What's the message in the song "Get Up, Stand Up" by Bob Marley?

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Bob Marley’s song “Get Up, Stand Up” touches on some religious subjects. In the song, Bob mentions Jesus.

**1. Is this song anti-Christian?
  1. Is a Catholic permitted to listen to this song, or is this song blasphemous?**
Thanks

The following are the lyrics to the song:

Get Up, Stand Up, stand up for your right (3 times)
Get Up, Stand Up, don’t give up the fight

Preacher man don’t tell me heaven is under the earth
I know you don’t know what life is really worth
Is not all that glitters in gold and
Half the story has never been told
So now you see the light, aay
Stand up for your right. Come on

Get Up, Stand Up, stand up for your right
Get Up, Stand Up, don’t give up the fight
(Repeat)

Most people think great God will come from the sky
Take away ev’rything, and make ev’rybody feel high
But if you know what life is worth
You would look for yours on earth
And now you see the light
You stand up for your right, yeah!

Get Up, Stand Up, stand up for your right
Get Up, Stand Up, don’t give up the fight
Get Up, Stand Up. Life is your right
So we can’t give up the fight
Stand up for your right, Lord, Lord
Get Up, Stand Up. Keep on struggling on
Don’t give up the fight

We’re sick and tired of your ism and skism game
Die and go to heaven in Jesus’ name, Lord
We know when we understand
Almighty God is a living man
You can fool some people sometimes
But you can’t fool all the people all the time
So now we see the light
We gonna stand up for our right
 
In many parts of the world Bob Marley’s stature and reputation is almost Christ-like. I know of no figure in the West that can be said of, at least not currently. In the Caribbean and large parts of Africa he’s like the most famous and beloved movie star you can imagine plus the most famous and beloved artist you can imagine plus the most famous and beloved musician you can imagine plus the most famous and beloved national hero/freedom fighter you can imagine, all rolled up into one. Seriously, it would be difficult to overstate how much larger than life he is to a lot of dirt poor people. It’s true that Rastafarianism is a very bizarre form of Christianity in some ways, but it’s still Christian. Aside from the dope smoking, I really like what he stood for. His music isn’t anti-Christian at all; in fact, he was extremely devout. Whether he converted from Rastafarianism before his death is anyone’s guess. You need to bear in mind that some people insist Rastafarians aren’t Christian, in just the same way some people insist Catholics aren’t Christian. It’s all nonsense: there are many, many forms of Christianity out there. It’s not a sin to respect them all. That’s just my opinion.
 
Exiled_Child said:
In many parts of the world Bob Marley’s stature and reputation is almost Christ-like. I know of no figure in the West that can be said of, at least not currently. In the Caribbean and large parts of Africa he’s like the most famous and beloved movie star you can imagine plus the most famous and beloved artist you can imagine plus the most famous and beloved musician you can imagine plus the most famous and beloved national hero/freedom fighter you can imagine, all rolled up into one. Seriously, it would be difficult to overstate how much larger than life he is to a lot of dirt poor people. It’s true that Rastafarianism is a very bizarre form of Christianity in some ways, but it’s still Christian. Aside from the dope smoking, I really like what he stood for. His music isn’t anti-Christian at all; in fact, he was extremely devout. Whether he converted from Rastafarianism before his death is anyone’s guess. You need to bear in mind that some people insist Rastafarians aren’t Christian, in just the same way some people insist Catholics aren’t Christian. It’s all nonsense: there are many, many forms of Christianity out there. It’s not a sin to respect them all.
Click to expand...
I admit I like at least some reggae. What I don’t like is that it often is about marijuana, which I don’t like, but still, I like some of his songs, like “Jammin”, and , “Could you be loved”. Some, like “Jammin”, I like so much, that I’ll put on “Repeat”, listen to it again and again and again. I even will take a nap, leave that in the background.

I don’t agree with some of what he believed in, the Rasta and marijuana. I also wouldn’t go out of my way to listen to that song. If I put it on “Jammin” and that one popped up, I might just let it go by, but I don’t care for the lyrics of it. I don’t agree with its message.

Still, he did seem to try to address the topic of poverty and is seen with them in videos. Even though he was a success in music, he didn’t let it go to his head in the sense that he didn’t then feel it necessary to hobnob with only others like himself. He seemed to try to connect with the poor and common people, encourage others to do the same.
 
ag11 said:
Bob Marley’s song “Get Up, Stand Up” touches on some religious subjects. In the song, Bob mentions Jesus.

**1. Is this song anti-Christian?
  1. Is a Catholic permitted to listen to this song, or is this song blasphemous?**
Thanks

The following are the lyrics to the song:

Get Up, Stand Up, stand up for your right (3 times)
Get Up, Stand Up, don’t give up the fight

Preacher man don’t tell me heaven is under the earth
I know you don’t know what life is really worth
Is not all that glitters in gold and
Half the story has never been told
So now you see the light, aay
Stand up for your right. Come on

Get Up, Stand Up, stand up for your right
Get Up, Stand Up, don’t give up the fight
(Repeat)

Most people think great God will come from the sky
Take away ev’rything, and make ev’rybody feel high
But if you know what life is worth
You would look for yours on earth
And now you see the light
You stand up for your right, yeah!

