History YMMV / BobMarley

* MemeticMutation: The use of "Babylon" as a derogatory term to refer to the police and government authorities.

* UnintentionalPeriodPiece: It's easy to forget now, but "Zimbabwe" was written at a time the country was still called Rhodesia, and to use the intended African name in a song was considered quite revolutionary. In fact, the song was so popular in then-Rhodesia that it was banned there. What really hammers the point home is that the single sleeve features Robert Mugabe, who was campaigning to lead an independent Zimbabwe. He was successful, but he turned the country into a dictatorship, [[HarsherInHindsight which he ruled for 40 years.]]

* ValuesDissonance: Bob's tendency to have children with numerous partners seems unusual by western standards, but is actually very common in Jamaica, where it's seen as a sign of masculinity. (He kept in touch with all his romantic partners, financially supporting them and any children he had with them.) His father had a reputation in Jamaica for it when he was born, and his mother had numerous partners too. Regardless of all this, he and Rita Marley stayed married for 15 years - from 1966 until his death in 1981 - and really did seem to love each other despite their numerous affairs.

* ValuesDissonance: Bob's tendency to have children with numerous partners seems unusual by western standards, but is actually very common in Jamaica, where it's seen as a sign of masculinity. His father had a reputation in Jamaica for it when he was born, and his mother had numerous partners too. Regardless of all this, he and Rita Marley stayed married for 15 years - from 1966 until his death in 1981 - and really did seem to love each other despite their numerous affairs.

* NewerThanTheyThink: Although "One Love (People Get Ready)" was included on the 1977 album ''Music/ExodusAlbum'', it wasn't released as a single during Marley's lifetime. In fact, it was only released as a single in 1984, in order to promote the posthumous compilation ''Music/{{Legend}}'' on which it appears. Yet it is always included alongside the ''"Exodus"'' singles on compilations, despite the fact that the average listener would not have heard of the song in 1977.

* ToughActToFollow: ''Website/{{Cracked}}'''s "[[http://www.cracked.com/blog/5-works-art-so-good-they-ruined-their-whole-genre/ 5 Works of Art So Good, They Ruined Their Whole Genre]]" calls ''Music/ExodusAlbum'' and ''Music/{{Legend}}'' a tough act to follow in reggae.

* CoveredUp: "One Love (People Get Ready)" from ''[[Music/ExodusAlbum Exodus]]'' is this of "People Get Ready" by The Impressions. Whilst "People Get Ready" is a relatively famous song in its own right, "One Love" is much more famous.

* DorkAge: The attempts to record easy-listening/soul-influenced reggae to make it big in America with Johnny Nash's JAD label, of which there were two sessions in 1968 and one in 1972. These in fact, only produced two singles in the time they were made (1968's "Bend Down Low/"Mellow Mood" and 1972's "Reggae On Broadway/Oh Lord Got To Get There"), but many of the other tracks recorded at that time have since been released. The easy-listening remakes of previously recorded songs are decidedly limp, and the Jimmy Norman-composed songs the band performed are generally out of step with their style.

* AlbumFiller: You could definitely get the impression that aside from "Get Up Stand Up", "I Shot The Sheriff" and "Burnin' And Lootin'" (which are all career-defining classics), ''Burnin''' was quite a lazily made album compared to the preceding ''Catch A Fire''. "Hallelujah Time" was a new song submitted by Bunny Wailer that could easily be one of his solo recordings (although he never remade it), and "Rastaman Chant" was a traditional song that had been part of their live set. The remaining five songs are remakes - "Small Axe", "Duppy Conqueror" and "Put It On" being easy-listening arrangements of live set staples that not coincidentally featured in their original versions on Trojan's "African Herbsman" compilation the same year, "Pass It On" being a remake of Bunny's solo version from the previous year, and the Peter-led "One Foundation" being based around a section of The Soulettes' "Bring It Up" (a song written by Bob a couple of years before). The album is certainly not bad, but illustrates that the band wasn't writing as collaboratively as they had been (and indeed, it turned out later that Bunny and Peter were saving most of their new ideas for solo albums).

