Tessanne performed “Redemption Songs” tonight on The Voice. Considered one of Bob Marley’s iconic works for its bareness and poignant message, it is widely regarded as one of his most personal and vulnerable pieces of work. Tessanne performed with a lone acoustic guitar as accompaniment which helped to preserve the authenticity of the song.
Though she stylized it differently than the original, I think she was successful in presenting a feminine, gritty, unrestrained, strong but vulnerable performance. The perfect tribute to Robert Nesta Marley OM, she captured the nuances in his work and performances to a tee.
Despite all the aforementioned, big man ting, they need to stop putting Tessanne in that Jamaican box. Yes, she is Jamaican, we know, the world knows. But I think they are seriously hampering her scope with the song selections. I think it will ultimately prove detrimental to her in the critical stages of the competition.
Also, the guitarist did an excellent job.
VOTE VOTE VOTE FOR TESSANNE!!!!
Redemption Songs is the final track on Bob Marley & The Wailers ninth album: Uprising. It was written in 1979 and contains parts of a Marcus Garvey speech. At the time he wrote this song, Bob Marley was dealing with his cancer diagnosis, and according to his wife Rita, he was in a lot of pain physically, and had been dealing with the task of coming to terms with his mortality.
Another of my favourite Bob Marley songs written during this period is “Jah Will Be Waiting There”.
