"Exodus"
Single by Bob Marley and the Wailers
from the album Exodus
B-side"Exodus (Instrumental Version)"
Released1977
GenreReggae fusion[1]
Length7:40
LabelTuff Gong/Island
Songwriter(s)Bob Marley
Bob Marley and the Wailers singles chronology
"Positive Vibration"
(1977)		 "Exodus"
(1977)		 "Waiting in Vain"
(1977)

"Exodus" is a song written by reggae musician Bob Marley and recorded by Bob Marley and the Wailers, for the Exodus (1977) album. Released as a single, it hit number 14 in the UK Singles Chart. "Exodus" was Marley's first single to receive widespread airplay on black radio stations in the U.S., expanding the artist's predominantly white college age and Caribbean expats fanbase in the country.[1]

Overview

The song ties together the Biblical story of Moses leading the Israelites out of Egypt to the hope of Rastafarians to be led to freedom. After an assassination attempt in Jamaica in 1976, Marley fled to London where he recorded the song and album of the same name.[2] He had conceived "Exodus" as the album title before even writing the song. The song has a revolutionary theme punctuated by its chorus of "Exodus, movement of Jah people."[3]

Udiscovermusic wrote that the song was "a rippling, surging, seven-minute call to arms for a nation of displaced souls on the march to a new spiritual homeland. 'We know where we're going/We know where we're from/We're leaving Babylon,' Marley sang against a cyclical riff that was turned, like clay on a potter's wheel, to perfection."[4] In a retrospective review of the album, Patricia Maschino Billboard wrote that the title track was a "scorching mash-up of funk, reggae and disco, punctuated by blasts of regal horns."[1]

According to the sheet music published at Musicnotes.com by Sony/ATV Music Publishing, the song is composed in the key of A minor with Marley's vocal range spanning from G4 to A5.[5]

Chart performance

Chart (1977) Peak
position
US Billboard Hot 100[6] 103
UK Singles Chart[7] 14
US R&B[8] 19

References

  1. 1 2 3 Meschino, Patricia (June 3, 2017). "Bob Marley's 'Exodus' Turns 40: Classic Track-by-Track Review". Billboard. Retrieved June 20, 2018.
  2. ↑ Haider, Arwa. "Bob Marley's Exodus: An album that defined the 20th Century". www.bbc.com. Retrieved 2022-06-18.
  3. ↑ Bush, John. "Exodus - Song Review". Allmusic. Retrieved June 20, 2018.
  4. ↑ "Bob Marley & The Wailers – Exodus". Udiscovermusic. Retrieved June 20, 2018.
  5. ↑ "Digital Sheet Music – Bob Marley – Exodus". Musicnotes.com. Sony/ATV Music Publishing. 16 May 2011. Retrieved June 6, 2018.
  6. ↑ "Bob Marley Chart History (Hot 100)". Billboard.
  7. ↑ "Bob Marley & the Wailers | Artist". Official Charts. Retrieved June 20, 2018.
  8. ↑ "Bob Marley". AllMusic. Retrieved June 20, 2018.
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