Redemption Song

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Written by: Marley
Produced by: Chris Blackwell
Released: June '80 on Island
Charts: Did not chart

Marley had already recorded a version of this freedom hymn with his band when Island Records' Blackwell suggested he try it as an acoustic-style folk tune. Inspired by the writings of Marcus Garvey, Marley's lyrics offer up music as an antidote to slavery, both mental and physical. "I would love to do more like that," Marley said a few months before his death in 1981. The song might have signaled a new direction for his work; instead, as the final track on his final album, it's his epitaph.

Appears on: Uprising (Island)

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