Reggae Wisdom: Proverbs in Jamaican Music

by Anand Prahlad

Bob Marley, Jimmy Cliff, Peter Tosh, the Itals, the Ethiopians―they all dropped dazzling proverbs into their best-known reggae tunes.

“What come bad in the morning, can't come good in the evening.”

“They love to give you a basket to carry water.”

“The harder the battle be, ago sweeter the victory.”

In Reggae Proverbs in Jamaican Music Swami Anand Prahlad looks at the contexts and origins of these proverbs, using them as a cultural sheet music toward understanding the history of Jamaican culture, Rastafari religion, and the music that is that culture's worldwide voice.

Prahlad's fieldwork in Jamaica is extensive. For him, the study of Jamaican sayings and music is not only an academic endeavor. It is also a personal and poetic exploration. Prahlad says, “I am writing not only as a folklorist but also as a member of the international reggae community, a group of people around the globe who look to this music for its joy, wisdom, and strength.”

His unique, groundbreaking study argues that contemporary reggae artists are self-styled Rastafari priests for an international community of listeners and devotees. These “warrior/priests” serve as educators, healers, prophets, advisers, and social critics. Their proverbs become sources of strength and inspiration for members of the reggae community.

Several chapters in Reggae Wisdom offer important insights into Rastafari ideology, the history of reggae, the life and folk culture of Jamaican communities, and the recording scene that gave rise to roots reggae. One chapter, based on the author's fieldwork in Jamaica, considers the use of proverbs by ordinary individuals in Jamaican society. Other chapters focus on proverbs used by musical artists such as Bob Marley. Chapters also explore the contexts of album cover art, promotional materials, concert venues, and performance styles and conventions.”

As Prahlad says, “What better way to enter this rich and powerful, eclectic world of sound and sense than through the magical world of proverbs?”

Genres: Nonfiction

Paperback

First published February 19, 2001

About the author

Anand Prahlad is the author of the Permafrost Prize-winning memoir The Secret Life of a Black Aspie. He has published two books of poems, Hear My Story and Other Poems and As Good As Mango, as well as poems and creative nonfiction in literary journals such as Fifth Wednesday, Water~Stone Review, Copper Nickle, Pleiades, The Chariton Review, and Natural Bridge. He recently completed a new collection of poetry, Hijra, which focuses on black, third gender identity.

Prahlad has also published critical articles and books on black folklore and the proverb, including Reggae Wisdom: Proverbs in Jamaican Music and African American Proverbs in Context, and he has edited the three-volume set The Greenwood Encyclopedia of African American Folklore and the one-volume The Greenwood Student Encyclopedia of African American Folklore.

Prahlad is a songwriter and musician who plays multiple instruments, including the African mbira. He released his original blues CD, Hover Near, in 2008 and is now working on a second CD.

Prahlad holds a MA and a PhD in folklore studies and sociolinguistics from UC Berkeley and UCLA. He is director of creative writing at the University of Missouri, where teaches folklore, film, creative writing, and disability studies and has been the recipient of numerous major teaching awards.