No Woman no cry : Bob Marley

Message:

The song is a message to an impoverished woman of Kingston. Bob Marley is telling a fairy tale, the story of life in ghettoes in Trenchtown, “the government yard” consisted of small houses built by the Jamaican government in the 1940’s. As with all fairy tales, the ending of this story will be a good one. “In this bright future” tells of the change that will happen, that eventually, people and society will rise above the hungry life of the ghetto, and will leave the past behind. “Everything’s gonna be alright” is telling the woman that one day, things will change, to not worry. Life will get better.

Feet in Buddhism, or pada, as is the word in Sanskrit, as played an important part in Theravada, and hence its holy text is called the Dhammapada or the Path(as in walking) of Truth. Buddhism is the belief that one can rise over sorrow and hunger, that one can reach Nirvana, the mental state above suffering. Mahayana, another denomination of Buddhism, literally meaning “great vehicle” or “great carriage” in Sanskrit. Bob Marley’s lyrics , though he was not a Buddhist, could be seen as him saying that his feet, his soul, as he is in the ghetto and does not have a fancy carriage or car, are his only way to surpass and overcome the state of sorrow in the ghetto and go down the path of salvation, “so I've got to push on through”, which shows his dedication to rise above the ghetto, despite hardship.

La chanson est un message à une femme appauvrie de Kingston. Bob Marley dit un conte de fées, l'histoire de vie dans des ghettoes dans Trenchtown, "la cour(le yard) gouvernementale" a consisté en petites maisons construites par le gouvernement jamaïquain en années 1940. Comme avec tous les contes de fées, la fin de cette histoire sera une bonne. "Dans cet avenir brillant" dit du changement qui arrivera, cela finalement, les gens(le peuple) et la société dépasseront la vie affamée du ghetto et laisseront(quitteront) le passé