From his mid-1960s singles with the Wailers through recordings that were released after his passing in 1981, Bob Marley's music is strategically placed throughout the film "Africa Unite." Marley's children perform his songs in the film's grand concert finale, held at Addis Ababa's Meskel Square. Snippets of his original music, interspersed at key moments, underscore Africa's historical triumphs and tragedies. Even the title of the movie comes from Bob's song of the same name, included on his 1979 album Survival and regarded as his most political work. The song is heard throughout the film: it accompanies Marley's sons as they arrive in Ethiopia, it plays as Rita proclaims, "all of Africa is my home," and is further highlighted in a climactic rendition by Marley's sons and daughters.
The Survival album also featured "Zimbabwe" which Bob wrote in solidarity with the African freedom fighters that sought to emancipate the English colony of Southern Rhodesia. They succeeded in 1980 and the liberated country was renamed Zimbabwe. Bob was invited to perform in the southern African nation's freedom celebrations on April 17 of that same year in the capital Harare. One of "Africa Unite's" most powerful moments is a clip of Bob performing the song "Zimbabwe" in Harare, juxtaposed with footage of the Zimbabwean flag being raised for the first time to the song's lyrics "soon we will find out who is the real revolutionaries."
Bob's Exodus was designated the "Album of the Century" by Time magazine in 1999. The album's title track was written during Bob's self-imposed exile period in England, in 1977, immediately following an assassination attempt on his life. Here, "Exodus" and its chanted refrain "the movement of Jah people," emphasizes the journey of Rasta elder Bongo Tawney. Tawney traveled from his home in rural Portland Cottage, Jamaica to Ethiopia, the spiritual home of Rastafari, to be a part of the Africa Unite activities. "Exodus" also plays as Tawney recounts the oppressive conditions faced by Rastas of his generation, which is why so many sought their exodus or repatriation to Africa, where they believed conditions would be more hospitable.
The mistreatment of Rastafarians and the poor in Jamaica was unfortunately also rampant throughout the continent. Marley wrote "Black Man Redemption" to bolster the spirit of his brothers and sisters throughout the world, as they struggled to overcome their hardships. Originally recorded for producer Lee "Scratch" Perry in 1978 and released as a 7" single exclusively in the Caribbean, "Blackman Redemption" was later remixed and included on the 1983 album Confrontation, the first of many posthumously released Marley collections. Bob had planned Confrontation as the third album in a trilogy that included Survival and 1980's Uprising, the final album released in Marley's lifetime.
Four of Uprising's songs are featured in "Africa Unite." "We and Dem" ("mi don't know how we and dem ah go work it out") underlines the film's depiction of the cultivation then preparation for export of two of the continent's chief crops, cocoa and coffee. "Coming In From the Cold" is heard as African youth who participated in the Africa Unite symposium engage in a football match and as the Marley brothers travel to the Ethiopian Rastafarian settlement known as Shashamane. "Forever Loving Jah" plays as the camera takes in various sights within Ethiopia's capital Addis Ababa and a vigorous reworking of "Could You Be Loved", courtesy of Bob's sons Ziggy, Stephen, Damian, Julian and Ky-Mani as well as daughters Cedella and Sharon crowns the concert finale. The upbeat, danceable groove of the original 1980 release of "Could You Be Loved" pulsed in alignment with the dominant disco beat of the era. As a result, it garnered airplay on US urban stations including New York City's highly influential WBLS FM. "When I listen to the rhythm of that song," reflects Stephen Marley, "it was my father wanting his music to grow and to get his message out to more people."
The "Africa Unite" concert spotlight shines on Ky-Mani's version of two of Bob's most defiant songs: "Crazy Baldhead" and "Rebel Music." Julian offers an inspiring interpretation of "No More Trouble"; Stephen and Ziggy lead a rousing rendition of what is now a universal anthem of insurrection "Get Up Stand Up" and Damian helms an updated, dancehall flavored arrangement of "War". Featured on the 1976 album Rastaman Vibration, "War" was based on a speech Ethiopian Emperor His Imperial Majesty Haile Selassie I delivered to the United Nations in 1963. Bob took the Emperor's words and reworked them into his own plea for peace: "until the color of a man's skin is of no more significance than the color of his eyes, mi say war."
Arguably, the most evocative use of Bob's music here is an excerpt of "Jah Live" presented with a montage of photos and newsreel clips of Haile Selassie, whom many Rastafarians extol as their Messiah. The featured footage includes Selassie's army defeating the invasion of Italian forces, as Ethiopia remained the only African nation to thwart colonization. Bob wrote the haunting "Jah Live" in 1975 when reports reached him that Selassie had died: "fools say in their heart Rasta your God is dead/but I and I know Jah Jah shall be dreader dread."
That lyrical sequence illustrates Bob's commitment to continuing the works of His Majesty as well as his reverence for Ethiopia and the entire African continent. Ultimately, the words "Africa unite" resonate far more than a song or film title but a summation of Bob Marley's musical mission.