* CriticalResearchFailure: A minor one, but modern reissues of The Best Of The Wailers (Beverleys) have a beige background when it should be white. The reason for this is that most original vinyl copies of the album have yellowed over time due to the card used, and the cover was touched up by someone who didn't realise this. On the rare occasion a sealed original has appeared, the cover is clearly white.
** There is a surprisingly large amount of this in books. From Timothy White's book "Catch A Fire", which at times skews the facts for a more entertaining story, to the booklet of Songs Of Freedom with vague liner notes written without listening to the actual songs. One of the strangest is the assertion in "Bob Marley: The Untold Story" that the group were performing "Bad Card" and the Bunny Wailer track "Crucial" despite neither being released until the early 80s, and that both were used as campaign songs by local politicians.
* DarkerAndEdgier: "Soul Rebels" is a strikingly dark album, both on a musical and lyrical level. It was a monumental step both in The Wailers' career and for the development of reggae music in general, as it pretty much invented the minor key roots sound that diverged the genre from its party-oriented roots. Of particular note are the title track, which starts the album off on a noticeably sombre note, "My Cup" (a James Brown cover), "Reaction", and the two Peter Tosh songs "400 Years" and "No Sympathy".

* FourTemperamentEnsemble: Although a trio (for most of their existence), The Wailers fit this trope well:
** Bob was Sanguine, the friendliest of the group, but criticised for being too much of a people pleaser at times. Although he could take a while to trust people, he could sometimes be too trusting - many felt his manager Don Taylor was trying to take advantage of him, for example. He could pick up women with ease and as a result, had the most children.
** Peter was Choleric, he was very intelligent and good at talking to people, but didn't suffer fools gladly and was known to be the most aggressive of the three if you wronged him. He was the first member of the group to take an interest in politics and wasn't afraid to take part in demonstrations or face police brutality for his beliefs.
** Bunny was Melancholic, an introvert whose chief characteristics were his mellow songwriting and distrust of pretty much everybody. He was the most religious of the group and was considered by some to have the ability to put curses on people.

* LyricalDissonance: "Sun Is Shining" is often singled out in this regard, as it features happy lyrics over noticeably dark music (something that remained even when he recut the song for "Kaya" 8 years afterwards). Conversely, there are later songs like "Real Situation" that feature happy music and dark lyrics.

* {{Misblamed}}: A number of fans seem to think that Chris Blackwell was the sole cause of the Wailers' breakup. In fact, Chris was the one who advised Bob *against* a solo career (which he had been attempting at CBS with Johnny Nash), bringing the rest of the Wailers along. It was only because Bunny and Peter disagreed with Bob's increasing plans for worldwide fame and distrust of Blackwell that they left the group (the backing band, including longtime members Aston and Carlton Barrett, stayed). Furthermore, Peter Tosh himself said as much, noting that The Wailers never 'broke up' as they were like brothers, and that he and Bunny just refused to be part of the Island contract. They still sporadically collaborated later on.

* ThePeteBest: The early Wailers had an additional singer, Junior Braithwaite, who left the group after only a few months and pretty much retired from music. His biggest contribution was "It Hurts To Be Alone", which the group continued to perform for years after he left the band, before he reemerged as a backing musician on some Bunny Wailer material in the 80s, before being murdered in 1999. The band members and label both spoke highly of his contributions to the band years after the fact, and it's hard not to wonder what could have been.

* SuspiciouslySimilarSong: Compare the "Ay ya ya!" part of "Buffalo Soldier" to, of all thing, the theme song for ''Series/TheBananaSplits''.

** Some people, especially those who don't speak English that well, frequent misinterpret "No Woman, No Cry" as a MisogynySong, thinking it means that without women there would be no reason to cry. A lot of stupid men find this incredibly funny, but the last laugh is actually on them, because the song is simply about a man telling a woman not to cry, despite their misery.

* VindicatedByHistory: His Rastafari religion was ridiculed by numerous music journalists in the 1970s, but this wouldn't happen nowadays, as people have a far greater understanding of its importance to black culture.

