Crazy Baldheads

Jamaica didn't achieve full independence until 1962. At the time Bob wrote this song (1976), Jamaica was still very much dealing with the social and political ramifications of British rule. As far as the Rastafari, it is and was a popular movement that was made even more popular by Roots music, so the government did try to use the music for their own gain. So yes, there is alot of politics and colonialism in the song, but the real origin of the song is much simpler than that.

The history that the Bob Marley Museum in Kingston (his old house - great trip btw - a must) gives on their tour was that Bob, being from south Kingston, moved into a nice house on the northeast side of town that was an affluent neighborhood with Kingston's who's who's living there. Bob moved in and lived life large. He would have people over for footie matches and jam sessions on the back porch. The neighbourhood wasn't used to all this sort of activity.

After a late night of (more than likely) a lot of medicinal herbs and jamming with friends, his neighbours, who were white by the way, complained. Bob was pissed off enough to write this song. It is true that this song carries the weight of the oppressive colonial history of Jamaica as a whole, the song is also about his @$$h@le neighbours that personified, as you can hear, a lot of what was going wrong with Jamaica at the time.