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Bob Marley — Time Will Tell
Album: Survival
Avg rating:
7.2

Your rating:
Total ratings: 1822









Released: 1979
Length: 3:24
Plays (last 30 days): 1
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JAH would never give the power to a baldhead
Run, come crucify the dread

Time alone, oh, time will tell
Think you're in heaven, but you're living in hell
Think you're in heaven, but you're living in hell
Think you're in heaven, but you're living in hell
Time alone, oh, time will tell
Y'think you're in heaven, but you're living in hell

Back them up, oh, not the brothers
But the ones who set them up

Time alone, oh, time will tell
Think you're in heaven but you're living in hell
Think you're in heaven but you're living in hell
Think you're in heaven but you're living in hell
Time alone, oh, time will tell
Y'think you're in heaven, but you're living in hell

Oh, children, weep no more
Oh, my sycamore tree, saw the freedom tree
Saw you settle the score
Oh, children, weep no more
Weep no more, children, weep no more

JAH would never give the power to a baldhead
Run, come crucify the dread

Time alone, oh, time will tell
Think you're in heaven, but you're living in hell
Think you're in heaven, but you're living in hell
Think you're in heaven, but you're living in hell
Time alone, oh, time will tell
Think you're in heaven but you're living in hell
Comments (95)add comment
One of my life time acivments: I saw him in Munich in 1980!
Posted 4 months ago by andersbauen    [ Reply ]
 siqbal wrote:


Baldhead is Rasta slang for anyone who is not Rastafarian and therefore does not have dreadlocks. Marley uses it more specifically to mean the establishment, "the Man", those who wield authority (e.g. the cops). The word appears in several of his songs.


What about us poor bald men who would love dreads Bob?! 
Posted 5 months ago by Fishman    [ Reply ]
 justin4kick wrote:
"JAH would never give the power to a baldhead"

I wonder who the baldhead is BM is referring to. 


Baldhead is Rasta slang for anyone who is not Rastafarian and therefore does not have dreadlocks. Marley uses it more specifically to mean the establishment, "the Man", those who wield authority (e.g. the cops). The word appears in several of his songs.
Posted 6 months ago by siqbal    [ Reply ]
 ImaOldman wrote:

As an avid concert goer (I've been to 100's in my 71 years) one of my biggest regrets is never seeing Bob. I feel like I really missed something important in music...



Bob and Jimi.
Posted 11 months ago by surfool    [ Reply ]
As an avid concert goer (I've been to 100's in my 71 years) one of my biggest regrets is never seeing Bob. I feel like I really missed something important in music...
Posted 1 year ago by ImaOldman    [ Reply ]
 unclehud wrote:
Can anybody explain how to get the "whiplash" effect heard on this guitar? Is it a flanger?  I'm pretty sure that's  a flanger ... but I was a bass player and it's been a LOT of years.

Danke! 
 
I'm not sure which guitar you are referring to but I think you mean the one soloing over the fade-out at the end. What I'm hearing on that is maybe an envelope generator or something similar cutting the attack on the notes. So each note seems to come up in volume at the beginning rather than hitting all at once.
 
There may also be a wah peddle shaping the tone. People tend to think of those being stomped on but a lot of guitarists in the 60s & 70s would adjust them to get the tone they liked then leave them in that position, rather than working them to actally make the "wah-wah" sound. There is definitly some kind of filter being used.
 
I'm not hearing any flanging specifically but there may very well be one in the signal chain as well :)
Posted 1 year ago by cosmiclint    [ Reply ]
Can anybody explain how to get the "whiplash" effect heard on this guitar? Is it a flanger?  I'm pretty sure that's  a flanger ... but I was a bass player and it's been a LOT of years.

Danke!  
Posted 1 year ago by unclehud    [ Reply ]
The album notes have this as a 1976 release - Survival was released in 1979
Posted 2 years ago by mw.austen    [ Reply ]
 BoogieBear wrote:

I think this great song is from the album Kaya, not Survival.



Good catch! This is correct. 
Posted 2 years ago by SkiIllinois    [ Reply ]
The timing of this one was impeccable
Posted 2 years ago by cosmiclint    [ Reply ]
Lovely...this fills my bowl...
Posted 3 years ago by sfoster66    [ Reply ]
I think this great song is from the album Kaya, not Survival.
Posted 3 years ago by BoogieBear    [ Reply ]
 ziakut wrote:

As sick I am of reggae and all things 'Bob Marley'...I actually like this. It has more staying power than the typical reggae 'bass drum on the upbeat' type of cadence. 



