'Redemption Song' by Bob Marley - was he wrong, respectively what was he trying to say?

[I-Lion Tafari]

Seems a lot of people nowadays do not understand Bob´s messages anymore.
I have to face some strange and knotted thinking.

Just like No Woman No Cry is an anti-women song. I have read on a Swiss board where they seriously were discussing if Bob used to take speed. Some people were convinced about that.

Redemption song refers to the glory of God which stands over all human technologies.

[Lost Shoe]

...if we dismiss progress,we will never grow

thats my idea summed up.

Progress is not wrong, of course.
But too often progress goes the wrong direction.
The march of progress must be wrong, if it steps over human being.

[tron]

Thats fair ,the obvious religous statement must be all he meant.
However for someone who was anti atomic,he did embrace radiation therapy to try and save his life after realizing his religion was going to cure him.

[uwead]

Thank you so much for your feedback & help to understand!

My questions are answered and I feel good, respectively said better.

Love & Respect - uwead

[noyu]

Just like No Woman No Cry is an anti-women song.

yes i´ve seen this misunderstatement too many times.
In a village nearby. on carnival they had a waggon with a wrong translation of the song written on it(like "when there is no woman, there is no cry) and everybody dressed as rastamen with huge paper-only joints.. just ridiculous.

but when "No Woman No Cry" came out, Bob had already an international audience, i often wonder why nobody in the management noticed how easily it could be misunderstood.
i mean the song would sound equally good with "No, Woman, dont cry"

[CONGO BUNNY]

I-Lion Tafari wrote :
Just like No Woman No Cry is an anti-women song.


yes i´ve seen this misunderstatement too many times.
In a village nearby. on carnival they had a waggon with a wrong translation of the song written on it(like "when there is no woman, there is no cry) and everybody dressed as rastamen with huge paper-only joints.. just ridiculous.

but when "No Woman No Cry" came out, Bob had already an international audience, i often wonder why nobody in the management noticed how easily it could be misunderstood.
i mean the song would sound equally good with "No, Woman, dont cry"

I used to work with a guy who was always singing 'No rum and no pie'

maybe that would have been better

[ice]

I-Lion Tafari wrote :

but when "No Woman No Cry" came out, Bob had already an international audience, i often wonder why nobody in the management noticed how easily it could be misunderstood.
i mean the song would sound equally good with "No, Woman, dont cry"

he certainly did not have a huge audience at that time, we're talking about 1974; the tours in 1972 and 1973 were played in colleges, bars, etc - and what management? don taylor didn't enter the scene until 1975

using a simple "no" for "don't" or "is not" is a typical example for JA patois

[Stella]

I wouldn t be surprised if they put a gun to his head or someone he loved to make him sing it, if I remember well somebody had tried shooting him, tell me if I am wrong, we will never know why those lyrics ended there, rumor has it he did not write them.

[dan i]

I suspect he meant that its not Atomic Energy that will do us in, rather our own selves. That has long been my reading of the lyric anyway.