Get Up, Stand Up

"Get Up, Stand Up"
Single by The Wailers
from the album Burnin'
B-side	"Slave Driver"
Released	1973
Format	7" 12"
Recorded	Harry J. Studios, Kingston, Jamaica, April 1973
Genre	Reggae
Length	3:15
Label	Tuff Gong Island
Writer(s)	Bob Marley Peter Tosh
Producer(s)	Chris Blackwell The Wailers
The Wailers singles chronology
"Concrete Jungle" (1973) "Get Up, Stand Up" (1973) "I Shot the Sheriff" (1973)
Burnin' track listing "Get Up, Stand Up" (1) "Hallelujah Time" (2)

"Get Up, Stand Up" is a song written by Bob Marley and Peter Tosh. It originally appeared on The Wailers' 1973 album Burnin'. It was recorded and played live in numerous versions by The Wailers and Bob Marley and the Wailers, along with solo versions by Peter Tosh and Bunny Wailer. It was later included on the compilations Legend and Rebel Music, as well as live recordings such as Live at the Roxy among others.

In 1973, "Get Up, Stand Up" peaked at number 33 on the Dutch Top 40.^[1] In 1986, it peaked at number 49 in New Zealand.^[2]

Premise and usage in concerts

Marley wrote the song while touring Haiti, deeply moved by its poverty and the lives of Haitians, according to his then-girlfriend Esther Anderson.^[3] The song was frequently performed at Marley's concerts, often as the last song. "Get Up, Stand Up" was also the last song Marley ever performed on stage, on 23 September 1980 at the Stanley Theater, now the Benedum Center in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

On his DVD Live at the Hollywood Bowl, artist Ben Harper relates a childhood experience in which, during a 1978 Bob Marley concert at the Starlight Amphitheater, Peter Tosh showed up unannounced as this song was being performed, took the microphone from Marley and started singing the last verse of the song to thunderous applause. Tosh was on tour opening for the Rolling Stones at the time.

Recordings by the Wailers

The song was re-recorded and re-released by the three major Wailers on their own solo releases, each with varying arrangements and approaches to the third verse, which claims that "Almighty God is a living man". Bob Marley and the Wailers released a Bob Marley only version on Live! in 1975, this version was notable for the "WO-YO!" refrain after the third verse. Tosh would include his own solo version on his second album, Equal Rights in 1977. Bunny Wailer was the last to release his own version on Protest. This version actually featured Tosh due to his involvement in recording the album before his death.

Covers, remixes, parodies

• The song is playable in the video game Rock Band 3.
• The song was parodied on an episode of the television series Futurama, entitled "The Route of All Evil". In the episode, Jamaican accountant Hermes Conrad alters the lyrics of the song by singing "Stamp it, file it, send it over night."
• A different song with the same title, also written by The Wailers, is found on Toots & the Maytals' LP Pass the Pipe.
• The song was remixed with "Welcome to Jamrock" by Marley's son Damian for his album of the same name and later included on the Tuff Gong Radio in 2008 appeared in "Grand Theft Auto IV".
• The song has been covered by Tracy Chapman.
• The title line was referenced in Common's song Book of Life from the album Resurrection.
• A smooth jazz version of the song has been covered by Lee Ritenour and Dave Grusin and featured on the compilation CD, A Twist of Marley.
• Toronto-based reggae/metal band Zeroscape covered the song on their new Friday Night EP.
• It was also covered by Axis of Justice with Serj Tankian.
• A cover version is included in the album Tribute to the Legend: Bob Marley by Cultura Profética.
• Bob Marley's son Ziggy Marley does a jazz compilation with a heavy reggae based influence in which he uses the hook to "Get Up, Stand Up".
• The song has been covered by The Butts Band for their 1975 album Hear And Now.
• Shaggy made a cover of this song, which is featured on Mr. Lover Lover – The Best of Shaggy... Part 1.
• In 1998, the song was performed live at an Amnesty International Concert for Human Rights by Bruce Springsteen, Peter Gabriel, Tracy Chapman and Youssou N'Dour.^[4]
• Covered by Ojos de Brujo for their 2007 live album Techari (lyrics are in Spanish).
• In 2012, The Rolling Stones released a live version of the song on the album Light the Fuse.
• The Playing for Change project includes a version of the song on the 2014 album PFC 3: Songs Around the World. Performers include Keb' Mo' and Keith Richards.
• The 2014 album Songs from a Stolen Spring features a version of the song performed by Glenn Tilbrook of Squeeze fame. The version is meshed with "Beyond These Doors" by Egyptian singer Dina El Wedidi.^[5]
• The Ukrainian band Bloom Twins recorded a version in 2014, in support of the Euromaidan protesters occupying Independence Square in Kiev.^[6]

References

External links

• Recording history of Get Up, Stand Up at The 60's Jamaican Music Reference.