Out of Many, One People
Written for Rebel Music at The University of Oklahoma - Professor LoLordo - Summer 2023
Nothing is more beautiful than sitting on the beach on a nice summer day. A breeze blowing through the trees, waves crashing on the shore. All your senses are feeling joy. This is the opening scene of "The Harder They Come" (Henzell), a nearly fifty-year-old movie! This is what a commercial from 'enjoycaribbean' on YouTube shows. "Showing the beauty of Jamaica." is what this YouTube video's description states. Above that are the view count and the posted date showing this video as fifteen years old! "The spirit of Jamaica... Let's get together and feel alright", Bob Marley and The Wailers cry out!
"One Island that is home to... so much of everything that makes your visit with us truly wonderful," the narrator says. Everything in this tourist commercial (YouTube), and everything in the first minute of the opening scene to "The Harder They Come," shows the positive side of Jamaica, what they want you to see. Join me on a trip through the real heart of Jamaica. I will guide you through this analysis of the movie "The Harder They Come" and show you Reggae music's genuinely magical side. This analysis is vital as it will let us sift through and understand what authentic Reggae sounds like. We'll start our journey through the history of Reggae and the suffering behind it. On our way, we'll move through examples from Linton Kwesi Johnson in song and the movie "The Harder They Come." Our next stop will be diving into the music. The sound, the vibe, the groove. Why does Reggae swing a little differently? Why is it so laid back and groovy? Linton Kwesi Johnson will again guide us through the sound of Reggae. Our last stop will use our newfound knowledge to understand what authentic Reggae is. This journey will also take us through the history of the 'Rastafarian' movement and some Bob Marley history! Reggae is genuinely inspiring music, more than the Westernized music most of us have grown up with. The first thing that came to my mind when I heard Reggae was a poster with Bob Marley's face overlaid on a pot leaf, all colored in the typical 'Rasta,' green, yellow, and red. By the end of this trip, you'll understand the deep history of Reggae and the suffering behind the lyrics, and you may leave with a smile. Moving into the account of Reggae, Linton Kwesi Johnson gives us the song “Suffering So" by the Heptones. They say it best, "history will show how long we suffer so" (Johnson).
To get a good look at the story of the Jamaican people and where Reggae comes from, we need to analyze its history. We know of its origins in the people of Jamaica, but Linton Kwesi Johnson gives us the true story. The blood-red roots unite the Jamaican people. Johnson describes this music as "the ground-beat of survival itself.". There is no better example than Johnson's slam poetry feeling of "Bass Culture." "Muzik of blood," "Black reared," "Pain rooted," and "Heart geared." It takes Johnson six seconds to speak these lines, and they talk to what Reggae truly is.
"Man feel, him hurt confirm, man site, destruction all around" speaks to the real heartbeat of Jamaica. These words speak loudly, but seeing a story unfold in front of your eyes sets it in stone. The opening scene of "The Harder They Come" gives way to the real story of the oppressors and the oppressed. We follow Ivan Martin, a young Jamaican man. We get to see his struggles as he pursues his passion. In the first ten minutes, the story reveals he only has a few dollars to his name but a dream to sing and produce songs independently (Henzell). After working odd jobs, Ivan can finally audition and record a song. How exciting! How exciting until Ivan is offered twenty dollars for his recording. The lyrics of the song recorded tell his story.
"Well, the oppressors are trying to keep me down and drive me underground." We get to see the true story of what it's like to grow and thrive in Jamaica. Ivan is a victim of oppression here! How dare this man keep him down! The words are spat at him, "You see, sport, I make hits, not the public" (Henzell). These words cut deep; this is the oppressor! Every minute of this film shows this story, the struggle, and the roots of Reggae music. Ivan had to kill to have his record heard by the film's end. I'm sorry to spoil it for you. This movie has an unhappy ending. In the eyes of the oppressor, Ivan is a serial killer, murdering multiple people to get his way. In the eyes of the public and the oppressed, Ivan is a liberator and a hero! "I'd rather be a free man in my grave than live as a puppet or a slave" sums up the bloody conclusion of this film. The quote, "And they think that they have got the battle won, I say forgive them, Lord, they know not what they've done," shows this war isn't over (Henzell). The people of Jamaica fight daily for their freedom, peace, and love, fighting to keep telling their stories through groovy, laid-back music. There's still a lot more to our trip through this music; stay buckled up as we get grooving!
