Bob Marley Posters and a Little Reggae Music
Bob Marley's full name is Robert Nesta Marley. He was born on Feb 6, 1945. If he was still alive today, he would be over 60 years old. Kind of hard to imagine isn't it. Would the college kids still be jazzed about hanging pictures of some old reggae rocker on their dorm walls if Bob was still alive. A gray haired Rastafarian dancing and rocking on the stage like a man many years his junior. Of course, if Mick Jagger can do it (minus the dreadlocks) then why not Bob Marley. While I haven't done the research, I would bet there are a lot more Marley posters, then Rolling Stones posters decorating the dorm walls of this generation.
You have to wonder, if music was still the path he would have chosen to follow after all these years. Bob that is. We already know which way the stones have gone. I like to think that he would have. While he was a man of many beliefs and causes, it was his music that seem to run central to most of it. It was the must that spread his message of love, equality, and peace to his generation, and to the generations that have followed.
Would his message have been so widespread without his tragic early departure, or would he have just went down in the annals music / reggae folk lore. He was incredibly influential and widespread during his time. Simply because his message was so universal. While many pop culture celebrities become more famous after their demise, I don't believe that was Bob Marley's legacy. While it may have given some legs and stamina to his music and art, it never would have happened in the first place if he wasn't one of the legendary music elite.
There is a bit of martyr spiced mixed in with his life, as part of the reason for his early departure had to do with his religious beliefs. Rastafarian beliefs don't allow for amputation of body parts, even if they are cancerous and deadly as Bob's was. His foot developed cancer from a soccer related injury years earlier. While many martyrs die at the hands of the oppressive persecutors, this was not the case here. Still, given how often he sang about persecutions, and being such a man of faith, it can be easy to make that mistake here.
Thankfully, today we still have Bob Marley posters to hang on our walls... Bob Marley music to listen to... and Bob Marley words to lull us to a more peaceful existence.
