Buffalo Soldier by Bob Marley (1983)

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Buffalo Soldier Cover

Buffalo Soldier is the 5th track on Bob Marley and the Wailers’ famous 1984 compilation album Legend. [1] A reggae song written by Bob Marley and King Sporty was released on May 23, 1983.

The song’s title refers to the black U.S that fought in the Indian Wars after 1866, known as Buffalo Soldiers. Marley linked their fight as for survival and showed it as a symbol of resistance from black people. [2]

In 1990, the song was used in the film No Fear, No Die by Claire Denis. [3]

Bob Marley

Controversy

The Buffalo Soldiers reportedly a nickname given by the Native American to U.S. black soldiers of Cavalry Regiment during the Indian Wars. The Indians thought that their hair looked and felt like buffalo’s pelt. [4]

The Buffalo Soldiers were established in September 1866 by the United States. They were the first peacetimes regimen consisting only by black men in the United States Army. One of their many given tasks is to protect white men who settled on Native American lands from being attacked by them. [5]

Bob Marley gives a history lesson of black soldiers taken from Africa as a protest about the role of black people in building the country that continues to oppress him. [6]

Below is some lines of the song Buffalo Soldier performed by Bob Marley about the enslaved Africa soldiers who fight against Native Americans:

Buffalo Soldier, Dreadlock Rasta

There was a Buffalo Soldier

In the heart of America

Stolen from Africa, brought to America

Fighting on arrival, fighting for survival [7]

References