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The title track was written with the help of long-time marijuana advocate and actor Woody Harrelson. “…A fire burns for freedom/the smell of dissent is high/I’m standing for truth/too long it’s been denied/The tide of change is rising/let hope be realized/unchain these wings/let angles fly/ I see hemp fields forever growing wild and free/I see marijuana trees blowing in the breeze…” I get goose bumps writing about this song, let alone listening to it. When Marley puts these lyrics to the polished musical stylings of drummer Santa Davis, bassist Daryl Jones—an understated rhythmic section but dominant when they need to be--, guitarist Takeshi Akimoto—who also flexes his muscles when appropriate for the vibe and keyboardists James Poysner, percussionist Rock Deadrick and back vocalist Tracy Hazzard, an image of bliss is conjured evoking a want for nature and a renewed exploration of oneself.Other tunes like Personal Revolution, Get Out of Town and Reggae in My Head, also work to engender feelings of joy, like some burden is being lifted from upon your mind. But maybe the most inspiring song on the CD is the progressive Move Forward to Love.As the spunky guitar skank interweaves with the funky keyboards, you get the idea that there is no other thing to do; everything else has been tried and failed. So simply forget everything else and move forward to love. Is it really that simple? He sure makes it sound that simple. All I knew was that I had to ask him for myself.So sit back, relax and enjoy as the Reggae E-Guide presents a conversation with Ziggy Marley:Ziggy Marley transcript December 9, 2011:Reggae E-Guide: I just saw you on Carson Dailey [Last Call] last night. How’d that go?Ziggy: Y’know…..alright. I didn’t see it back.Reggae E-Guide: There really isn’t enough time to explore some of the important issues on television. But it was nice to see you there on such a mainstream show. So you had the album and song, ‘Love is My Religion.’ But I always thought Rastafari was your religion? So if love is your religion, what is Rastafari?Ziggy: Love.Reggae E-Guide: It’s “love?”Ziggy: Yes.Reggae E-Guide: That’s the simplest answer I’ve heard. I’ve had guys explain to me what Rastafari is for 10 to 15 minutes before…Ziggy: hearty laughterReggae E-Guide: Seriously. So what I’m getting is that everyone has their own kind of definition.Ziggy: Yeah because it is not an organized thing. Everybody has their own experiences whatever they are. But love is the ultimate. Love is the highest. There’s nothing more than love, y’know? It is the greatest.Reggae E-Guide: It seems to me that going through your album history each album is dealing with love in its own way, or at least in large part they deal with love, it almost seems to me that that movement is a reflection of your own personal movement towards love. So now we have Wild and Free out, and I was listening to you tell Carson last night that that album was supposed to be a concept album about marijuana. So, what does marijuana have to do with moving towards love?Ziggy: Well, its consciousness; it’s knowledge. Marijuana, herbs, is a part of me, it is a part of God. It is a part of Creation. It is a plant that was put here for a purpose. And the purpose of that plant is to benefit Mankind. We love the planet and we love the human being. We love everything; we love Creation. It is good for Creation. Once it was good for people to want to give the people the tools to benefit them. Positively. Also it is because of love why we are stressing these things; talking about these things. Because we love people. And we want the people to use the resources that this planet has, responsibly. And this plant is one of the greatest plants on the face of the Earth. And love of this plant drives us to want to tell people the truth about these things. Everything we do is from love, really. Reggae E-Guide: Then it must be from a love standpoint from which you came up with this MarijunaMan concept: A superhero from another planet and an advocate of marijuana. That’s incredible!Ziggy: Yeah well when we talk about marijuana we want to make it clear that we are talking about the whole plant, not just the smoking of the plant.Reggae E-Guide: Sure, sure.Ziggy: We are talking about the industrial use of the plant, and the medicine and everything else. We talk about the whole thing, not just a part of it.Reggae E-Guide: Y’know what’s ironic, Ziggy, is that it has been reported at the website Click Here that Obama and the Obama Administration are trying everything in their power to shut down all of the [marijuana] coops in the America. And I read in your bio that you have actually performed at the White House [during the Obama Administration]? Ziggy: Yeah I did. (chuckles)Reggae E-Guide: How did you get away with that if you’re such a marijuana advocate?Ziggy: good laughReggae E-Guide: I’m impressed by that.Ziggy: Well its because in the hearts of all of these people, politicians, they know the truth. They know that this plant is not the devil; it’s not that evil thing. But because of the political situation and the political system, they have to play that game….See, I am not a pothead. I am not your stereotypical guy that they like to paint; just a guy who likes to smoke marijuana. That is not me. I’m not like that. I am conscious and I’m …the use of marijuana must be done wisely and respectfully; not stupidly; because everything can be abused and misused. That’s not me, though. My personal position on the issue is not coming upon the person of this pothead guy who is trying to get everyone to smoke weed; that’s not me. We’re just trying to tell the truth, y’know?Reggae E-Guide: I did catch the Tahoe show (September 25, 2011 at the Montblue Resort) and at the end of the show, people were throwing armfuls of doobies up on the stage and I’m thinking, “Wow, that’s awesome.”Ziggy: laughs heartilyReggae E-Guide: But you didn’t take any of them. Which is smart since you don’t know exactly what any of them are….Ziggy: That’s true.Reggae E-Guide: But I definitely got the impression that you are a very disciplined person. Your image does go against the typical marijuana stereotype: the mindless couch potato. You are a savvy business person and an accomplished artist.Ziggy: Well I think it is because that’s the side they see and that’s the side they want to promote. That’s what they use against us in some cases, is that side of it [marijuana use]. Have you ever seen a beer commercial, or a Budweiser commercial, with a drunk guy walking around drunk? Reggae E-Guide: No.Ziggy: Right? Right. But when they show something about weed it’s always a stupid weed guy all, ‘uhhhhhhhh.’ So it’s public relations, y’know? I look at some of those beer commercials in Jamaica and I see these guys on the beach drinking a beer…..Yeah right. In Jamaica when we sit on the beach we smoke a spliff. That’s real chillin’. That’s what we call chillin’. Not drinking that poured rice, or whatever that stuff is [referring to Budweiser]. It’s a P.R. thing, man, they know how to manipulate public opinion as to what to accept and what not to accept, so….that’s how they do it.Reggae E-Guide: In my book Song in Your Heart: the Story of the Search for the Lost Note, I describe how the situation on Earth reflects a battle for the control of human consciousness; to influence public opinion. And you just hit the nail on the head. But it seems to me that reggae music, or specifically roots reggae music with its specifically-chosen riddims, is itself its own attempt to influence public opinion. Would you agree with that?Ziggy: Yeah, but the difference is that we tell the truth. We are not manipulating anything. We’re just telling it like it is. Reality. We’re not putting any spin on it to our favor. The truth is the truth.Reggae E-Guide: What appears to back up what you’re saying is the choice of the riddim used in roots reggae: variations of the Nyabinghi, the heartbeat riddim. Even TV commercials have borrowed that sound to schlep products because of its [the Nyabinghi’s] ability to alter a listener’s consciousness. What is it about those Nyabinghi riddims that make them so potent?Ziggy: The root of that beat is very spiritual and very powerful. Like when the walls of Jericho were falling, when those guys were with that king; in TheBible it talked about that King, I forget his name. But when they were marching along that wall, they used trumpets and drummed with these beats. Music is a spiritual force; powerful force. And the Nyabinghi beat is one of great spiritual power. When I was young, I went to my first Nyabinghi ceremony. That is very spiritual to experience that. But it is different when it is on a record or is being used at a concert. Yeah, it is only at the actual ceremony when the true experience of the Nyabinghi is experienced.Reggae E-Guide: From what I gather, the riddim is used to help an individual produce an altered [mental/spiritual] state, where it has been described as connecting back to the source; or one is connecting with God, or Jah. Have you had that experience?Ziggy: Well yeah, but not just the Nyabinghi but music is the vehicle for that; in all different kinds of culture, from the beginning of Mankind, music has been a part of that transcending force. Reggae E-Guide: So do you think that music was meant to mix with politics? Should it mix with politics?Ziggy: Well….depends on how you define politics.Reggae E-Guide: Fair enough.Ziggy: If you define politics in the sense of talking about social issues, or issues that affect people, music has always been a part of politics; part of life. Music has always spoken out; but also poets, and painters, and all artists speak about what is happening in life and in society. Some things are good and some things are bad and when you talk about these things, you might call them political. Reggae E-Guide: It seems like with artists, and your father comes to mind, when they speak out too much or get too political, that’s when ‘stuff’ starts to happen. Whether it’s the powers that be don’t like it and they make a move to stop it. Or the people really seem to rally behind it too much. So maybe music has to go political at some point in order for it to do its job: to heal.Ziggy: Yeah, but I don’t think about it like that, though. I always try to write from the heart. I don’t think that I’m writing a political song. I write about my feelings and sometimes it has political consequences. But that is why the popular music of today has no political message; no social message. It’s just partying and going on and on. It’s most of the music. And these kinds of music are promoted today; what is being heard and being pushed to the kids, because that is the way our society wants to keep the people, in a passive state; a state of far bliss, of entertainment more than education, more than consciousness-driven things. And so the music of today, that is what it is based on. Music is very powerful and it can be used by both sides of it. Just like I’m saying today.Reggae E-Guide: It’s a tool.Ziggy: Music is being used to keep people in that state of mind; that entertainment quality and that is what it is. It’s not like in the ‘60’s when it used as a tool to raise up the people to stand up for something. Today music is used as a tool to make people sit down and just be quiet and enjoy yourself and just dance and drink and don’t care about what’s going on and be happy and go ahead…It’s used in a way that we probably don’t think about often, in terms of, ‘What’s this force behind what’s happening today?’ ‘What is it?’ ‘Is it an organized force or is it just something that is happening in a natural way?’