Dancehall reggae and the socio-sexual mores of art

[littlegirltoast]

To say that I am not the world's most ardent reggae fan would be something of an understatement. Lately I have been heard grumbling when anyone puts on the five-song Bob Marley playlist at work, and thinking about what bothers me about his music (which I used to enjoy, two lifetimes ago) has led me to develop the theory that if you will put on Bob

Comments

[anonymous]

I think if you're going to compare Bob Marley to Christian rock, you can add John Lennon to the list. Lennon and Marley were trying to deliver the same message, just different words and music.

[littlegirltoast]

This makes me feel like you, anonymous commenter, have never paid attention to the messages of either artist.

Both featured the occasional entreaty for peace, broadly, but they didn't even mean the same thing by it.

[anonymous]

Both said and did far more than supplicate for peace. Peace wasn't the message, just a byproduct of hoped for behaviour. They weren't pounding the same spike, but Lennon and Marley were working the same rail line. Lennon never came across as being religious, but take away his anger and his was the voice of Christ or Buddha or Ghandi

[littlegirltoast]

It's impossible for me to "consider" that you grew up with both of them, as you are posting anonymously and I don't know anything about to whom I am speaking. Everyone under the age of seventy grew up with them. I certainly grew up with them

[anonymous]

You don't know anything about me, yet you feel you understand me enough to say I've never paid attention to either artist? This is why I called your comment arrogant. I understand if you really disagree with me, but to conclude I'm not paying attention to either artist is being intellectually lazy. You're capable of more. That might be why I occasionally post here and needle you. I confirm full consciousness of my actions, and acknowledge I'm acting intentionally

[littlegirltoast]

I feel uncomfortably disadvantaged by the one-sided anonymity of this exchange, but I believe "you" (inasmuch as I may recognize a cogent "you" as the apparent single author of three subsequent posts) are just trying to make your points and not be unkind, so it's pretty much all good, even if we disagree.

I do want to say, though, that I don't think it's fair (if that's the right word) to take personally the things I may infer or presume in an argument with an apparent stranger, especially an undesignated one. There's no-one for me to assign the benefit of the doubt to, and there's no-one for me to underestimate. Just a disembodied voice, saying things that I interpret one way or another.

All I mean is that my responses are not an estimation of YOU, the author, just my best attempt at engaging with the ideas put forth, on the most superficial of levels, which is all that is available to me.

That is to say - no offense, I hope.