Bob Marley & The Wailers – Catch a Fire (1973)

Lovely Logo by Sarca @ caughtmegaming

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[Album 520/1001]

I continue to be wrong about Bob Marley.

A couple years ago, I thankfully had a series of misconceptions set straight when I reviewed Natty Dread.

As part of an overwhelmingly positive review, I suggested Natty Dread was an album to press play & enjoy, it didn’t feel like an album to “type along with.”

So anticipating more of the same with Catch a Fire, this week I figured, Bob Marley as background music while prepping classes, what could go wrong?

Well, it appears, I still have much to learn.

With Catch a Fire, I was constantly typing along with the music.

More specifically, typing the letters “google.ca,” immediately followed by “Concrete Jungle lyrics,” and then repeated with each individual track name.

It turns out, while I like Marley’s music, at this stage of his career, I’m even more interested in hearing what he had to say.

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Lyrically, the mid-section of Catch a Fire drifts into love song territory.

Which is fine, or to borrow a Seinfeld-ism, not that there’s anything wrong with that!

Perhaps if the timing had been different, those would have been the standout tracks.

However, because I listened in February 2017, it was the political injustice tracks that kept me scrolling through the lyric sheets.

Like Concrete Jungle‘s, “No chains around my feet but I’m not free.”

Or Slave Driver‘s, “It’s only a machine that makes money.”

Not to mention No More Trouble‘s, “If you hope good down from above, Help the weak if you are strong now.”

Frequent interruptions to look up these, and other such compelling lyrics, did absolutely nothing for my lesson preparation efficiency.

But all of which made Catch a Fire feel like one of those albums that I’m glad I heard when I heard it; it may not have been as resonant before now.

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Verbalize the Positive

A tip of the hat to Sir 1537 for getting me started on my path to Bob Marley appreciation with his 2015 review of Natty Dread.

Though we don’t always agree (I’m not convinced Morrissey-anaphylaxis is a diagnosable condition!), I’m always keen to hear what he says about different artists & how he says it. With lego, no less.