Oct 22 2022

Top 10 Best Bob Marley Songs For Your Favorite Playlist

By David Presley

We list some of the best Bob Marley songs you can add to your favorite playlist. Bob Marley’s career stretched back over twenty years. During that time Marley’s growing style encompassed every aspect in the rise of Jamaican music, from ska to contemporary reggae. That growth was well reflected in the maturity of the Wailers’ music. No person who had ever experienced a Bob Marley concert could say they had sat still throughout. His energetic performance had people jumping up, singing along and dancing in the aisle.

Bio: Who is Bob Marley?

Bob Marley (born on 6 February 1945) was a Jamaican singer, musician, and songwriter. Marley’s real name is Robert Nesta Marley OM and was also baptised in 1980 as Berhane Selassie. The reggae artist introduced Jamaican music to the world and changed the face of global music. Backed by his all-star band the Wailers, Marley delivered classics in the ska era of the early ’60s, and pioneered roots music in the ’70s. The Wailer’s first album, Catch A Fire broke all the rules when it came to the world’s view of reggae music. It was beautifully packaged and heavily promoted. And it was the start of a long climb to international fame and recognition. Marley had his international breakthrough in 1975 with his first hit outside Jamaica with the song “No Woman, No Cry”, which was a great hit with UK audiences. This was followed by his breakthrough album in the United States, Rastaman Vibration (1976), which spent four weeks on the Billboard Hot 100. He was also a freedom fighter who fought against oppression in hopes of gaining freedom for himself and his followers, and was regarded as a symbol of freedom throughout the world, especially Third World and underdeveloped countries. Unfortunately, in July 1977, Marley was found to have a type of malignant melanoma under the nail of a toe. Marley turned down his doctors’ advice to have his toe amputated, citing his religious beliefs. Despite his illness, he continued touring until his health deteriorated as the cancer had spread throughout his body. He died on 11 May 1981 at Cedars of Lebanon Hospital in Miami (now University of Miami Hospital) at the age of 36. The spread of melanoma to his lungs and brain caused his death.

Top 10 Best Bob Marley Songs

1. Three Little Birds

“Three Little Birds” is a song by Bob Marley and the Wailers. It is the fourth track on side two of their 1977 album Exodus and was released as a single in 1980. It’s a simple, joyful song that has been a hit several times over, and was a gift from nature, its writing prompted by the birds that fluttered by the window at 56 Hope Road, Bob’s Tuff Gong HQ, and home during the second half of the 70s. With absolute sweetness, Marley offered up a hefty dose of profundity with the light air of a sunny day at the beach. The song spreads happiness and talks about positivity. It can lift anyone who is having a bad day.

Stream “Three Little Birds”

2. Could You Be Loved

“Could You Be Loved” was released in 1980 on The Wailers’ last album Uprising and is included on Bob Marley & The Wailers greatest hits album Legend. It was written in 1979 on an airplane while The Wailers were experimenting on guitar. Instruments used on the original record of this song are guitars, bass, drums, acoustic piano, the Hohner clavinet and an organ, as well as the Brazilian cuíca. The song is considered by many reggae fans to be disco influenced, and by extension influencing the dancehall genre.

Stream “Could You Be Loved”

3. Is This Love

“Is This Love“, Bob Marley’s 70’s classic with the Wailers was originally dedicated to Marley’s wife Rita. In the liner notes of Africa Unite: The Singles Collection, Island Records boss Chris Blackwell wrote: “‘Is This Love’ is a great song and I was always very happy with Kaya, the album it came from. It had a very summery, carefree feel. When the album came out, several reviewers said he’d gone soft. But Bob was feeling great at that time and those songs reflected how he was feeling.” The music video was filmed at the Keskidee Youth Centre in London and features a special appearance by a then 9-year-old Naomi Campbell.

Stream “Is This Love”

4. Jamming

“Jamming” is a song from the Exodus album which was also featured on his greatest hits compilation Legend and became one of Marley’s most recognizable songs. In Jamaican patois the word jamming refers to a getting together or celebration, thus the song is a celebration of good times and great music. It was also in London that Bob Marley spent some of his happiest and most productive time. While living in Chelsea he played football in the local park, had an affair with a former Miss World and recorded what many believe was his greatest album, Exodus.

