Bob Marley & The Wailers “Get Up, Stand Up” written by Bob Marley and Peter Tosh was certified silver by the British Phonographic Industry (BPI) as of August 31.. The song which originally appeared on The Wailers’ 1973 album Burnin’ has sold more than 200,000 units in the U.K..
When World Music Views informed Rohan Marley, the son of Bob Marley about the newest certification today September 2 he said “Get Up Stand Up” is a song about truth.
“Truth is the light, that’s the meaning. Truth shall ever be,” he told WMV.
He continued, “can’t stop Jah work(to) liberate one’s mind.”
“Get Up, Stand Up” peaked at number 33 on the Dutch Top 40. In 1986, and it peaked at number 49 in New Zealand.
In 2020, Rolling Stone ranked “Get Up Stand Up” number one on their list of the 50 greatest Bob Marley songs, while The Guardian ranked it number two on their list of Marley’s 30 greatest songs.
It was also the last song Marley ever performed on stage, on 23 September 1980 at the Stanley Theater, now the Benedum Center in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
The song’s impact has travelled beyond reggae music and in 1988, “Get Up Stand Up” was performed live at an Amnesty International Concert for Human Rights by Bruce Springsteen, Sting, Peter Gabriel, Tracy Chapman and Youssou N’Dour.
The sufferers cry has been a soundtrack for the liberation of oppressed people all over the world, in particular Apartheid South Africa, where black people were marginalized by the white minority.
Barbadian Prime Minister Mia Mottley who from time to time begins her speeches with Marley quotes, used the Marley classic to aid her speech at the UN.
Watch below:
