The Meaning Behind Jamming By Bob Marley

May 2024 ยท 1 minute read

On the "Exodus" album, "Jamming" kicks off side two. "The first side is more political, the second side showed him being happy, in a good mood," Chris Blackwell, the founder of Island Records, recalled in a 2017 interview with Billboard. Yet, it seems that with "Jamming" like many of the album's songs, Marley can't shake his near-death experience. Blackwell admitted that Marley "was very depressed after the assassination attempt and really shocked that people in Jamaica would want to kill him."

Jamaica in 1976, was a political powderkeg and Bob Marley was hoping to cool things off by headlining a free concert in Kingston, the capital. But then the People's National Party, then in power, thrust politics into the concert by announcing early elections timed with the concert, according to Rolling Stone. Two days before the free concert, Marley was shot by unknown assailants although many believe it was tied to Jamaican politics. Unwilling to back down, Marley performed a 90-minute set at the show with his arm still bandaged. Shortly thereafter, he left Jamaica and headed for London.

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