Mabuse

I've been listening to a lot of late period Bob Marley lately. There are a lot of dark lyrics. I like the juxtaposition between the music being very upbeat in the traditional reggae style and yet the lyrics are about fire, floods, apocalyptic destruction, the world being full of devils, and of course a lot of political anger.

On the song Real Situation the song is so upbeat yet the lyrics are
Well, it seems like: total destruction the only solution,
And there ain't no use: no one can stop them now.

On Ride Natty Ride everything is about the Rasta belief in Babylon
So they build their world in great confusion
To force on us the devil's illusion

Then there is all these lyrics about fire imagery and screaming that even God can't put out this fire and
Panic in the city, wicked weeping for their gold!
Everywhere this fire is burning,
Destroying and melting their gold,
Destroying and wasting their souls

On the page it sounds so negative but the song is so upbeat you feel like having a party.

Are there other examples you can give of upbeat Reggae songs that have dark lyrics? Any other reggae artists? My knowledge is really limited to only Marley.

And I'm sure someone will post Eddie Murphy on SNL. I would appreciate that too. Thanks.

Ringmaster

Marley was critizied by the Reggae community in the late 70s for not having enough politically charged songs which I think is BS, but that was one of the main reasons he released the album "Survival". Marley's early Wailers bandmate, Peter Tosh, had some dark songs on the album " Legalize It". That's another place to start.

Ky-Fi

You might like Aswad:

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