War (Bob Marley song)

"War" is a song recorded and made popular by Bob Marley. It first appeared on Bob Marley and the Wailers' 1976 Island Records album, Rastaman Vibration, Marley's only top 10 album in the USA. (In UK it reached position 15 on May 15, 1976.) The lyrics are almost entirely derived from a speech made by Ethiopian Emperor Haile Selassie I before the Eighteenth Session of UN General Assembly on 4 October 1963. The speech was reminsicent of the one he made in 1936 to the League of Nations. The previous year 1935, two years after Hitler's rise to power, Ethiopia had been invaded by Italy and he had been living in exile at the time.
"War" is credited to Allen "Skill" Cole (idea) and Carlton Barrett (music); the music is an extension of the one-drop drumming style, which Carlton Barrett had either invented, or at least developed and refined. The lyrics are a near-exact repetition of a 1963 speech at the UN by the Ethiopian emperor Haile Selassie. However, the two simple guitar chords and the semi-improvised, spirited melody put to Selassie's words are said to be unmistakably Marley's.
According to Stephen Davis' biography Bob Marley, it also appears that Marley had credited several of his multi-million-selling 1974-1976 songs to close friends and relatives because he was working under the terms of a 1968 publishing contract with Cayman Publishing that would have otherwise deprived him of much of his songwriting royalties. Crediting close friends, such as football player Allan "Skill" Cole or Wailers drummer Carlton "Carly" Barrett enabled Bob Marley to circumvent his contractual obligations until he could negotiate new, more favorable agreements. This practice, along with the practice of crediting friends who contributed to compositions (even if they had only contributed ideas) created confusion about the copyright ownership of several songs, including "War", following Marley's sudden death, especially since he did not leave a will.
Barrett's brother, Wailer musician Aston "Family Man" Barrett (who created the bass line, considered key to the song's effectiveness) brought lawsuits against the Marley estate (of which Marley’s widow, Rita Marley was the legal beneficiary) claiming unpaid royalties and credit for songs such as "War" alleging that they had been written by others either solely or in collaboration with Bob Marley. One such suit was resolved by a settlement in 1994 in which Barrett was paid $500,000. Barrett continued to pursue legal action: he sought £60 million (the equivalent of $113.6 million at the then-current exchange rate) in a suit against the Island-Universal record label and the Marley family. That case was dismissed on the grounds that the terms of the earlier settlement prohibited any further claim on the estate.
As taught by the Original Gong, Leonard P Howell, Marley, along with fellow Rastafari, worship Haile Selassie I of Ethiopia as the incarnation of God, and refer to him as "Ras Tafari," "Jah" or "The Lion of Judah" which Marley does in many of his songs. To him, Haile Selassie was not only one of the most prominent African leaders of his time, he was also identified as God returning to Earth as "King of Kings, Lord of Lords" (Revelation 19, 16), imperial titles born both by Haile Selassie and Ethiopian Emperor Menelik II before him. It was Menelik II, who created this self-styled imperial title in the late 19th century after he succeeded in uniting Ethiopia. Marley did however accept Ethiopian Orthodox Christianity eight months before his death. Haile Selassie gave the "War" speech on October 4, 1963, calling for world peace at the 1963 U.N. General Assembly in New York City. This historical speech was spoken a few weeks after the Organization of African Unity (OAU) was founded in Ethiopian capital city Addis Ababa, where Haile Selassie chaired a summit meeting gathering almost every African head of state (The King of Morocco had declined the invitation).
This U.N. speech resounded even louder as Haile Selassie had made a name for himself on the international scene in 1936, when he spoke at The League of Nations in Geneva. There, Haile Selassie warned the world that if the members of the League did not fulfill their obligation to militarily assist Ethiopia against the invasion by fascist Italy, the League would then cease to exist as a matter of fact and the rest of the member states were to suffer the same fate as his country. Three years later World War II broke out. This visionary speech granted Haile Selassie much respect around the world, eventually leading to British military support, which helped freeing his country in 1941. Addressing the world again in 1963, Haile Selassie's words bore full weight. In picking this utterance for lyrics, Bob Marley thus projected two dimensions of the Ethiopian Emperor: the head of state as well as the Living God Rastafari he saw him as.
