Judge Not
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Judge Not is the first single Bob Marley recorded. It was released in 1961, only in Jamaica on Leslie Kong label Beverley's. Not typical reggae, it is more in the ska style. In this title, Bob has a youthful voice, as it was his first recorded song. Though "Judge Not" failed to achieve much success, Marley was not discouraged and continued to record music. "Judge Not" was rereleased in the "Songs of Freedom" album in 1992 as well as other compilations. The song was also covered by Sublime, and can be found on the box set Everything Under the Sun.
The song is more like something a young Desmond Dekker, who wrote "Honour Your Mother and Father," may have recorded. This is of note because Dekker worked with Kong, as well as working at the same machine shop as Bob Marley. It is a song about morality that may be based on the Biblical quote "Judge not lest ye be judged."
Some of the song lyrics are paraphrased in the background vocals of the later Marley hit Could You Be Loved.