Hopefully, you're still asking yourself, why does Reggae sound the way it does? We touched on the lyrics of "Bass Culture" by Linton Kwesi Johnson earlier, but this song describes the sound! "It is di beat of di heart...", "This pulsing of blood, that is a bubbling bass." Listening to this song while reading his "Jamaican rebel music" paper connects all our map points. Johnson tells us, "The popular music of Jamaica..., is essentially experiential music..., in the sense that the music is true to the historical experience of the people" (Johnson). These words show us why this music has such a groove to it, these people who have been oppressed and spent their entire lives fighting to share their story finally! Most of us can say we've felt 'oppressed' at some point, in a relationship, by a teacher, or a boss. We've all seen a short video of someone being 'oppressed' at a restaurant or grocery store. Either way, this is something we can relate to. Johnson does a fantastic job of showing this in his writing. This music is music that rallies people. "Is di cultural wave...spirits riled..., burstin outta slave shackle". Johnson perfectly weaves between lyrics and his own words in his paper, "Deep down inside..., you feel it..., it touches your soul's senses.". He talks about how the 'youth sufferers', living in poverty, describe this music as their life, a life of rebellion. "Man feel, him hurt confirm, man site, destruction all around," a line we looked at earlier, is so relatable in a time of suffering worldwide. "The musician, singer, and dub-lyricist are mostly 'sufferers.'". Relatable is why it's so easy to groove to! "They are also giving spiritual expression to the collective experience of sufferation that all sufferers share.". Johnson references the song 'Time Tough' by Toots & The Maytals, and it's a prime example of how our first-world suffering lets us relate to this music. While reading and listening to these lyrics, I was actively procrastinating on this essay. The lyrics "time tough, everything is out of sight, it is so hard, everything is going higher and higher" resonated strongly with me. Even the line, "I go to bed, but sleep won't come," each one is relatable. It's so easy to groove to a fun beat when the lyrics are so damn relatable! Now that we can relate to the music as we listen to it let's see what makes this authentic and get a little history lesson!
Using this newfound knowledge, the essay "Revolutionary Words" by King and Foster will guide us through the Rastafarian movement and let us pick out authentic Reggae music. If you grew up in the United States in the 20th century, as I did, you are probably familiar with Bob Marley and the idea of Rastafarianism. Its connections to peace, love, and marijuana. "It is virtually impossible to analyze reggae music without referencing the Rastafarians," King and Foster tell it like it is here. They go on to describe how this movement emerged in the early 1930s. "Rastafarian theology... included the belief in the divinity of Haile Selassie (former Emperor of Ethiopia) and called for repatriation to Africa.". As Americans, we've all heard the joke of Texas seceding from the United States. Rastafarianism started oppositely. Initially, this was a group of people who just wanted Jamaica to rejoin the country of Africa.
"Reggae music expressed the Rastafarian worldview to an unprecedented degree." Authentic Reggae music and Rastafarianism have always walked hand in hand. "Many reggae musicians were members of the movement" King and Foster show us how Bob Marley was the face of the movement after he "converted to Rastafari in 1966". Bob Marley joining the campaign led to what we'll call the internationalization of Reggae. During the early 1970s, Bob Marley and the Wailers' album 'Catch a Fire' was released. In this era, "most rock fans in England and the U.S. viewed reggae music as... crude, cheap, not be taken seriously on any level.". This view couldn't bode well for Reggae music, so the producers "beefed-up" the piece by adding a "synthesizer..., and other instruments to the mix.". Living in the 20th century, the age of remixes, we can all understand why adding a synthesizer to a song could increase its popularity. The producer said the album was "more enhanced to try to reach the rock market."
Westernization of the sound led to producers promoting The Wailers as a "black rock group." People worldwide embraced Reggae music now, and it also "played a crucial role in disseminating the Rastafarian worldview to an increasing number of middle-class listeners." The face of the Rastafarian worldview also changed in the same way the music did. As I said earlier, a poster with Bob Marley's face overlaid on a pot leaf, all colored in the typical 'Rasta' green, yellow, and red, was the first thing I thought of. Growing up with only the Westernized version of Reggae is why analyzing and sifting through what is authentic is extremely important. Whether it's music or an entire worldview, we must step back and understand the story.
Reggae is genuinely inspiring music, more than the Westernized music most of us have grown up with. We've ended our trip; I hope you better understand what actual, authentic Reggae music is. This overview of the movie "The Harder They Come," along with some analysis of other sources, opened my eyes to the pain and misery that is the foundation of Reggae. I hope you leave with a better understanding of the deep history of Reggae, the suffering behind the lyrics, and, most importantly, a smile. I'll leave you with the same line King and Foster left me with. "Reggae music is Jamaica."
Works Cited
Henzell, P., & Henzell, P. (n.d.). The harder they come. Kanopy. Retrieved from https://www.kanopy.com/en/ou/watch/video/10913063.
Johnson, L. K. (n.d.). Jamaican Rebel Music.
King, S. A., & Foster, P. R. (n.d.). Revolutionary Words. Retrieved June 14, 2023.
