Music has been a major influence on my live since the late 1950s when I first heard Buddy Holly. Music has been a constant source of inspiration, memory, passion and just plain fun.

 

My music tastes have changed; I do not spend a lot of time listening to the tunes of my youth, those that climbed the record charts during the late 50s and most of the 60s.

 

I do spend time listening to music that is much older than that, Louis Armstrong is but one example.

 

In general I have always felt if the music made my feet tap then I like it; it did not matter whether it was country or rock roll what mattered was the tapping.

 

Some music has a deeper effect. There are a number of jazz tunes that reach something far inside me and that is subject matter for another hub.

 

There are a few songs that were and maybe still are anthems for me, personally, one example,  would be the Who and Won’t Get Fooled Again.

 

I first encountered Bob Marley in 1978, I was starting my second year of the social work program at Ryerson in Toronto and one of my classmates was from Trinidad. It was he who introduced me to reggae and the works of Peter Tosh, Black Uhuru, Bunny Wailer and Bob Marley and the wailers.

 

I soon found that reggae not only kept my foot tapping but made me want to get up and move.

 

As I type these words I have Marley, Exodus CD on the player and even though I have listened to this CD more times than I can remember it still calls me to get up and move.

 

 

It is not only the music that is powerful but Marley’s words while reflective of the year he lived in still reach deep into the troubles that surround it and ways of making our world a better place.

 

Reggae and Marley, in particular formed a bond between a small group of us second year social work students, which for two of us, still exists today 21 years later.

 

There is a sincerity in Marley’s voice that transcends the years and instantly takes me back to the dreams and ideals our group shared in my living room on Queen St East, what is more those dreams and ideals are still alive and well today.

 

Bob Marley left us too soon but his music lives on and will continue to do so.