Bob Marley - Redemption Song - Lyrics Meaning

Redemption Song was released by Bob Marley in 1980. It was the last song on the last album he released before his death in 1981

In the song, the word "I" means "me", as it is used in the Jamaican dialect. "Old pirates, yes they rob I, sold I to the merchant ships" refers to the slave traders who robbed the Africans by selling them into slavery. The hand of the almighty is God. The slaves prayed for strength. The one thing that these people had, were the songs that they sang to carry them though the difficult times.

In the second verse, the mental slavery is about how we allow ourselves to be told how to live and what to do. The line, "Have no fear for atomic energy, cause none of them can stop the time" means that no matter what wars we get involved in, no matter who bombs who, we shouldn't be afraid. Whatever will happen will happen, and there's no stopping it. Killing prophets refers to the fact that those who are powerful do what they can to take away or destroy what the people believe in. This can be anything from religious persecution to any one "prophet" who threatens to rise up against those in power.