Get Up, Stand Up, stand up for your right
Get Up, Stand Up, don’t give up the fight
Get Up, Stand Up. Life is your right
So we can’t give up the fight
Stand up for your right, Lord, Lord
Get Up, Stand Up. Keep on struggling on
Don’t give up the fight

We’re sick and tired of your ism and skism game
Die and go to heaven in Jesus’ name, Lord
We know when we understand
Almighty God is a living man
You can fool some people sometimes
But you can’t fool all the people all the time
So now we see the light
We gonna stand up for our right
Click to expand...
To be fair, you would have to read a little about and understand the history of the Caribbean and Jamaica during the 60s and especially the 70s to get a full understanding of where Bob was coming from with this song. Let’s just say some of the other protest songs during this era are not as mild as this one…but Bob is definitely the most well known, along with Peter Tosh, Bunny Wailer and Max Romeo. Even today, reggae is one of the main tools used as protest or social commentary and resonated among the poor at a time when the church did not reflect the voice of the poor.

The lyrics seem anti-christian because it was lashing out at a “system” or a government which definitely used christianity as an excuse to oppress the masses. Even though Rastafari is largely viewed as a religion (or cult depending on who you talk to) it started out mainly as a political movement.

If you listen to these songs, it will give you an insight into the history and the culture of the caribbean during these times. Listen to “Redemption song”, “Buffalo soldier” and “Three little birds”, you may be ok with the lyrics in those.
 
With “Get Up, Stand Up”, I don’t care for either the tune or the lyrics. So, if I can, I turn it to another song. If it’s on a roll of Bob Marley songs, I may let it play out, saying, “What the heck”, but I don’t subscribe to it, as a rule, seek out other songs, instead, that I agree with.

If you can, listen to other ones, when you can, would be my recommendation.

I have one of Bob’s songs which has a video where he’s talking about how he thinks the governors and others should lighten up, allow marijuana. Sometimes, I see this on my computer while listening to the song, cover the image up with another image, because it’s the image I disagree with! lol
 
Exiled_Child said:
In many parts of the world Bob Marley’s stature and reputation is almost Christ-like. I know of no figure in the West that can be said of, at least not currently. In the Caribbean and large parts of Africa he’s like the most famous and beloved movie star you can imagine plus the most famous and beloved artist you can imagine plus the most famous and beloved musician you can imagine plus the most famous and beloved national hero/freedom fighter you can imagine, all rolled up into one. Seriously, it would be difficult to overstate how much larger than life he is to a lot of dirt poor people. It’s true that Rastafarianism is a very bizarre form of Christianity in some ways, but it’s still Christian. Aside from the dope smoking, I really like what he stood for. His music isn’t anti-Christian at all; in fact, he was extremely devout. Whether he converted from Rastafarianism before his death is anyone’s guess. You need to bear in mind that some people insist Rastafarians aren’t Christian, in just the same way some people insist Catholics aren’t Christian. It’s all nonsense: there are many, many forms of Christianity out there. It’s not a sin to respect them all. That’s just my opinion.
Click to expand...
And he would’ve probably put forth Haile Selassie as Christ-like. Definitely Rastafari is interesting, and I’d 100% agree with with your assessment as a very bizarre form of it.

Bob Marley definitely isn’t my favorite in the world of reggae, but I do enjoy his music.
 
ClearWater said:
I admit I like at least some reggae. What I don’t like is that it often is about marijuana, which I don’t like, but still, I like some of his songs, like “Jammin”, and , “Could you be loved”. Some, like “Jammin”, I like so much, that I’ll put on “Repeat”, listen to it again and again and again. I even will take a nap, leave that in the background.

I don’t agree with some of what he believed in, the Rasta and marijuana. I also wouldn’t go out of my way to listen to that song. If I put it on “Jammin” and that one popped up, I might just let it go by, but I don’t care for the lyrics of it. I don’t agree with its message.

Still, he did seem to try to address the topic of poverty and is seen with them in videos. Even though he was a success in music, he didn’t let it go to his head in the sense that he didn’t then feel it necessary to hobnob with only others like himself. He seemed to try to connect with the poor and common people, encourage others to do the same.
Click to expand...
I saw this really great video of an entire concert he did somewhere in Africa, possibly Uganda. But wherever it was, there was violence and bloodshed all over the place. The high point of this concert was when this rebel group was at the Bob Marley show and then all these soldiers with machine guns and bayonets came swaggering in, and it just looked like there was going to be this awful bloodbath. Bob Marley saw what was about to happen and instantly stopped singing, and instead started talking about peace and brotherhood and the evils of war. The place was totally packed, so Bob told everybody to push towards the front and make room. There was chaos for a couple minutes, but then Marley got through to them. The soldiers gave all their guns to this one guy to hold and then they just started dancing with everyone else. It was one of the most incredible performances I’ve ever seen. Basically, everyone in that auditorium decided they liked Bob Marley way more than they liked killing each other!
 
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