Reggae Wisdom: Proverbs in Jamaican Music (review)

In Reggae Wisdom, Sw. Anand Prahlad examines the use of proverbs in roots reggae, a Jamaican music genre associated with the Rastafari community. In six chapters, he sketches for the proverb scholar the necessary background in Rastafari ideology, surveys the use of proverbs in Jamaican culture, and analyzes many individual songs and verses.

Chapter 1 provides grounding in the cultural context of Rastafari, showing that words and sound are considered powerful forces for change in this culture, with obvious implications for the meanings of both proverbs and music. In chapter 2 Prahlad identifies the performative persona adopted by most roots reggae frontmen, that of the "warrior/priest." He argues that proverb use grows out of this persona, since "wisdom is one of the most essential characteristics of the warrior/priest. . . . No other genre connotes wisdom . . . as does the proverb" (p. 58).

In chapter 3 Prahlad examines proverb use in Jamaica generally, in the media, everyday speech, and the discourse of a proverb master. This chapter is based on quite limited fieldwork, which makes it hard for him to speak with authority about Jamaican culture as a whole. But his anecdotal style is engaging, and the suspense inherent in his uneasy relationship with the proverb master, Iaa, makes this section both enjoyable and instructive.

The conceptual heart of the book is chapter 4, which Prahlad begins by identifying four principal subgenres of roots reggae songs: sermons, prayer, praise, and love songs (pp. 112-13). He goes on to list eight principal implied addressees to whom such songs are ostensibly sung, including Babylon, Jah, a lover, the Rastafari community, and the African diasporic community (p. 113). At heart, he argues that proverbs are used to negotiate relationships of power, either to suggest that existing power structures are unjust, or to establish the spiritual authority of the warrior/priest. For example, in sermon songs to Babylon, which in reggae discourse means the capitalist system and its attendant evils, proverbs are used almost exclusively to criticize and condemn. Songs to the Rastafari and diasporic communities, on the other hand, use equal parts criticism and encouragement to suggest that African and Afro-Caribbean peoples struggle against Babylon and strive for a higher spiritual purpose. Most tellingly, Prahlad finds that proverbs are absent from songs addressed to Jah, the Rastafari God concept, because "there is no power relationship being challenged or negotiated in prayer songs, nor is there any advice or criticism being offered" (p. 117).

The concluding chapters treat proverbs in the repertoires of two important reggae groups, The Itals and Bob Marley and the Wailers. Through close analysis of songs, Prahlad shows that the Itals tend to use proverbs within a given structure of goal/obstacle, similar to the lack/lack liquidated structure inherent in many folktales. He argues that proverbs are oracular and medicinal, prescribing remedies for social problems, showing the way over obstacles and toward goals. In discussing Marley, Prahlad makes no argument concerning the singer's use of proverbs in general, taking instead a chronological approach and analyzing his songs album by album, with many fascinating analyses of Marley's memorable lyrics.

There are, of course, questions raised and not answered in Reggae Wisdom. For example, Prahlad hypothesizes that the African-oriented aesthetic of Rastafari led to a greater use of proverbs in roots reggae than in other genres. He does not, however, actively compare roots reggae to other forms of Jamaican music as regards the frequency of proverb use. Indeed, he admits that he has not listened extensively to other genres of Jamaican music at all, which makes this hypothesis purely speculative.

Another question explored only briefly is that of reception. Prahlad suggests that "each listener will give the proverb different nuances of interpretation" (p. 2). Here he could have explored these nuances with studies of reggae reception among different communities. Instead, he...