Winston Sill/Freelance Photographer
LEFT: Jimmy Cliff has gone 'Higher' on the loving side of reggae.
Photo by Adrian Frater
RIGHT: The late Brent Dowe, former lead singer of The Melodians who popularised 'By The Rivers of Babylon'.

André Jebbinson, Staff Reporter

If music is truly a religion, as said by Jimmy Hendrix and Ziggy Marley, then reggae music of yesteryear would be a prayer while dancehall is yet to be defined. Reggae music can be heard in any part of the globe, whether it is a little pub in Papua New Guinea or the from the radio of an elderly man in the hills of Jamaica.

Part of what has made the music so great is its ability to tackle universal issues. There are countless examples of how the music transcends colour and creed to point out what is wrong with the world and howto fix it.

"Reggae dealt with the issues that were relevant then. Time has moved on. Even while reggae still lives, the reggae talk does not resonate like it use to," said dancehall research and radio talk show host Dr. Donna Hope.

In one of his studies, John Macmillan of Stanford University points out that reggae songs invoke racial injustice (Peter Tosh's Arise Black Man), politics (Bunny Wailer on apartheid South Africa's Prime Minister, Botha the Mosquito), the Rastafarian religion (The Melodians' By The Rivers of Babylon) and romance (Jimmy Cliff's Higher And Deeper Love). The lyrics range from bravado (Tosh's "I'm he toughest") to tenderness (Bob Marley's "three little birds pitch by my doorstep, singing sweet songs of melodies pure and true").

But, perhaps the greatest message that comes out of reggae music is that of love, Bob Marley and the Wailers having the quintesential anthem with:

"One love, one heart

Lets get together and fell alright."

Mind boggling it is that with the scope of the music and its ability to impose a sense of right and wrong, it fails to invoke some of its messages on those it surrounds like oxygen.

There are suggestions that general values and attitudes have changed because the music has changed. The reverse can be true. Whatever the reason, while a few of the wholesome messages remain, reggae now appears to be eclipsed by dancehall. Artistes freely speak about 'bullet' and 'fire' and a party is not party without gun tunes or the vulgar description of sexual activities and male and female genitalia.

"What we see now can be raw and extremely vulgar, but it is dealing with the issues. Music culture draws from the place it comes from. It is now different from the society Bob Marley came from," Hope said.

For those who want to go back to the days when music told stories instead of just putting words to a beat, it could be a matter of more than wishful thinking. For example, the Stop Murder Music crusade seems to be making ground. Some countries have taken it a step further by denying entrance to those with lyrics that have been protested against.

Singer Luciano believes music can head in a different direction. "It (will not) be overnight though. A loose dem allow dis ting fi get loose," Luciano said. "The music and the shows they allow have a lot to do with it too. Tek a show like Shottas, that is what they are showing to the youts dem and making it look like this is what Jamaica is about."

Since other artistes have been banned and ridiculed because of their lyrics, it would therefore appear that those who consume the music are in a position to dictate what artistes produce. This does no mean that current dancehall themes are bad.

Hope pointed out that reggae was not accepted right off the bat back in the '70s. Like dancehall, she said, many had scoffed at some of the ideas presented. But the real value of reggae music cannot be denied today. Dr. Hope gave the example of a white Californian author who was given a bird's eye view of the struggles of black people after listening to reggae music and its themes.

Luciano told The Sunday Gleaner that music needs more of this. "The artistes can do a lot with the music, but they are not using it in the right place. They need to use it for things that will get de youts dem involved community," he said.

Dancehall, Hope believes, is yet to be appreciated for what it really is, but just give it time.

"Dancehall will soon be vintage and we will look back and say 'ah, the wonderful days of dancehall'," she said.