Emily: In September, Zack and I spent 10 days in Jamaica. It was supposed to be a week, but then Hurricane Irma happened and our flights got cancelled and we couldn't rebook until three days later. Definitely worse places in the world to get stuck than a beautiful beach resort right on a cove in Runaway Bay. Anyway, as soon as we arrived in the country, Bob Marley was everywhere. Our bus ride from the airport to the resort had a steady soundtrack of Bob Marley classics. The daily soundtrack on the beach or by the pool had tons of Bob Marley, interspersed with other reggae songs and American Top 40 music. The chef at the resort hibachi restaurant sang variations on Bob Marley tunes about fried rice. One of the resort's signature cocktails was called a Bob Marley (layers of strawberry daiquiri, mango daiquiri, and mango mixed with blue curacao - delicious). And then, at the airport heading home, there was an entire Bob Marley-themed store for all of your souvenir needs. Clearly, Bob Marley is very important to Jamaica, or at least to the version of Jamaica the country wants to present to millions of foreign tourists. While the constant repetition of the music did get a bit tiresome, I can't deny that the music is the perfect backdrop to the island. The lyrics embody the spirit of revolution throughout the cities, but the reggae vibes fit the laid-back beauty of the beaches, where you can watch the ocean all day and never get bored. After this vacation, I think I'm a bit Bob Marley-ed out, but though we have many more places to visit in the world, I won't be surprised if we end up back in Jamaica someday, listening to Natty Dread on the way there.
Favorite Tracks: No Woman, No Cry; So Jah Seh; Natty Dread
Zack: We’re back to nostalgia! I actually did look up
when we listened to this one, mostly because I knew it was one of the first
ones we did. Turns out it was number 13 that we listened to, and number 22
overall (when we started there were 9 albums that Emily and I had both already
listened to so we just bulk-wrote those posts; I want to say those were 3
Nirvana albums, 2 Green Day albums, a Muse album, a RHCP album, a Killers
album, and…one I’m missing….ah….Arctic Monkeys…why was that on this list at
all….never mind…also we went with Flaming Lips for the first “new” listen and
that’s a thing I didn’t remember but is pretty cool because I still love that
album.) I vaguely remember that. I think I had just finished my personal
project of breaking the list down by genre. I then printed out all these sheets
and taped them to the corner of my dorm room wall. Emily would come over and
we’d haggle over what type of music we wanted to listen to. It was a lot less
formalized of a process then. We just hung out on my bed, listening to Catch a
Fire and being lazy sophomores. Honestly, my feelings about Bob Marley have
only slightly changed since then. I now know about the powerful political and
social messages in his music, at least I’m much more aware of them than I was back
then. But I still primarily listen to Bob Marley for the relaxing island vibes,
not the social commentary. I do feel like I’m missing out on a huge part of the
appeal. But the soothing reggae is just so overpowering and alluring. Natty
Dread was exactly like that for me. I really enjoyed the album. It was a great
listen on our couch while coding, and I imagine I’ll have to throw it on my
iPhone and play it next time I’m on a beach. It just feels so good. I know I
should be paying more attention to what he’s saying, but it’s hard when he’s
saying it so well that the content of the words doesn’t even seem to matter.
Favorite Tracks: No Woman, No Cry; Rebel Music; Talkin’
Blues
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