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Context Music / KayaBobMarleyAlbum

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1[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/8e378dc9fc668c44cfac1527f117dc78.jpg]]
2[[caption-width-right:350: ''We'll share the shelter of my single bed.'']]
3
4''Kaya'' is a 1978 album by Music/BobMarley, the tenth in his catalogue. It was a surprising NewSoundAlbum in the sense that most of the songs are devoid of Bob's usual ProtestSong material (the last three are political, however). The LighterAndSofter approach is not only heard in the lyrics, which are mostly about love, but the sound is also more laidback. "Is This Love" was the first and only song for which Marley made an official MusicVideo, which shows him dancing and playing with a group of young children in the streets of London. This song, "Satisfy My Soul" and "Sun Is Shining" all became hits.
5
6!! Tracklist:
7
8[[AC:Side One]]
9# "Easy Skanking" (2:58)
10# "Kaya" (3:15)
11# "Is This Love" (3:52)
12# "Sun Is Shining" (4:58)
13# "Satisfy My Soul" (4:31)
14
15[[AC:Side Two]]
16# "She's Gone" (2:25)
17# "Misty Morning" (3:32)
18# "Crisis" (3:54)
19# "Running Away" (4:15)
20# "Time Will Tell" (3:25)
21
22The CD reissue adds "Smile Jamaica" as a bonus track.
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24
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26For the Japanese pop singer, see Music/{{Kaya}}.
27
28!! ''Easy Troping''
29* AlliterativeTitle: "'''S'''un Is '''S'''hining", "'''S'''atisfy My '''S'''oul" and "'''M'''isty '''M'''orning"
30* BreakUpSong: "She's Gone", in which Marley since about his woman who has left him. In "Misty Morning" he also sings: "I know you're out there somewhere having fun."
31* ContinuityNod: It was probably unintentional, but in "Sun Is Shining" Marley sings about the glory of the sun, while the first lines of "Crisis" are:
32--> ''They say the sun shines for all''
33--> ''But in some people's world, it never shine at all''
34** There is definitely something like this going on because "Misty Morning" notes the lack of sun, "Kaya" notes falling rain. Worth noting though that both "Sun Is Shining" and "Kaya" were originally recorded in 1970 or 1971.
35*** There's a lyrical and musical relationship in the last three songs, "Crisis", "Running Away" and "Time Will Tell". They are essentially all saying that those who do bad deeds deserve to be punished, but in the meantime you can just relax, praise jah and make love.
36* CrapsackWorld: "Time Will Tell"
37--> ''Think you're in heaven, but ya living in hell''
38* CutSong: "Mix Up Mix Up", which ended up on Confrontation, was a jam from the Kaya period that was heavily edited down.
39* DeliberatelyMonochrome: The black-and-white cover.
40* DistinctDoubleAlbum: 'Exodus' and 'Kaya' were recorded in the same sessions though released a year apart, with Exodus receiving the majority of protest songs and Kaya the majority of love songs. In addition, Kaya's production values were generally moe stripped down and laidback in comparison to the horn-heavy mixes of Exodus (although not exclusively - an Exodus track like "Turn Your Lights Down Low" has exactly the same production style as Kaya).
41* FaceOnTheCover: A close-up of Bob's smiling face.
42* FakeOutFadeOut: The end of "Satisfy My Soul" fades out, then suddenly fades back in again with a LastNoteNightmare tone.
43** This is actually a recording mistake, the tone that plays well after the song has faded out is actually an indicator by the tape player to tell the user that the side of the tape is finished and they should flip it to hear Side B or rewind it (indeed, "Satisfy My Soul" is the last song on the "Side A" part of the album).
44* FugitiveArc: "Running Away"
45--> ''You're running and running and running away''
46--> ''But you can't run away from yourself''
47* GodIsLoveSongs:
48** "Is This Love?"
49--> ''We'll share the same room, yeah, for Jah provide the bread''
50** "Crisis"
51--> ''But no matter what the crisis is''
52--> ''Oh no, oh no, no, no, what the crisis is''
53--> ''Doin' it, doin' it, doin' your thing!''
54--> ''Give Jah all the thanks and praises!''
55--> ''Givin' it, givin' it, givin' it, givin' it''
56--> ''Give Jah all the thanks and praises!''
57** "Time Will Tell"
58--> ''Jah would never give the power to a baldhead''
59* HeavyMeta: "Misty Morning"
60--> ''One of my good friend said, in a reggae riddim''
61--> ''Don't jump in the water, if you can't swim''
62* HumansAreBastards: "Crisis"
63--> ''So - so - so much have been said, so little (been done) been done''
64--> ''They still killin' - killin' the people''
65--> ''And they - and they havin' (havin' their fun) - havin'-a - havin'-a lots of fun -''
66--> ''Killin' the people, oo-yoo! - (havin' fun) havin' their fun!''
