Marley canonized Selaisse's words in song, helping to spread his deity's beliefs around the world

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Bob Marley dedicated his life to Rastafari in part because he was mesmerized by the words of that faith's deity, Emperor Haile Selassie I of Ethiopia. So it's no surprise that one of Bob's most recognizable protest songs in a catalogue full of politically charged music is "War," which was first released on the album Rastaman Vibration in 1976.

The lyrics for the song were taken from translated portions of Selassie's 1963 speech before the United Nations Conference in which he called for peace through tolerance. Named leader of the Organisation of African Unity that year, Selassie was a key player in the movement for Pan-Africanism, helping to resolve conflicts like the border dispute between Morocco and Algeria. His influential 1963 speech urged world leaders to end colonization of all kinds.

"Until the philosophy which holds one race superior and another inferior is finally and permanently discredited and abandoned, everywhere is war," Selassie said and Bob sang, kicking off one of the most powerful rebel songs of the 20th century.

The song took on even more power when Bob played it in concert and the audience could see the emotion that overtook him as he sang the words, which continued, "That until there no longer first-class and second-class citizens of any nation until the color of a man's skin is of no more significance than the color of his eyes, me say, 'War.'"

In Selassie's speech, he went on to expound that "Until the basic human rights are equally guaranteed to all without regard to race; That until that day, the dream of lasting peace and world citizenship and the rule of international morality will remain but a fleeting illusion, to be pursued but never attained."

The power of that sentiment in Marley's song is on full display in the latest installation of the Concert Series at BobMarley.com. This performance of "War," which segues into "No More Trouble" from the Catch A Fire album, is taken from the famed Rainbow Theatre show in London on June 2, 1977.

The video begins by honing in on an image of Selassie emblazoned on the tapestry that hangs behind the stage. Then, as he belts out the lyrics, Bob dances all over the stage and the Wailers lock into a trance-like groove as the I-Threes pepper the rhythm with the single word of the chorus.

At almost eight minutes long, it's an epic rendition of an important song, and one that captures so much of what Bob Marley was about.