Bob Marley was a gifted songwriter, however typically inspiration got here to him like a present acquired from someplace else. “Three Little Birds,” a easy, joyful track that has been successful a number of instances over, was a present from nature, its writing prompted by the birds that fluttered by the window at 56 Hope Street, Bob’s Tuff Gong HQ, and residential throughout the second half of the 70s.
“It was amazing how he put the words together”
Bob beloved nature, and Jamaica is blessed with loads of wonders to draw his consideration, from the unique streamertail hummingbirds to the standard home sparrow. Nature was incessantly used as a metaphor in his songs: the timber in “Small Axe,” the massive cat in “Iron, Lion, Zion”, the canine as errant youth in “Craven Choke Puppy.” Birds’ capability to soar whereas folks had been chained to the bottom helped “Wings Of A Dove” and “Rastaman Chant” take flight – although the latter’s wings belonged to angels. Bob’s feathered buddies in “Three Little Birds” finally flew to locations that few different songs may hope to achieve: the track is adored even by individuals who have by no means heard of Bob Marley & The Wailers, and for whom reggae is the identify of a grocery store sauce.
In accordance with Gilly Gilbert, Bob’s shut buddy, street supervisor, and health associate, who additionally cooked the “ital food” that stored the singer nourished on tour and at house, “Three Little Birds” arrived as naturally to Bob as singing does to larks. “I remember the three little birds,” he instructed creator Vivien Goldman in 2006. “They were pretty birds who would come by the window at Hope Road.” Gilly witnessed Bob writing the track and recalled, “It was just amazing how he put the words together in a flow.” The I-Threes, Bob’s trio of feminine backing vocalists, discovered their very own that means within the lyrics: Bob typically known as them his “three little birds.” Marcia Griffiths remembered of the track: “We loved it. Even when we were recording it, we knew it was our song.”
A gradual rise to “classic” standing
Launched in 1977 on Exodus, which, in 1999, Time journal declared The Finest Album Of The Century, “Three Little Birds” nested unobtrusively on the second half of the album, whereas “Jamming” and “Waiting In Vain” claimed hit single standing, and the critically rootsy first half of the album drew vital acclaim.
In comparison with, say, Exodus’ title monitor, or the non secular “Natural Mystic,” “Three Little Birds” appears just a little light-weight, with its easy chorus and message from Bob’s avian guests that “every little thing is gonna be alright.” However in the identical manner that the singer patiently waited for the world to meet up with his music after greater than ten years of constructing it, “Three Little Birds” selected to bide its time. Maybe the truth that the title was not a part of the track’s hook, that means that even at present, some listeners imagine it’s known as “Don’t Worry About A Thing” or “Every Little Thing Is Gonna Be Alright,” was a cause why it was not issued as a single in 1977. In 1980, nevertheless, “Three Little Birds” was lastly free of its album-shaped aviary, and although it solely made the High 20 within the UK, it started a gentle rise to “classic” standing. The track was too uplifting, too powerfully perky, to cover within the undergrowth.
Resonates as strongly as ever
A long time after Marley recorded it, “Three Little Birds” turned a go-to for artists looking for a track that provided hope and gladness within the face of life’s troubles. Wendy & Lisa, previously of Prince’s Revolution, created a model fronted by Karen David for the US TV drama Contact in 2012. Maroon 5 delivered their interpretation in 2018; Robbie Williams sang it for his “Corona-oke” on Instagram throughout the 2020 Coronavirus outbreak; Ziggy Marley and Sean Paul recorded it for the 2004 animated film Shark Story; and Steven Marley remixed it on Legend: Remixed. Billy Ocean’s model seems on his The Finest Of assortment, and the track graces a compilation of the identical title by Brazilian legend Gilberto Gil. A model by Britain’s Acquired Expertise baby star Connie Talbot was a conspicuous success on either side of the Atlantic in 2008. However Bob Marley’s authentic stays definitive. These “Three Little Birds” could have lengthy since flown, and so has Bob, however the inspiration one gave to the opposite resonates as strongly as ever.
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