Although credited to Emperor Haile Selassie I, whose Christian name is Tafari Makonen, the real author of the text remains uncertain . It is sometimes believed that it was written by Lorenzo Tazaz, a close contributor who wrote many of the Ethiopian leader's most important speeches, including a historic one given in 1935 to the League of Nations. But Tazaz died in 1947, over fifteen years before the 1963 U.N. utterance. Spoken in Ethiopia's official Amharic language at the U.N., the 1963 speech was published in English in Important Utterances of H.I.M. Emperor Haile Selassie I 1963-1972. The book gave permission to freely use its contents: "Any portion of this book could be reproduced by any process without permission." The song uses part of Selassie's speech that calls for equality among all without regard to race, class, or nationality in his hymnal cry for peace. It also asserts, quoting Selassie directly, that until the day of an equal society, there will be war. In the original speech, Selassie urged U.N. officials and country representatives to disarm nuclear weapons, and to end international exploitation (specifically with Africa). The song honors Haile Selassie I while calling for action against racial inequality and international injustice. The part of the speech used by Bob Marley was preceded by the following words:
Here is the part of Haile Selassie's speech put to music by Marley in his original song "War" (Bob Marley slightly modified the original words, changing each "that until" to "until" and added the word "war" several times):
Here are the lyrics from Bob Marley and the Wailers in the album Rastaman Vibration:
A different mix, which includes a different horn arrangement, released as a bonus track in the Deluxe Edition (2002) of the Rastaman Vibration album, revealed that Marley had recorded an extra verse also adapted from the original speech:
In his speech to the U.N., Selassie reminded his listeners that "these are only words; their value depends wholly on our will to observe and honor them and give them content and meaning."
The original version of "War" was recorded at Harry J's studio in Kingston, Jamaica, by engineer Sylvan Morris. It includes Aston "Family Man" Barrett on Fender Jazz bass, his brother Carlton 'Carly' Barrett on drums, Earl "Chinna" Smith on guitar, Alvin "Seeco" Patterson on percussion and Tyrone Downie on keyboards. Marcia Griffiths, Judy Mowatt and Rita Marley sing harmony vocals as the I-Threes. It was produced by Bob Marley & The Wailers and mixed at Miami's Criteria studio by Aston "Family Man" Barrett and Chris Blackwell with engineer Alex Sadkin.
With such potent and meaningful lyrics, the song soon became one of Bob Marley's greatest classics, carrying the Rastafari message to the world in Haile Selassie I's own words. As from 1977, when Bob Marley & The Wailers embarked for their first major world tour in June, "War" was sung at most concerts until Marley's last show on September 23, 1980 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Two live recordings of the song have since been released officially by Tuff Gong/Island Records. The first one was issued on the 1978 Babylon by Bus album recorded live at the Pavillon de Paris in Paris, France, on June 26, 1978. The second was recorded at the Rainbow Theatre in London, England, on June 4, 1977, and was issued on the 2001 Deluxe Edition of the Exodus album. Predating these two is another version, recorded on May 26, 1976 and released in 2003 on Live at the Roxy.
Two other hit versions of the song featuring Bob Marley & the Wailers can also be heard. A vinyl single released in Jamaica on Bruno Blum's Human Race label in December 1997 includes samples of Bob Marley's voice saying "Rastafari is the prince of Peace." But most importantly, the song features the original recording of Haile Selassie I's Amharic speech done in 1963, overdubbed on a new rhythm track played by Wailers original members. The B-side offers a welcome English translation of the speech by Bruno Blum, whose spoken rendition of War includes the second part of the speech, which was not used by Bob Marley:
A second mix of this new recording was also released, charting at the #1 spot in the U.K. Echoes magazine in April 1998. This time it featured samples of Bob Marley & the Wailers' song Selassie Is the Chapel (adapted from Crying in the Chapel), where Bob and Rita Marley's voices can be heard on a sizeable part of the record, as well as Selassie's original "foundation lead vocal," creating a virtual duet between Haile Selassie I and his apostle Bob Marley. Both new versions were recorded at Kingston Musick Studio in Kingston, Jamaica, engineered by Rudy Thomas. They include Wailers survivors Aston "Family Man" Barrett on bass guitar and piano, Mikey "Boo" Richards" on drums and Earl "Wire" Lindo on keyboards, along with guitar and backing vocals by Bruno Blum. Percussionist Norbert "Nono" Nobour and backing singer Tatiana Prus were later added. The sessions were produced by Bruno Blum and mixed by Thierry Bertomeu at AB Studio in St. Denis, France.
Released in Europe on Blum's Rastafari label in early 1998, both "War" and "War/Selassie Is the Chapel" were successful singles contributing to the "new roots" reggae scene where Rastafari themes sung by the likes of Garnett Silk, Luciano and Dennis Brown were popular again after more than a decade of decline. Several singles derived from this new recording were subsequently issued on the label, including Buffalo Bill's "War"/"Warmongers", Big Youth's "We No Want No War" and Joseph Cotton's "Conflicts" backed by Doc Reggae's spoken French version "Guerre". A full-length CD album entitled The War Album, including all versions, was issued in Europe on the Rastafari label in 2001. A vinyl album was released in Jamaica on the Human Race label in 2004, and the full War Album was reissued in 2010 as part of the Human Race label double CD anthology.