As a Marley fan, I don't know whether to up- or down vote this.
Posted 3 years ago by Ok_Sobriquet    [ Reply ]
My first musical true love - this … Bob. I was too young to see him before he passed. I have seen his sons, daughters, offshoots and loved them all. He influenced them all and the entire musical landcape.
Posted 3 years ago by tm    [ Reply ]
 Pilsenaaa wrote:

Cleveland or Baltimore , maybe DC ?



Earth?
Posted 3 years ago by cosmicjoe    [ Reply ]
 ziakut wrote:

As sick I am of reggae and all things 'Bob Marley'...I actually like this. It has more staying power than the typical reggae 'bass drum on the upbeat' type of cadence. 




This was his best album in my view! And how could you ever get sick of anything Bob did? I saw him live twice in the late 70s in Chicago and he blew everybody's minds all at once! He deserves all the attention he has ever gotten and then some! I could do without hearing Exodus, Jamming, or I shot the Sheriff ever again, but all the rest of his songs....never enough! :)
Posted 3 years ago by johnmunsonjr    [ Reply ]
 justin4kick wrote:
"JAH would never give the power to a baldhead"

I wonder who the baldhead is BM is referring to. 
 

He had a long-standing feud with Telly Savalas.
Posted 4 years ago by On_The_Beach    [ Reply ]
 Stephen_Phillips wrote:
"Think you're in heaven, but you're living in hell".

Could he possibly be referring to a place?

Would anybody like to speculate as to where?
 
Cleveland or Baltimore , maybe DC ?
Posted 4 years ago by Pilsenaaa    [ Reply ]
ok ok but you got to smoke a lot man
Posted 4 years ago by Pilsenaaa    [ Reply ]
Posted 4 years ago by uksminas    [ Reply ]
"JAH would never give the power to a baldhead"

I wonder who the baldhead is BM is referring to. 
Posted 5 years ago by justin4kick    [ Reply ]
"Think you're in heaven, but you're living in hell".

Could he possibly be referring to a place?

Would anybody like to speculate as to where?
Posted 5 years ago by Stephen_Phillips    [ Reply ]
Jag would never give power to a red toupee
Posted 5 years ago by gregmu8370    [ Reply ]
I have not heard a Marley / Wailers song that has failed to speak to my soul.
Posted 6 years ago by Retrograde-orbit    [ Reply ]
Paradise is all over the news today..I hope Bill and Rebecca are safe  {#Fire}
Posted 6 years ago by 1wolfy    [ Reply ]
Does this have something to do with Hurricane Irma?
Posted 7 years ago by kylieh    [ Reply ]
 Ulises wrote:
Irie!

 
spoken like a fat Carnival Cruise tourist, beer koozie in hand
Posted 7 years ago by thewiseking    [ Reply ]
Like to many 
he died to early  
Posted 8 years ago by Bluecobra    [ Reply ]
My very favorite Bob Marley song... I have a couple extended versions that are just heart-stoppingly beautiful.

Posted 9 years ago by scrubbrush    [ Reply ]
..seems like this is more of a "commentary" than a sense of personal existence or promotion of existence tune..prophets often speak of the negative to point towards the sublime..(not that i think of Marley as a Prophet, but just the sense he's conveying..methinks (and likely only me-thinking such)..


Rooney wrote:
Heaven is a state of mind, and, for me, not an actual place.  If you "think" you're living in "hell", geeze, what way to go through life.  Marley is not a prophet for me.

 

Posted 9 years ago by cShaggy    [ Reply ]
Sick of Bob Marley? Are you also sick of air? My god. A man like him comes around very rarely, and was taken far too early. Are you also sick of John Lennon?
Posted 10 years ago by bstevens1951    [ Reply ]
As sick I am of reggae and all things 'Bob Marley'...I actually like this. It has more staying power than the typical reggae 'bass drum on the upbeat' type of cadence. 
Posted 10 years ago by ziakut    [ Reply ]
 Rooney wrote:
Heaven is a state of mind, and, for me, not an actual place.  If you "think" you're living in "hell", geeze, what way to go through life.  Marley is not a prophet for me.
 

Really, with all of the suffering and evil in the world?  Hmmm.  I'd say you may be delusional.
Posted 11 years ago by rdo    [ Reply ]
Heaven is a state of mind, and, for me, not an actual place.  If you "think" you're living in "hell", geeze, what way to go through life.  Marley is not a prophet for me.
Posted 12 years ago by Rooney    [ Reply ]
Garcia played with Marley?
Posted 12 years ago by DD gypsyman    [ Reply ]
Ive always got time for some Marley, but its a shame there is never any time for some classic Smiley Culture.  He should be played more especially concidering the details concerning his death recently.   https://goo.gl/ItLnn
Posted 12 years ago by stunix    [ Reply ]
Who's hittin' that great guitar part?
Posted 13 years ago by nigelr    [ Reply ]
Another of my Marley personal favs!{#Cheers}
Posted 13 years ago by sirdroseph    [ Reply ]
 wrangler wrote:


well it's official ladies and gentlemen, excelsior has no soul.
 
