This is the song for everyday rebels- people who question authority and not follow it blindly. The first verse- "why can't we roam this open country" -is a powerful question that deviates the idea of posession. All the no-trespassing signs, the secret facilities, private property, it's not healthy and just shows that people are secretive and greedy.
Roadblocks can be very discriminatory, and an adult curfew is ridiculous...unless there is an insurgency going on like in Iraq. But there was no such insurgency going on in Jamaica in the 70s, just people branded criminals and targeted by the police for their race or smoking habits.
The third verse is my favorite- "take my soul and suss me out (size me up), check my life if I am in doubt". I think he's saying "stop me if I'm wrong, but isn't what theyre doing to me violating my rights?".
The eerie vocals and the folky harmonica are the highlights of this song for me. I really like it when Bob sings "Ain't got no birth certificate on me now" for some reason. It's motivating and if a middle finger had a sound when is raised it would go something like that. Just the way he sings it. Awesome. Love this song. Potheads are mostly harmless (and mostly hilarious), it's good to see Marley showing their real depth of feeling.
This is the song for everyday rebels- people who question authority and not follow it blindly. The first verse- "why can't we roam this open country" -is a powerful question that deviates the idea of posession. All the no-trespassing signs, the secret facilities, private property, it's not healthy and just shows that people are secretive and greedy.
Roadblocks can be very discriminatory, and an adult curfew is ridiculous...unless there is an insurgency going on like in Iraq. But there was no such insurgency going on in Jamaica in the 70s, just people branded criminals and targeted by the police for their race or smoking habits.
The third verse is my favorite- "take my soul and suss me out (size me up), check my life if I am in doubt". I think he's saying "stop me if I'm wrong, but isn't what theyre doing to me violating my rights?".
The eerie vocals and the folky harmonica are the highlights of this song for me. I really like it when Bob sings "Ain't got no birth certificate on me now" for some reason. It's motivating and if a middle finger had a sound when is raised it would go something like that. Just the way he sings it. Awesome. Love this song. Potheads are mostly harmless (and mostly hilarious), it's good to see Marley showing their real depth of feeling.