Sunday, October 04, 2009

Song of the Week

After spending 5 days on a cruise line headed for Bermuda, all I have in my mind right now is Carribean/Reggae music. So, with that said, my song of the week SHOULD be some sort of reggae music, shouldn't it? Regardless ...

Peter Tosh is a reggae legend, and a trailblazer for the Rastafari movement (according to Wikipedia.com ... just a little background of Rastafari - Spiritual use of cannabis,[3][4] rejection of western society (called Babylon, which literally means "confusion"), and various Afrocentric social and political aspirations,[3][5] such as the sociopolitical views and teachings of Jamaican publicist, organizer, and black separatist Marcus Garvey (also often regarded as a prophet), inspired Leonard Howell to develop the foundations of this world view. Haile Selassie however, was in favor of a Westernized Ethiopia, introducing the first hospital and airport to his people. The Rastafari movement predominantly emerged in Jamaica in the 20th century, and it proclaims Africa (also "Zion") as the original place where the body of the first man was found.).

OK, so before he became involved in this extremist movement, he made some pretty darn good reggae music. In fact, he collaborated with the Rolling Stones at one point in time (and yes, this is how I found out about Tosh). He sang a song with Mick Jagger called "Don't Look Back," which was a remake of a Temptations song of the mid 1960's. Obviously, Tosh "Reggae-tized" the diddy, added some horns, steel drums, and a funky beat.

Just a sample of the lyrics:
If you just put your hand in mine
We're gonna leave all your troubles behind
keep on walkin' and don't look back.

This is obviously a lot more positive-sounding than many of the later songs that Tosh released. Tosh is the anti-Bob Marley in that Marley preached peace, while Tosh promoted militancy (probably not all that different than Martin Luther King and Malcolm X).

Here's the video of this song in case you're interested:

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