Redemption Song

by acostill on July 15th, 2008

I know this is a 90’s related blog, we’ll get to why this song ties into the 90’s in a moment, but this is one of my favorite Bob Marley tunes. Yes, it’s a bit played out, but none the less a beautiful piece of music.

And, for some reason, I’ve been listening to “Redemption Song” a lot lately. Maybe because of the lines “Emancipate yourself from mental slavery, none but ourselves can free our minds”. Man, gives me chills just typing out the words.

“Redemption Song” appears as the last track on Marley’s final studio album, which was from 1980’s Uprising. Marley had already been diagnosed with cancer and was apparently dealing with his own mortality during the writing/recording of the album. He would pass away a year after the release of Uprising.

The song has been covered by a ton of artists ranging from legends like Stevie Wonder and U2 to newer acts like Alicia Keyes to his son Ziggy with the Chieftans, but 90’s folks have done their fair share of takes on the song.

Chris Cornell