…..where these types of music are being promoted more, or put in the limelight more, than any other type of music. There’s something behind it. Some people might call it a conspiracy theory, or something.Reggae E-Guide: It has been said that there is an imbalance between the male and female energies; that society has lived within a patriarchy which has fostered endless wars, competition and the suppression of female energies. And that next year, in 2012, those energies will come back into balance. What’s your take on 2012 and do you see an imbalance between the men and the women?Ziggy: I think that balance is a great thing; to have balance. When something is out of balance, things go wrong. When your body is out of balance, when your car is out of balance; so keeping things in balance is a good thing. I don’t follow the predictions of 2012, but if there is a balance that is returning, that is good. Yin and yang and positive and negative; these opposite energies are for the balance of this world and in people’s life. In your own personal life, you’ve got to have balance; because if you check out the world, the male side of the species has driven this world into a really terrible state. So I wouldn’t mind some female power right now, for true. Y’know, some motherly advice in this world of evil, men-driven; whatever this world is.Reggae E-Guide: Would you agree that the plight of the women in Jamaica has reflected this balancing, going from oppressive conditions, over the last 30 or 40 years, to much more improved conditions today?Ziggy: I don’t know. I mean, the women were always strong in Jamaica; they were always the strongest. There is always exceptions to the rule but….Reggae E-Guide: Well what about the rise of an artist like Lady Saw? She seems to embody the women theme that women are tired of their men going out and running around on them. So she is taking the initiative and going out too, sort of creating, at least in her mind, a balance between the men and the women.Ziggy: She’s been doing that stuff for a long time, Lady Saw. Y’know?Reggae E-Guide: O.K. So this 2012 thing, Ziggy, has to do with the Mayan Calendar.Ziggy: Right.Reggae E-Guide: On Jamaica, there were the Arawaks, and some say the Ciboney [Indians] lived originally on Jamaica. These people were basically Mayan Indians. Do see that influence in reggae music at all?Ziggy: Hmm. I don’t know. Reggae E-Guide: It seems to be a more obscure part of the history because they were mostly wiped out that you don’t hear much about them. They blended in with the runaway slaves and became the rebellious Maroons. O.K. Here’s a good history question: What do you think about the supposed ‘Curse of the Tribe of Ham,’ where God supposedly was punishing the black people for Biblical transgressions?Ziggy: I don’t really know anything about that either….(hearty laughter) curses, and these things, I don’t know…I don’t really follow these things; that type of anger and stuff, y’know? There’s this curse and that curse; a man makes a mistake and suffers because of the consequences. For every action there is a reaction. And all actions are because of an earlier, initial action. Man makes his own destiny. So man chooses which way they will walk and whichever way they walk there are consequences, positive and negative. This is how I see it. We have to have free minds to think.Reggae E-Guide: So how did you wind up on the cover of UFO Magazine?Ziggy: Who me?Reggae E-Guide: I love that….Ziggy: Oh yeah, when? Reggae E-Guide: It was sometime last year. You did an interview with Dr. Bob Heironomous. I just remember thinking that I thought I was going to be the one who first brought reggae music to UFO Magazine. But Dr. Heironomous beat me to it. But I am pleased to see that you would embrace such things. Have you ever seen a UFO?Ziggy: Have I seen an ‘unidentified flying object?’…..Probably. (laughter) Seriously, there is life throughout the universe, there’s no doubt about that. And man claims that they need proof. But the proof is ourselves. We are the proof; we are the proof of life out there because we are the life out there. Reggae E-Guide: It’s so simple.Ziggy: I mean, the universe is indefinite, so c’mon? Life exists everywhere, on and on. So I don’t know about needing proof because we are the proof. I don’t know why that’s such a….here I am. There’s the proof.Reggae E-Guide: When I met you in September in Lake Tahoe, I also gave you a copy of Dr. Leonard G. Horowitz’s book [Love: The Real DaVinci Code] which is about the Solfeggio scale and the middle ‘C’ of that scale which resonates at 528 mHz. Have you heard about this? Ziggy: Hmmm, I’m not sure?Reggae E-Guide: It’s supposed to be the ‘love’ note, representing the color green and is reflected in nature in green plants. Ziggy: I don’t think I’ve heard of that theory.Reggae E-Guide: Well that’s one reason why I dropped that book and CD [Scott Huckaby’s Love In the 528 CD] off to you so I could plant the seed about this knowledge. And one of the reasons is because Dr. Horowitz is planning a 528 love concert this summer in Hawaii where all the bands tune to 528, and where there’ll be speakers and information booths, etc….Would you be interested in playing such a concert?Ziggy: That sounds interesting. Where is it going to be?Reggae E-Guide: Hawaii.Ziggy: Yeah, mon. that’s sounds interesting. I’d like to check that out.Reggae E-Guide: Can I put Dr. Horowitz in touch with your publicist?Ziggy: Yeah, mon.Reggae E-Guide: O.K. great. Last question. Please tell me quickly about your charity work?Ziggy: With our charity work we try to basically focus on children here in Jamaica and around the world. We focus on children because of our experiences throughout the time of doing charities, we’ve come to understand that with children is really the solution. It is within them, within 10 or 15 years, the idea goes, that the next generation will be more educated and better be able to create a situation in Jamaica and in these types of countries to lift them out of their poverty just by having more knowledge, just by being smarter, y’know?www.ziggymarley.com; www.drleonardghorowitz.com; www.bretlueder.com |