Stream “Jamming”

5. Buffalo Soldier

“Buffalo Soldier” did not appear on record until the 1983 posthumous release of Confrontation, when it became one of Marley’s best-known songs. The title and lyrics refer to the black US cavalry regiments, known as “Buffalo Soldiers”, that fought in the American Indian Wars after 1866. Buffalo Soldiers went on to serve throughout the Indian Wars, Spanish-American War, World War I, and World War II. By the end of the Korean War, U.S. Army regiments were integrated and no “buffalo divisions” remained. Marley reflects on the courage and valor of these soldiers despite the racist, prejudicial system in which they operated. Much attention is given to the irony of African-American soldiers fighting native people on behalf of a government that accepted neither group as equals.

Stream “Buffalo Soldier”

6. One Love

“One Love” was first recorded by Bob Marley and The Wailers’ earliest formation, The Wailing Wailers, as more of a ska track in 1965, then later re-recorded under the title “All In One,” by 1976. “One Love” evolved and was rewritten by Marley, incorporating pieces of the 1965 song “People Get Ready” by The Impressions. The song was mainly a call for unity and to tackle the suffering of children. It also became a rallying cry to unite but also address the oppression and violence in Jamaica around the elections of December 1976 and the divisiveness between Michael Manley’s People’s National Party and the Jamaican Labour Party within the country. The song was also re-imagined by the Marley family in response to a call by UNICEF to help reimagine a fairer, more just world for children whose lives had been upended by the COVID-19 pandemic, and to honor the late Bob Marley.

Stream “One Love”

7. Redemption Song

“Redemption Song” was released as a single in October 1980. On the song, Marley accompanies himself alone on an acoustic guitar, and is sometimes seen as a stark acoustic contrast to the electric reggae rhythms that the Jamaican superstar and his collective had become internationally famous for. At the time he wrote the song, circa 1979, Bob Marley had been diagnosed with the cancer in his toe that took his life a couple of years later. According to Rita Marley, “…he was already secretly in a lot of pain and dealt with his own mortality, a feature that is clearly apparent in the album, particularly in this song.” In 2004, Rolling Stone placed the song at #66 among “The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time”.

Stream “Redemption Song”

8. No Woman No Cry

“No Woman, No Cry” put the name of Bob Marley and the wailers onto the UK charts for the very first time. The group’s debut international hit is a rare case of a song that’s much more famous in its live version than the studio one. The song was first recorded for the Wailers’ 1974 album Natty Dread, but the single was the recording made at the band’s famous concert at the lyceum theatre in London in July 1975, which then became the live! album, released in December. This deeply spiritual song spoke volumes about life in the Trenchtown ghetto without saying a single explicit word about how poor the people were or about injustice. Instead, it offers memories, observations, and, above all, solace and hope. “No Woman, No Cry” is revered as one of Marley’s anthems and is ranked 37 on Rolling Stone’s 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.

Stream “No Woman No Cry”

9. Waiting In Vain

“Waiting In Vain” is a song written by Bob Marley to a lover – rumored to be Cindy Breakspeare, the mother of Damian Marley. This song details Marley’s frustration with having to wait for her love without knowing whether or not it will work out. The single release of “Waiting In Vain” hit #27 on the UK Singles Chart. This song was released on vinyl as a single, along the song “Roots”, a Rastaman Vibration outtake, on its B-side.

Stream “Waiting In Vain”

10. Get Up, Stand Up

“Get Up, Stand Up” is a song written by Bob Marley and Peter Tosh. It originally appeared on The Wailers’ 1973 album Burnin’. “Get Up Stand Up was a song that called for action, both physical and spiritual. Co-written by Peter Tosh reportedly after visiting Haiti and seeing the impoverished conditions that mirrored their own Trenchtown experience, the song was a testament to the toughness they had growing up in Jamaica, struggling for respect and equality,” Chuck D, a Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee said. “Get Up Stand Up” has been sampled in over 40 songs and was certified Silver in the United Kingdom (UK) in 2022.

Stream “Get Up, Stand Up”

Honorable mentions

Connect with Bob Marley

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Top 10 Best Bob Marley Songs For Your Favorite Playlist