67--> ''They just want to be the leader''
68--> ''In the 'ouse of the risin' sun.''
69* IJustWantToBeFree: "She's Gone"
70--> ''She had left me a note hanging on my door''
71--> ''She say she couldn't take it, she couldn't take any more.''
72--> ''The pressure around me - just couldn't see;''
73--> ''She felt like a prisoner who needs to be free.''
74--> ''Fools have tried, yeah - wisemen have failed:''
75--> ''Oh, listen to me, honey: life could never be another jail.''
76* LighterAndSofter: Several songs are about relaxing ("Sun Is Shining"), often with marijuana present ("Easy Skanking", "Kaya", "Time Will Tell") and/or SillyLoveSongs ("Is This Love", "Satisfy My Soul"). This caused quite some criticism from fans who liked Bob as a [[ProtestSong protest singer]] and felt he had "gone downmarket". Marley's next studio album, however, ''Music/{{Survival}}'' (1979) would be his most politically militant record ever.
77* LyricalDissonance: "Time Will Tell" has a very relaxing atmosphere, but has this as a refrain:
78--> ''Think you're in heaven, but ya living in hell''
79* MundaneMadeAwesome: "Sun Is Shining", which is ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin.
80* OdeToIntoxication and SmokingIsCool:
81** "Easy Skanking"
82--> ''Excuse me while I light my spliff''
83--> ''Good God, I gotta take a lift''
84--> ''From reality I just can't drift''
85--> ''That's why I am staying with this riff''
86--> ''(...) Herb for my wine''
87** "Kaya"
88--> ''Got to have kaya now''
89--> ''For the rain is falling''
90--> ''I'm so high, I even touch the sky above the falling rain''
91* OneWordTitle: "Kaya" and "Crisis".
92* QuestioningTitle: "Is This Love?"
93* PepTalkSong: "Crisis"
94--> ''But no matter what the crisis is, no matter what the crisis is''
95--> ''Doin' it, doin' it, doin' your thing''
96--> ''Give Jah all the thanks and praises''
97* ThePowerOfLove:
98** "Is This Love"
99--> ''I wanna love you and treat you right''
100--> ''I wanna love you every day and every night''
101--> ''We'll be together with a roof right over our heads''
102--> ''We'll share the shelter of my single bed''
103** "Satisfy My Soul"
104--> ''When I meet you around the corner''
105--> ''Oh, I said: "Baby, never let me be a loner."''
106--> ''And then you hold me tight, you make me feel all right''
107--> ''Yes, when you hold me tight, you made me feel all right''
108* RepurposedPopSong: "Satisfy My Soul [Don't Rock My Boat], "Kaya" and "Sun Is Shining" are re-recorded versions of songs Marley already released on an earlier album "Soul Revolution Part II". In fact, Bob's bassist since the late 60s, Aston 'Family Man' Barrett even said he felt Kaya was a remake of "Soul Revolution" (The group had also recorded a version of "Keep On Moving" during this period (released posthumously) and had previously remade "Duppy Conqueror" and "Put It On" for Burnin' as well as remaking "Stand Alone" as "There You Are" for Marcia Velez several years before).
109* ShoutOut:
110** "Crisis" references the song "House Of The Rising Sun", best known in the hit version of Music/TheAnimals:
111--> ''Killin' the people, oo-yoo! - (havin' fun) havin' their fun!''
112--> ''They just want to be the leader''
113--> ''In the 'ouse of the risin' sun.''
114** Lyrics from "Is This Love" have been referenced in Music/BonJovi's song "Lay Your Hands On Me" [[note]] "you're ready, I'm willing, and able. Help me lay my cards down on the table" [[/note]] and "Stay The Night" [[note]] "Just like the song on our radio set. We'll share the shelter of my single bed." [[/note]] by Music/JamesBlunt.
115** "Sun Is Shining" was remixed into a dance song in 1999 by a group called Funkstar De Luxe, which became a Top 5 hit worldwide and a much bigger chart hit than the original ever was.
116* TakeThat: "Running Away" is a take that at people who accused Bob of "Running Away" from Jamaica after his attempted assassination in 1976. There are hints at his belief that the government were out to get him and that's why he wasn't going back. This is often forgotten with the laidback mood of the song, in which lines like "You must have done something you don't want nobody to know about" could be interpreted as some kind of kinky fetish lyric.
117* TitleTrack: "Kaya"
118--> ''I got to have kaya now''
119* YoungFutureFamousPeople: In a music video released to promote "Is This Love" one of the children singing and dancing with Bob is a seven year old Naomi Campbell. Yes, the later famous supermodel!

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