Artist: Bob Marley
Song: Get Up Stand Up
Album: Burnin’
Producer: Chris Blackwell
Label: Tuff Gong/Island
Year: 1973
Notes:
Though overtly Rastafarian, this song has been adopted over the years as a universal call to action. Division is bad. It is the power broker’s tool. Once you understand this you need only walk towards the light to claim your spot in a newly united world. But the time to act is now. This was the last song Bob Marley ever performed on stage.
Excerpt from ‘Unreality’ —
This last contemplation returned him to the heart of the matter. He had to get to work.
Lyrics
Get up, stand up
Stand up for your right
Get up, stand up
Stand up for your right
Get up, stand up
Stand up for your right
Get up, stand up
Don’t give up the fight
Preacher man don’t tell me
Heaven is under the earth
I know you don’t know
What life is really worth
He said all that glitters is gold
Half that story ain’t never been told
So now you see the light, hey
You stand up for your right
Come on
Get up, stand up
Stand up for your right
Get up, stand up
Don’t give up the fight
Get up, stand up
Stand up for your right
Get up, stand up
Don’t give up the fight
Most people think
Great God will come from the sky
Take away everything
And make everybody feel high
But if you know what life is worth
You would look for yours on earth
And now a you see the light
You stand up for your right
Jah!
Get up, stand up (Jah, Jah)
Stand up for your right (oh-hoo)
Get up, stand up (get up, stand up)
Don’t give up the fight (life is your right)
Get up, stand up (so we can’t give up the fight)
Stand up for your rights (Lord, Lord)
Get up, stand up (keep on struggling on)
Don’t give up the fight (yeah)
We’re sick and tired of your ism-schism game
Dy’n’ and go to Heaven in-a Jesus’ name, Lord
We know when we understand
Almighty God is a living man
You can fool some people sometimes
But you can’t fool all the people all the time
So now we see the light (watch you gon’ do?)
We gonna stand up for our rights (yeah, yeah)
So you’d better
Get up, stand up (in the morning) give it up
Stand up for your right (stand up right now)
Get up, stand up
Don’t give up the fight (don’t give it up, don’t give it up)
Get up, stand up (get up, stand up)
Stand up for your rights (get up, stand up)
Get up, stand up
Don’t give up the fight (get up, stand up)
Get up, stand up
Stand up for your right
Get up, stand up
Don’t give up the fight
Get up, stand up
—
‘Protest 100’s mission is two-fold: dispelling the myth that heavy metal is a brainless, socially unaware music genre, and raising awareness of the issues facing our country in the Nov. 3, 2020 election. The path won’t be exclusively metal—some punk and rap and other stuff will be in here too, including the classics—and is not a ranking. All songs are songs I’ve heard while putting this list together, ordered in a manner designed to entertain and educate.
Chris Smith, Author 