The best record Bob Marley ever made was the live single version of "No Woman, No Cry." The reasons for its success were complex, but its chorus was simple: "Everything's gonna be all right!"

"All right" is the most important lyrical concept in rock. It was the key-word of the hippie Sixties. It summed up laid-back tolerance—"that's all right, man"—and nodding self-satisfaction. "I don't care because I'm all right," were Randy Newman's words, "I'm all right because I don't care."

Marley's "all right" reflected hedonism and apathy—ganja is dope, after all—but it made other references, too. "No Woman, No Cry" was a religious song…. And "No Woman, No Cry" was a political song. There was a government yard in Trenchtown, and Marley sang with the tender determination of a new recruit: don't take it, we'll fight; don't despair, we'll win; pessimism of the intellect...