Not so. He has a soul. It's just twisted and gnarled like a searching root.
Posted 14 years ago by colt4x5    [ Reply ]
 Businessgypsy wrote:
Listening to Reggae is always a poor substitute for sitting at a beach bar listening to live music. Off for a low tide bike ride and a Hefeweizen with my toes in the sand, sure to be some music as well. You're welcome to come along!

 

I respectfully (and hopefully, humorously!) disagree. I'm an old beach kid who's lived inland for about 20yrs (job, of course). Yeah, I'd rather *be* someplace listening to somebody play..but in my situation, crankin' up Bob in the house is the only alternative I have at the moment. {#Roflol}
Posted 14 years ago by Panama_Floyd    [ Reply ]
Mugro wrote:
Listening to Reggae today is a poor substitute for sitting at a beach bar listening to live music....
Listening to Reggae is always a poor substitute for sitting at a beach bar listening to live music. Off for a low tide bike ride and a Hefeweizen with my toes in the sand, sure to be some music as well. You're welcome to come along!

Posted 14 years ago by Businessgypsy    [ Reply ]
Irie!
Posted 14 years ago by Ulises    [ Reply ]
 Excelsior wrote:
This is weak sauce.  4 at best.
 

well it's official ladies and gentlemen, excelsior has no soul.
Posted 15 years ago by wrangler    [ Reply ]
Time has told on this one.  Classic Bob.  Love the slow bass work.  
 
Posted 15 years ago by alux    [ Reply ]
This is weak sauce.  4 at best.
Posted 16 years ago by Excelsior    [ Reply ]
 DoctorHooey wrote:


You mean you're having a tropical depression? :)

 

