goodmorningmisterben, agreed. marley's profound lyrics shouldn't be reduced to a plea for the legalization of cannabis or the likes (not that i disagree with legalization, just that i think marley had much more to express than his craving for pot).
to me, this song is referring to the blatant injustice, more specifically, racism, that went/goes on in the world.
"kill them before they grow"
i think that is his metaphor for the surge of white supremism/racism against minorities, the attempts to keep their culture from flourishing (esp in america) and the attempts to keeping them from gaining any real power/social status, preventing them from having profound influence on the very laws that governed them.
the entire shooting of sheriff brown is a representation of the corruption in the police force/government, especially against minorities. sheriff brown had been trying to kill him, so he had to defend himself, but in the end was convicted of murder - blatant injustice.
then again, i could be wrong and this entire song could be about the ganja. oh well.
one <3
~ Che
I don't think it's about racism either. It's about people's hopes and dreams being crushed by the authorities, which may or may not be because of racism. The sheriff isn't painted as racist but authoritian, violent and cruel. We are specifically told the narrator doesn't know why he is targeted. We don't even know what race he is. We do know that he destroys without reason and attacked when the character achieved some measure of freedom and seemed about to go beyond his power (leaving the town the sheriff had jurisdiction over).
I don't think it's about racism either. It's about people's hopes and dreams being crushed by the authorities, which may or may not be because of racism. The sheriff isn't painted as racist but authoritian, violent and cruel. We are specifically told the narrator doesn't know why he is targeted. We don't even know what race he is. We do know that he destroys without reason and attacked when the character achieved some measure of freedom and seemed about to go beyond his power (leaving the town the sheriff had jurisdiction over).
goodmorningmisterben, agreed. marley's profound lyrics shouldn't be reduced to a plea for the legalization of cannabis or the likes (not that i disagree with legalization, just that i think marley had much more to express than his craving for pot). to me, this song is referring to the blatant injustice, more specifically, racism, that went/goes on in the world. "kill them before they grow" i think that is his metaphor for the surge of white supremism/racism against minorities, the attempts to keep their culture from flourishing (esp in america) and the attempts to keeping them from gaining any real power/social status, preventing them from having profound influence on the very laws that governed them. the entire shooting of sheriff brown is a representation of the corruption in the police force/government, especially against minorities. sheriff brown had been trying to kill him, so he had to defend himself, but in the end was convicted of murder - blatant injustice.
then again, i could be wrong and this entire song could be about the ganja. oh well. one <3 ~ Che
I don't think it's about racism either. It's about people's hopes and dreams being crushed by the authorities, which may or may not be because of racism. The sheriff isn't painted as racist but authoritian, violent and cruel. We are specifically told the narrator doesn't know why he is targeted. We don't even know what race he is. We do know that he destroys without reason and attacked when the character achieved some measure of freedom and seemed about to go beyond his power (leaving the town the sheriff had jurisdiction over).
I don't think it's about racism either. It's about people's hopes and dreams being crushed by the authorities, which may or may not be because of racism. The sheriff isn't painted as racist but authoritian, violent and cruel. We are specifically told the narrator doesn't know why he is targeted. We don't even know what race he is. We do know that he destroys without reason and attacked when the character achieved some measure of freedom and seemed about to go beyond his power (leaving the town the sheriff had jurisdiction over).