‘Redemption Song’ is the final track on Bob Marleys last studio album, Uprising, released in 1980. Marley wrote the song in 1979 following his cancer diagnosis, reflecting on his mortality and the legacy he wanted to leave. It is renowned for its powerful messages of hope and liberation.
Key: G
G
Em7
Old pirates, yes, they rob I
C
G/B
Am
sold I to the merchant ships
G
Em
C
Minutes after they took I
G/B
Am
from the bottomless pit.
G
Em7
C
But my hand was made strong
G/B
Am
by the hand of the Almighty.
G
Em
C
D
D4
D
We forward in this generation...triumphantly.
G
C
Won't you help to sing
D
G
these songs of freedom?
C
D
Em
C
'Cause all I ever have,
D
G
C
D
redemption songs.
G
Em7
Emancipate yourselves from mental slavery
C
G/B
Am
none but ourselves can free our minds.
G
Em
Have no fear for atomic energy
C
'cause none of them can stop the time.
G
Em7
How long shall they kill our prophets,
C
G/B
Am
While we stand aside and look?
C
Em
Some say it's just a part of it
G
D
D4
D
we've got to fulfill the book.
G
C
Won't you help to sing
D
G
these songs of freedom?
C
D
Em
C
'Cause all I ever have,
D
G
C
D
G
C
D
redemption songs.
G
Em7
Emancipate yourselves from mental slavery
C
G/B
Am
none but ourselves can free our minds.
G
Em
Have no fear for atomic energy
C
'cause none of them can stop the time.
G
Em7
How long shall they kill our prophets,
C
G/B
Am
while we stand aside and look?
C
Em
Oh,some say it's just a part of it
G
we've got to fulfill the book.
G
C
Won't you help to sing
D
G
another song of freedom?
C
D
Em
C
'Cause all I ever have,
D
G
C
redemption songs.
D
G
C
These songs of freedom
D
G
these songs of freedom
C
Em
All I ever have ************************************