Cover art for Survival by Bob Marley & The Wailers
Oct. 2, 19791 viewer11.9K views

Survival Lyrics

[Intro]
(Ow, ow-ow-ow-ow!
Ow, ow-ow-ow-ow!)
Yeah, yeah, yeah!

[Verse 1]
How can you be sitting there
Telling me that you care
That you care
When every time I look around
The people suffer in the suffering
In every way, in everywhere

[Chorus]
Say, na-na-na-na-na (na-na, na-na!)
We're the survivors

Yes, the Black survivors

[Verse 2]
I tell you what, some people got everything
Some people got nothing
Some people got hopes and dreams
Some people got ways and means

[Chorus]
Like Daniel out of the lions' den
(Black survivors) Survivors, survivors

[Verse 3]
So I Idren, I sistren
Which way will we choose
We better hurry, oh, hurry, oh, hurry, whoa, now
Because we got no time to lose

[Verse 4]
Some people got facts and claims
Some people got pride and shame
Some people got the plots and schemes
Some people got no aim it seems

[Chorus]

[Verse 5]
Like Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego
(Black survivors)
Thrown in the fire, but-a never get burn

So I Idren, I-sistren
The preaching and talking is done
We've gotta live up, wo now, wo now!
Because the Father's time has come
Some people put the best outside
Some people keep the best inside
Some people can't stand up strong
Some people won't wait for long

[Chorus]

[Verse 6]
In this age of technological inhumanity (Black survival)
Scientific atrocity (survivors)
Atomic mis-philosophy (Black survival)
Nuclear mis-energy (survivors)

It's a world that forces lifelong insecurity (Black survival)
All together now

[Chorus]

[Outro]
A good man is never honoured (survivors)
In his own country (Black survival)
Nothing change, nothing strange (survivors)
Nothing change, nothing strange (Black survivors)
We got to survive, you all! (survivors)

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About

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Genius Annotation

Survival is a song about black power and that even though black people got the same rights on paper, then there is still racism and the rights don’t always work in practice.
Bob Marley also mentions that there is a big gap between rich and poor, but even though you’re a poor person, that doesn’t mean that you aren’t worth as much as other rich people.

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