You'll feel better if you borrow a bike and go for a ride. So the cure for a tropical depression is a cycle-loan.
Posted 16 years ago by ThePoose    [ Reply ]
Mugro wrote:
I am having a mean case of the Caribbean blues today. Somehow surfing Caribbean resort websites isn't satisfying my jones for the feel of the warm sunshine and the sound of the surf. Listening to Reggae today is a poor substitute for sitting at a beach bar listening to live music....
+100000000!!!! Can't get enough Marley. Can't scratch that itch easily though.. Need sand. Need surf. Need chemical relief.
Posted 16 years ago by medman    [ Reply ]
Mugro wrote:
I am having a mean case of the Caribbean blues today. Somehow surfing Caribbean resort websites isn't satisfying my jones for the feel of the warm sunshine and the sound of the surf. Listening to Reggae today is a poor substitute for sitting at a beach bar listening to live music....
You mean you're having a tropical depression? :)
Posted 16 years ago by DoctorHooey    [ Reply ]
Give Thanks and Praise! Jah
Posted 16 years ago by Ballzak    [ Reply ]
Posted 16 years ago by Candela    [ Reply ]
The Black Crowes do an awesome cover of this tune on The Southern Harmony and Musical Companion. Great to hear the original.
Posted 16 years ago by musicmaniac    [ Reply ]
jah_blessed wrote:
IMO there is a political subtext here. "Jah would never give the power to a baldhead."
So THAT explains my career
Posted 16 years ago by The_Enemy    [ Reply ]
What a great song to end my day at work!!!
Posted 16 years ago by eastcoast    [ Reply ]
It's nice to hear a lesser known Marley song. So many have been nearly overplayed, this is a nice supplement to all of his greater known works. Very pleasant.
Posted 17 years ago by Gregorama    [ Reply ]
meower215 wrote:
actually he talks about not giving power to the "bald head" I think thats reasonably political
that's right, dont succumb to the charms of Dr. Evil.JK.
Posted 17 years ago by celadonstone    [ Reply ]
I am having a mean case of the Caribbean blues today. Somehow surfing Caribbean resort websites isn't satisfying my jones for the feel of the warm sunshine and the sound of the surf. Listening to Reggae today is a poor substitute for sitting at a beach bar listening to live music....
Posted 17 years ago by Mugro    [ Reply ]
jah_blessed wrote:
Heard one blues song, heard them all. Heard one rock song, heard them all. Heard one triphop song... etc.
jah_blessed makes a greate point with that comment - you typically (not always) hear statements like that from folks who haven't really listened to much of a genre, or even to a particular artist. Especially for so many of you RPers who find Rap/Hip-Hop so objectionable :-) Now for Reggae and Blues I tend to feel that 99% of the music is VERY similar, and I've heard loads of both, but there are the Steel Pulses and Eric Claptons out there that can invigorate a genre even for the most jaded of listeners.
Posted 17 years ago by ploafmaster    [ Reply ]
katalyst wrote:
Bob's music is so political. Not this song of course, but most of his works are.
actually he talks about not giving power to the "bald head" I think thats reasonably political
Posted 18 years ago by meower    [ Reply ]
Wow, this set off a flood of memories doing research in Jamaica almost 15 years ago -- a friend played this album over and over and over, and I haven't heard it since then. Amazing how a song can send you right back to a specific place and time.
Posted 18 years ago by vvlee    [ Reply ]
I think that I have heard another version of this tune from Bob that I liked better....
Posted 18 years ago by Mugro    [ Reply ]
meloman wrote:
A pity it still sounds the same, just slowed down a bit. Heard one reggae song, heard them all IMO.
Heard one blues song, heard them all. Heard one rock song, heard them all. Heard one triphop song... etc.
Posted 18 years ago by jah_blessed    [ Reply ]
katalyst wrote:
Bob's music is so political. Not this song of course, but most of his works are.
IMO there is a political subtext here. "Jah would never give the power to a baldhead."
Posted 18 years ago by jah_blessed    [ Reply ]
phillips wrote:
aahh, i agree. nice to hear something "new."
A pity it still sounds the same, just slowed down a bit. Heard one reggae song, heard them all IMO.
Posted 18 years ago by meloman    [ Reply ]
Bob's music is so political. Not this song of course, but most of his works are.
Posted 18 years ago by katalyst    [ Reply ]
Posted 18 years ago by Daveinbawlmer    [ Reply ]
Posted 18 years ago by El_Penguino    [ Reply ]
Wow, this is genuinely different and interesting stuff from Marley. I give it a 5.
Posted 18 years ago by ploafmaster    [ Reply ]
Generally not a big fan of reggae...Bob Marley is, however, the exception. Always nice to listen to a master.
Posted 18 years ago by LennytheB    [ Reply ]
Posted 18 years ago by R_P    [ Reply ]
A very cheerful song about a very somber situation. I find myself smiling and laughing in the midst of trouble, yet the trouble is still there.
Posted 18 years ago by plutodazed    [ Reply ]
virtualsquid wrote:
Thank goodness it's not one of the overplayed-to-death Marley tunes. I don't think i could stand to hear anything from 'Legend' one more time without physical pain.
aahh, i agree. nice to hear something "new."
Posted 18 years ago by phillips    [ Reply ]
Mari wrote:
Nothing better than Bob!
Posted 18 years ago by meghan89    [ Reply ]
Posted 18 years ago by jah_blessed    [ Reply ]
awesome... time for bed
Posted 18 years ago by KMH    [ Reply ]
The album by Damian Marley (one of his sons) is also very good. This is a good year for Marley fans.
Posted 19 years ago by jah_blessed    [ Reply ]
bob's got a new cd with a new song "slogans" that was writtin in 79' but was just recently found, pretty good cd.
Posted 19 years ago by snowak    [ Reply ]
We are truly blessed with our DJ! I just can't get enough of Marley, and, apparently, neither can Bill.
Posted 19 years ago by jah_blessed    [ Reply ]
Great to hear this Marley cut.
Posted 19 years ago by phineas    [ Reply ]
tony99 wrote:
I concur - that and 'Natty Dread', with the studio version of 'No Woman, No Cry'
And the studio version of Lively Up Yourself, the song on my cd clock alarm.
Posted 19 years ago by xkolibuul    [ Reply ]
wxman wrote:
The whole album (Natural Mystic) is a must have
I concur - that and 'Natty Dread', with the studio version of 'No Woman, No Cry'
Posted 19 years ago by tony99    [ Reply ]
8)
Posted 19 years ago by R_P    [ Reply ]
Bob Marley is the most universaly loved musician in the world right now, cutting across all genres.
Posted 19 years ago by fuh2    [ Reply ]
This hardly even sounds like reggae. Pretty cool.
Posted 20 years ago by ArbiterOfGoodTaste    [ Reply ]
oldslabsides wrote:
reggae sucks :P
No -- YOU suck! I didn't know Bob did this. The first time I heard it was on a Black Crowes album. Thanks Bill!
Posted 20 years ago by mikael    [ Reply ]
reggae sucks :P
Posted 20 years ago by Red_Dragon    [ Reply ]
A simply marvelous song delivered with the nuance, grace, and power only Bob Marley had. Songs like this reconfirm humanity. - Riff
Posted 20 years ago by riffster    [ Reply ]
The whole album (Natural Mystic) is a must have
Posted 20 years ago by wxman    [ Reply ]
Never heard this before. Great!
Posted 21 years ago by camarkim    [ Reply ]
Funny, only knew the Black Crowes version 'till now. Nice how they did it their way, but I got the feeling this is how it should be done.
Posted 22 years ago by Johray63    [ Reply ]