Me and Bob Marley Reflection

Before taking this class, Bob Marley was just an unfamiliar name without any meaning for me. However, after studying him and his work for a semester, and witnessed the uprising of this legend, many things changed. For me, Bob Marley has been not only a name but also a vivid and concrete person, a great man who knows the reality, the power of love and hope, and knows the cruelty, as well as the brightness of life. It might be his revolutionary impact that allows people from all over the world to know him, but it is his gracious personality that makes people love him and allows his spirit to exist, forever. 

Through the lecture, I met this great man. He is standing in front of you, quiet and doesn’t like talking too much, which might make you wonder what he is thinking. He was a mystery before you get to know him. But when you discuss reggae music with him, you could see that stars in his eyes, and feel the passion through his words. You would see a truest him. I didn’t understand how one could become a legend and could be loved by people from all over the world. Listening to his music, I figured it out. Probably, he is a born musician, who is destined to save his people by using music. He is singing, and telling his people’s stories, as well as his own stories, using his heart and his soul. Singing is not hard, what is hard is putting your soul into it. Marley did it.

When you ask people how would they describe Bob Marley, they might tell you he was a great and revolutionary pioneer, a tough Rasta warrior. His achievement and contribution to revolution would often go first. Thus, people might expect that he should be tough, criticizing politics, social problems, and talking about his faith all the time. However, for me, he is an ordinary man with a romantic blue soul. He is a poet, writing and performing with his purist and deepest soul. It is his optimism and romanticism that intrigue me most.

He knows the secret of reality; he knows life. He knows the power of love and the power of music. Marley once said that music is his weapon. It is a soft weapon but also a powerful one. It’s powerful because it could often hit you right in the center of your heart. You could not hate him. You just couldn’t. His music could get your soul before you realize it. His music would melt your heart. The most important is, he, as a human being, could affect you unconsciously. Gandhi once said that “in a gentle way, you can shake the world.” Marley and his music are rocking the world gently but infectiously. I’m glad that I got to know this great and attractive person.