Bob Marley - Redemption song.

These comments are based on the studio recording released on the album "Uprising". Other recordings differ in minor details.

Form
The intro consists of a four bar phrase repeated twice. This tune is not heard again as if the composer has so many tunes that this perfectly good one can be cast aside.

The verse consists of four, four bar phrases.

The chorus has eleven bars. This rather odd length breaks down the regularity of the song. This is enhanced by the second appearance of the chorus being extended to thirteen bars, and the third to seventeen bars.

The second and third verses have the same lyrics. Before the third verse and after the second chorus there is a middle eight of eight bars of rhythmic chords. The lyrics scan very freely and the syncopated rhythms make the declarations seem impassioned.

Outro is five bars and three beats long. It is reminiscent of the middle eight and builds to a sharp stabbed final chord on the third beat of the bar. One of the characteristics of reggae is an emphasis on the third beat of the bar - the "skank". We could speculate about why Bob Marley did this and if it is to do with his thoughts about the song's relationship both with reggae and with the American or English folk song genre.

The overall form is: Intro, Verse, Chorus, Verse, Chorus, Middle-eight, Verse, Chorus, Outro.

Some Final Thoughts
This is a very unusual song; unusual for Bob Marley to be singing alone with his acoustic guitar, unusual in the lengths of the choruses. It begins with a very seldom heard disposable intro and finishes defiantly on an unusual beat. The song is literally a "song of freedom".