIn MozambiqueSouth AfricaSub-human bondageHave been toppledUtterly destroyedWell, everywhere is warMe say war War in the eastWar in the westWar up northWar down south War, warRumours of warAnd until that dayThe African continentWill not know peaceWe Africans will fight, we find it necessaryAnd we know we shall winAs we are confidentIn the victoryOf good over evil Good over evil, yeah!Good over evilGood over evil, yeah!Good over evilGood over evil, yeah!
The lyrics of this song are heavily inspired by a speech of Ethiopian Emperor Haile Selassie I before the United Nations General Assembly in 1963. Selassie was not only one of the most prominent African leaders of his time, but he was respected very much by Bob Marley and Rastafarians. This could be one of the reasons why Bob Marley and the Wailers decided to visit Ethiopia when Selassie was emperor.
A lot of confudion is still going on in this world as people fight one another
When Sinead O’Connor. performed this song on Saturday Night Live in the UK in 1992, she said to the audience, “Fight the real enemy,” and tore up a photo of the Pope John Paul II. But who is our enemy here?
A different mix of this song was released as a bonus track on the Deluxe Edition of the Rastaman Vibration album in 2002 with an extra verse also adapted by Bob Marley from the original Haile Selassie I’s speech.
A version of this song was released as a vinyl single in Jamaica in December 1997 long after Marley’s death, with samples of Bob Marley’s voice saying Rastafari is the prince of peace and with the original recording of Haile Selassie I’s Amharic speech done in 1963.
Alicia Keys once performed this song with Bob Marley’s son Julian Marley.
There is obviously a powerful message in this song for all nations to listen to.
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