Hi all, I took Peace Psychology for my senior seminar this quarter at UC Santa Cruz and for a part of my project I ended up remixing War by Bob Marley. Beneath is a breakdown of the lyrics from the verses I used and some extra info as well about peace and collective healing. I hope you all enjoy! :))


Verse 1

Until the philosophy which hold one race

Superior and another Inferior

Is finally

And permanently

Discredited

And abandoned

Everywhere is war

Me say war


In this first verse, Marley starts the song off by saying “Until the philosophy which hold one race superior and another inferior is finally and permanently discredited and abandoned.” Here he is making a strong statement against racism in this world. Racism leads to hate and shame which directly can be connected to violence. When there is a lack of education and room is left for misunderstanding, shame and hate can grow. If we all can work together to educate ourselves about different people, circumstances, and our own mental health and trauma then we can work to heal together. Since we are all traumatized then our interactions with our fellow humans are between traumatized beings. This allows for us to trigger each other's traumas not leaving any room for healing. Maybe if we all can spend more time being mindful about our own actions and experiences then we can work towards collectively heal together.



Verse 4

That until that day

The dream of lasting peace

World citizenship

Rule of international morality

Will remain in but a fleeting illusion to be pursued

But never attained

Now everywhere is war

War


In the fourth verse, Marley is speaking on how until we come together and collectively heal and work through our problems then we can never see lasting peace. When war is still going around and there is so much unbalance in this world it is impossible for the world to live on the same morals because not enough leaders are being a good example. A great way to heal from trauma is through meditation and yoga. Trauma is stored in our body physically and sometimes we aren't even mentally aware we are storing it. By practicing yoga and meditation, you are taking the time to become more aware of yourself internally. Once you have a greater awareness of your mind and body, it will be easier to heal because you can begin to identify specific connections between sensations and traumas.