Buffalo Soldier (song)

Last updated

"Buffalo Soldier"
BuffaloSoldier(Marley).jpg
Single by Bob Marley and the Wailers
from the album Confrontation
Released1983
Recorded1978
Genre Reggae
Length4:17
Label
Songwriter(s) Bob Marley & King Sporty
Bob Marley and the Wailers singles chronology
"Reggae on Broadway"
(1981)		"Buffalo Soldier"
(1983)		"One Love/People Get Ready"
(1984)
Music video
"Buffalo Soldier" on YouTube

"Buffalo Soldier" is a reggae song written by Bob Marley and Noel "King Sporty" Williams and recorded by Jamaican band Bob Marley and the Wailers. 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 US cavalry regiments, known as "Buffalo Soldiers", that fought in the Native American Wars after 1866. Marley linked their fight to a fight for survival and recasts it as a symbol of black resistance as a whole. [1]

Contents

Background

The origin of the term "Buffalo Soldier" is theorized as given to black troops by Native Americans. [2] [3] The name was embraced by the troops, who were well acquainted with "the buffalo's fierce bravery and fighting spirit". [2] The Buffalo Soldier's duties were settling railroad disputes, building telegraph lines, repairing and building forts, and otherwise helping settlers colonize lands taken from Native Americans. They were also tasked with protecting the colonizing settlers from Native Americans. [2]

The song's bridge, with the lyrics woe! yoe! yo!, was rumoured to be inspired by the chorus from The Banana Splits' "The Tra-La-La Song", the 1968 theme from their TV show, written by Mark Barkan and Ritchie Adams. There has been no proof of this, and an August 2008 story by the BBC seems to cast doubts on this origin story while acknowledging that the two riffs are extremely similar and that Marley could very well have heard the tune, as could his producer. [4]

Reception

Cash Box said that the song's "socio-political theme, steady rhythmic stream and strong but sweet vocals re-emphasize what Marley's magic was all about." [5]

Activist Dick Gregory criticised Marley for the song as early as 1979 when meeting him ahead of their joint appearance at the Amandla Festival, stating that it conveyed a false image of the soldiers, who were responsible for the starvation of indigenous people. Marley had allegedly not been aware of these circumstances when writing the song. [6]

Marley recorded a demo version in 1978 at the earliest, so Gregory must have known the demo. Even at the time of its release in 1983, little was known about the soldiers, yet the song aroused a great deal of interest and research and contributed to a differentiated reception. [7]

Music video

A music video was produced for "Buffalo Soldier" to promote the single. [8]

Charts

ChartPeak
position
Australia (Kent Music Report) [9] 18
Austria (Ö3 Austria Top 40) [10] [11] 14
Finland (Suomen virallinen lista) [12] 29
New Zealand (RIANZ) [10] [11] 3
Norway (VG-lista) [10] [11] 10
UK Singles (OCC) [13] [14] 4

Certifications

RegionCertification Certified units/sales
Italy (FIMI) [15] Gold25,000‡
New Zealand (RMNZ) [16] 3× Platinum90,000‡
Spain (PROMUSICAE) [17] Gold30,000‡
United Kingdom (BPI) [18] Platinum600,000‡

‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone.

This song was later remade in 1997 in Tamil as "Akila Akila" for the Tamil film Nerrukku Ner (1997).

See also

References

  1. ↑ Black Heretics, Black Prophets: Radical Political Intellectuals - Bogues, Anthony, Page 198, via Google Books. Accessed 28 June 2008.
  2. 1 2 3 National Park Service, Buffalo Soldiers (PDF), archived from the original (PDF) on 4 January 2007, retrieved 1 May 2007
  3. ↑ Brief History (Buffalo Soldiers National Museum) (PDF), 2008, archived from the original (PDF) on 16 February 2008, retrieved 30 November 2009
  4. ↑ "Did the Banana Splits inspire Bob Marley?". BBC News Magazine. 20 August 2008. Retrieved 28 November 2017.
  5. ↑ "Reviews" (PDF). Cash Box. 14 May 1983. p. 8. Retrieved 19 July 2022.
  6. ↑ "Dick Gregory – Selma, Marley and Fearlessness". Reelblack Podcast Series. 3 October 2015. Retrieved 10 July 2025.
  7. ↑ Jo-Ann Greene: "Buffalo Soldier: Song Review". AllMusic. 23 May 1983. Retrieved 10 July 2025.
  8. ↑ Archived at Ghostarchive and the Wayback Machine : "Bob Marley & The Wailers - Buffalo Soldier (Official Music Video)". YouTube .
  9. ↑ Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992: 23 years of hit singles & albums from the top 100 charts. St Ives, N.S.W, Australia: Australian Chart Book. p. 192. ISBN   0-646-11917-6.
  10. 1 2 3 "BOB MARLEY & THE WAILERS - BUFFALO SOLDIER (SONG)". australian-charts.com. Retrieved 24 April 2020.
  11. 1 2 3 "Bob Marley & The Wailers - Buffalo Soldier". hitparade.ch. 1995-2020 Hung Medien. Retrieved 24 April 2020.
  12. ↑ Pennanen, Timo (2021). "Bob Marley & the Wailers". Sisältää hitin - 2. laitos Levyt ja esittäjät Suomen musiikkilistoilla 1.1.1960–30.6.2021 (PDF) (in Finnish). Helsinki: Kustannusosakeyhtiö Otava. p. 161. Retrieved 2 July 2022.
  13. ↑ "Buffalo Soldier". Songfacts. Retrieved 24 April 2020.
  14. ↑ "Buffalo Soldier". Official Charts. The Official UK Charts Company 2020. Retrieved 24 April 2020.
  15. ↑ "Italian single certifications – Bob Marley & the Wailers – Buffalo Soldier" (in Italian). Federazione Industria Musicale Italiana . Retrieved 2 January 2022.
  16. ↑ "New Zealand single certifications – Bob Marley – Buffalo Soldier". Radioscope. Retrieved 6 April 2025.Type Buffalo Soldier in the "Search:" field.
  17. ↑ "Spanish single certifications – Bob Marley / The Wailers – Buffalo Soldier". El portal de Música. Productores de Música de España . Retrieved 3 June 2025.
  18. ↑ "British single certifications – Bob Marley & the Wailers – Buffalo Soldier". British Phonographic Industry . Retrieved 7 June 2022.
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