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

Your rating:
Total ratings: 1669









Released: 1979
Length: 3:21
Plays (last 30 days): 3
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 (92)add comment
 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.
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...
 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 :)
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!  
The album notes have this as a 1976 release - Survival was released in 1979
 BoogieBear wrote:

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



Good catch! This is correct. 
The timing of this one was impeccable
Lovely...this fills my bowl...
I think this great song is from the album Kaya, not Survival.
 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.
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.
 Pilsenaaa wrote:

Cleveland or Baltimore , maybe DC ?



Earth?
 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! :)
 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.
 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 ?
ok ok but you got to smoke a lot man
"JAH would never give the power to a baldhead"

I wonder who the baldhead is BM is referring to. 
"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?
Jag would never give power to a red toupee
I have not heard a Marley / Wailers song that has failed to speak to my soul.
Paradise is all over the news today..I hope Bill and Rebecca are safe  {#Fire}
Does this have something to do with Hurricane Irma?
 Ulises wrote:
Irie!

 
spoken like a fat Carnival Cruise tourist, beer koozie in hand
Like to many 
he died to early  
My very favorite Bob Marley song... I have a couple extended versions that are just heart-stoppingly beautiful.

..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.

 

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?
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. 
 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.
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.
Garcia played with Marley?
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
Who's hittin' that great guitar part?
Another of my Marley personal favs!{#Cheers}
 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.
 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}
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!

Irie!
 Excelsior wrote:
This is weak sauce.  4 at best.
 

well it's official ladies and gentlemen, excelsior has no soul.
Time has told on this one.  Classic Bob.  Love the slow bass work.  
 
This is weak sauce.  4 at best.
 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.
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.
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? :)
Give Thanks and Praise! Jah
The Black Crowes do an awesome cover of this tune on The Southern Harmony and Musical Companion. Great to hear the original.
jah_blessed wrote:
IMO there is a political subtext here. "Jah would never give the power to a baldhead."
So THAT explains my career
What a great song to end my day at work!!!
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.
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.
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....
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.
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
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.
I think that I have heard another version of this tune from Bob that I liked better....
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.
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."
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.
Bob's music is so political. Not this song of course, but most of his works are.
Wow, this is genuinely different and interesting stuff from Marley. I give it a 5.
Generally not a big fan of reggae...Bob Marley is, however, the exception. Always nice to listen to a master.
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.
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."
Mari wrote:
Nothing better than Bob!
awesome... time for bed
The album by Damian Marley (one of his sons) is also very good. This is a good year for Marley fans.
bob's got a new cd with a new song "slogans" that was writtin in 79' but was just recently found, pretty good cd.
We are truly blessed with our DJ! I just can't get enough of Marley, and, apparently, neither can Bill.
Great to hear this Marley cut.
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.
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'
8)
Bob Marley is the most universaly loved musician in the world right now, cutting across all genres.
This hardly even sounds like reggae. Pretty cool.
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!
reggae sucks :P
A simply marvelous song delivered with the nuance, grace, and power only Bob Marley had. Songs like this reconfirm humanity. - Riff
The whole album (Natural Mystic) is a must have
Never heard this before. Great!
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.