* AcceptableTargets: The police and anyone in government authority, collectively identified as "Babylon." The term itself continues to this day. "Baldheads" are also targeted a lot in songs like "Crazy Baldheads" (''Music/RastamanVibration'') and "Time Will Tell" (''[[Music/KayaBobMarleyAlbum Kaya]]'' )

* AllAnimationIsDisney: The internet believes that all reggae music is by Bob Marley, even if it's [[MisattributedSong miscredited]] to him.

* IAmNotShazam: The classic song whose lyrics begin with "Don't worry about a thing" is called "Three Little Birds", not "Don't Worry About a Thing". The song's lyrics overall are about the optimistic [[AnAesop Aesop]] being sung by the titular birds in their melodies.

* IAmNotShazam: The classic song whose lyrics begin with "Don't worry about a thing" is called "Three Little Birds", not "Don't Worry About a Thing". The song's lyrics are about the optimistic [[AnAesop Aesop]] being sung by the titular birds in their melodies.

* AlbumFiller: You could definitely get the impression that aside from "Get Up Stand Up", "I Shot The Sheriff" and "Burnin' And Lootin'" (which are all career-defining classics), Burnin' was quite a lazily made album compared to the preceding "Catch A Fire". "Hallelujah Time" was a new song submitted by Bunny Wailer that could easily be one of his solo recordings (although he never remade it), and "Rastaman Chant" was a traditional song that had been part of their live set. The remaining five songs are remakes - "Small Axe", "Duppy Conqueror" and "Put It On" being easy-listening arrangements of live set staples that not coincidentally featured in their original versions on Trojan's "African Herbsman" compilation the same year, "Pass It On" being a remake of Bunny's solo version from the previous year, and the Peter-led "One Foundation" being based around a section of The Soulettes' "Bring It Up" (a song written by Bob a couple of years before). The album is certainly not bad, but illustrates that the band wasn't writing as collaboratively as they had been (and indeed, it turned out later that Bunny and Peter were saving most of their new ideas for solo albums).

** A majority of people who claim to be Bob Marley fans only seem to be this because it gives them an excuse to smoke marihuana while listening to his music. In fact: even people who don't listen to Marley or reggae for that matter seem to believe that it is basically only for stoners.

* Misblamed: A number of fans seem to think that Chris Blackwell was the sole cause of the Wailers' breakup. In fact, Chris was the one who advised Bob *against* a solo career (which he had been attempting at CBS with Johnny Nash), bringing the rest of the Wailers along. It was only because Bunny and Peter disagreed with Bob's increasing plans for worldwide fame and distrust of Blackwell that they left the group (the backing band, including longtime members Aston and Carlton Barrett, stayed). Furthermore, Peter Tosh himself said as much, noting that The Wailers never 'broke up' as they were like brothers, and that he and Bunny just refused to be part of the Island contract. They still sporadically collaborated later on.

** Although their 1970 album "The Best Of The Wailers" is regarded as full of excellent songs, it stands out for having a production style distinctive to the Beverley's label of that time - in particular that of Toots And The Maytals (who were the company's biggest act then), as well as contemporary releases by The Gaylads and Ken Boothe. This is the label's in-house musicians played on all its releases. Bob, Peter and Bunny left the label before the album was released (it came out a year later) and soon after would team up with Aston and Carly Barrett of The Hippy Boys, whose bass and drum parts would be central to the writing of their songs from that point on until Bob's death over a decade later.

** Although their 1970 album "The Best Of The Wailers" is regarded as full of excellent songs, it stands out for having a production style distinctive to the Beverley's label of that time - in particular that of Toots And The Maytals (who were the company's biggest act then), as well as contemporary releases by The Gaylads and Ken Boothe. Bob, Peter and Bunny left the label before the album was released (it came out a year later) and soon after would team up with Aston and Carly Barrett of The Hippy Boys, whose bass and drum parts would be central to the writing of their songs from that point on until Bob's death over a decade later.

* ValuesDissonance: Bob's tendency to have children with numerous partners seems unusual by western standards, but is actually very common in Jamaica, where it's seen as a sign of masculinity. His father had a reputation in Jamaica for it when he was born, and his mother had numerous partners too. Regardless of all this, he and Rita Marley stayed married for 15 years - from 1966 until his death in 1981 - and really did seem to love each other despite their numerous affairs