Inspiration
Jamaica in December 1976 was going through elections. There was a substantial amount of political discourse on the island. A candidate by the name of Michael Manley used the campaign slogan “We know where we’re going.” In response Marley wrote “Exodus”, which is the title track of the album. The Rastafarian collective believe the song was an appropriate reply to Manley’s proclamation. Marley’s lyrics say, “Open your eyes and look within, are you satisfied with the life you’re living? We know where we’re going, we know where we’re from, we’re leaving Babylon into our father’s land.” The song became a No. 1 hit in Jamaica as well as England and Germany.
On 3 December 1976, an attempt was made on Marley’s life. It was this attempt that drove him out of Jamaica, In addition to Marley's assassination attempt,"his wife Rita — one of the I Threes, whose singing on Exodus is first-rate" was also shot and survived. During this time Marley saw that the Rastafarian's were "struggling to be free" and needed direction in life. Many of the songs produced in the "Exodus" album are just that. He sincerely wanted to bring his people out of oppression and by producing the "Exodus" album he moved many Rastafarian people towards their dream of overcoming oppression.
Read more about this topic: Exodus (Bob Marley & The Wailers Album)
Famous quotes containing the word inspiration:
“What is called eloquence in the forum is commonly found to be rhetoric in the study. The orator yields to the inspiration of a transient occasion, and speaks to the mob before him, to those who can hear him; but the writer, whose more equable life is his occasion, and who would be distracted by the event and the crowd which inspire the orator, speaks to the intellect and heart of mankind, to all in any age who can understand him.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)
“For a painter, the Mecca of the world, for study, for inspiration and for living is here on this star called Paris. Just look at it, no wonder so many artists have come here and called it home. Brother, if you can’t paint in Paris, you’d better give up and marry the boss’s daughter.”
—Alan Jay Lerner (1918–1986)