Buffalo Soldier (song)

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"Buffalo Soldier"
Single by Bob Marley & The Wailers
from the album Confrontation
Released 1983
Recorded 1980
Genre Reggae
Length 4:16
Writer(s) Bob Marley & King Sporty
Bob Marley & The Wailers singles chronology
"Chant Down Babylon" "Buffalo Soldier" "Jump Nyabinghi"
Confrontation track listing
"Chant Down Babylon"
(1)
"Buffalo Soldier"
(2)
"Jump Nyabinghi"
(3)

"Buffalo Soldier" is a reggae song written by Bob Marley and Noel G. "King Sport" Williams from Marley's final recording sessions in 1980. It did not appear on record until the 1983 posthumous release of Confrontation, when it became one of Marley's best-known songs. The title and lyrics refer to the black U.S. cavalry regiments, known as "Buffalo Soldiers", that fought in the Indian Wars after 1866. Marley likened their fight to a fight for survival, and recasts it as a symbol of black resistance.[1]

The song's bridge, with the lyrics woy! yoy! yoy!, is similar to the chorus of the Banana Splits' "The Tra-La-La Song", the 1968 theme from their TV show, written by N. B. Winkless Jr. There has never been any litigation connected to the similarity.[2]

The song has been covered by many artists, including Cultura Profética (on their album Tribute to the Legend: Bob Marley), Vanilla Ice (on his 2008 album Vanilla Ice Is Back!)[3], and Randy Marsh.

[edit] References

  1. ^ Black Heretics, Black Prophets: Radical Political Intellectuals - Bogues, Anthony, Page 198, via Google Books. Accessed 2008-06-28.
  2. ^ {{cite news But although there are not that many choruses to start with a lot of the words are the same just rephrased like the words ‘And he was taken from Africa’ and a lot are just the same like ‘fighting on arrival, fighting for survival.’ Meaning in the end there are only 2 verses that are individual and don’t contain the same phrases. |title=Picking Up What They're Laying Down |author=Adam Conner-Simons |date=July 24, 2007 |publisher=Gelf Magazine |accessdate=2008-06-28}}
  3. ^ "ASIN: B001I1TU2Y". Amazon.com. http://www.amazon.com/dp/B001I1TU2Y/. Retrieved 2008-11-05. 


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